Emil William Wolnik of Tucson, Arizona for 11 months, formerly a longtime resident of Palatine, Illinois since 1968, passed away peacefully Friday, Nov. 4, 2005.

Emil was born Nov. 15, 1925, in Chicago, the only child of Bernice and Joseph Wolnik who both immigrated from Poland. He served in the Army Air Corp from 1944 to 1945. He graduated with a B.S.E.E. from the University of Illinois after the war. During his career, he worked as an RF electrical engineer for such companies as Martin Marietta, Boeing, Chrysler, General Dynamics, and various engineering contract agencies. Notable projects included the telemetry for the Saturn V rocket which took our astronauts to the moon, and particle counters at the Fermi Lab Accelerator in Batavia, Illinois. He also owned TV repair businesses such as Palatine TV and All Color TV in Palatine, Illinois.

He is survived by his daughter, Ginger Wolnik and her life partner Karen Enz of Sunnyvale, Calif., Michele Ellis and her husband Jim and their two children, Caitlin and Patrick of Marlton, N.J., Renee Sovak and her husband Dale and their 2 daughters Erika and Julia of Benicia, Calif., and his son and full-time caretaker for the last year, Keith Wolnik of Tucson.

In addition to his four surviving children, he was preceded in death by his wife of 51 years, Loretta Wolnik, and son Wayne, who took his own life in 1998.

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