Artist Leon Stanley Kawecki Dies at 79

Internationally known artist Leon Stanley Kawecki, who designed commemorative posters and painted portraits of famous historical figures of Polish descent, died Wednesday. He was 79.

The cause of death has not yet been determined.

Kawecki, of Garden Grove, was also well known for his commemorative medals. He designed a silver and bronze one to salute the 175th anniversary of the birth of Polish composer Frederic Chopin, and marked the 500th anniversary of the birth of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus in 1973 with a poster issued by a chapter of the Polish American Congress. He designed a medal featuring George Washington flanked by his fellow “freedom founders,” the Polish-born Generals Thaddeus Kosciuszko and Casimir Pulaski.

The widowed father was the kind of man who instilled the importance of bonding among his four children, according to his oldest child, Raymond. He had the patience to teach--from art to classical music to history--if you had the eagerness to learn, he said.

“He was a very gentle man,” said Raymond, 45. “We’ve always been close, and he’s always fostered that.”

Born in Poland in 1921, he spent time in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp, arrived in the United States in 1951 and became a citizen five years later.

In 1998, Kawecki took his last trip to Poland, with Raymond, where he was honored by the mayor as his city’s “famous son.”

“A lot of the work he did was for the love of art,” said Raymond, sitting in his father’s living room, surrounded by colorful, bold paintings. “He was very frugal. It was never about the money.”

Kawecki worked as a designer at Meade Packaging in Buena Park for 35 years, until he retired in 1989. He made his medals and painted in his spare time.

He could talk for hours about history, as well as being an arts fanatic. He turned one bedroom in his condominium into an art studio--and rarely left it once he retired.

Kawecki is survived by his children, Raymond, Steven James, Daniel Noel and Barbara Rachelle, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Raymond said his father had always told him to bury him the way he wanted people to remember him. At his funeral Tuesday, he will be holding a palette in one hand and a paint brush in the other.

Visitation will be Monday from 3 to 8 p.m. with a vigil at 7 p.m. Funeral services will be Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Shannon-Donogan Chapel in Orange.