An Extraordinary Life: Joliet WWII veteran was a ‘a valedictorian in the school of life’

World War II Army veteran Glenn Masek of Joliet, World War II Army veteran, was just a toddler when he modeled children’s clothes at a fashion show at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet.

Years later, as a resident of Solstice Senior Living in Joliet, Glenn, a World War II veteran, once again participated in a fashion show. And Glenn was always the first person on the dance floor, his son Mark Masek of California said.

Glenn didn’t necessarily have a fun life. Be he lived life well.

“My dad didn’t have a college diploma, but he was close to being a valedictorian in the school of life. He stood as a wonderful role model for my brothers and me,” Glenn’s son Terry Masek of Moline wrote in an email. “When my mom had some health issues, our dad was always there to help her navigate through her days. Dad was an honest, hard-working family man. He lived an admirable life and earned the affection of others shortly after meeting them. He was a good dad and a man that my brothers and I will always be able to remember with pride and respect.”

Glenn was 96 when he died Aug. 13.

The youngest of three boys, Glenn attended the former Joliet Catholic High School (now Joliet Catholic Academy) and played varsity football for the school’s team. Glenn also played softball for the former Packomatic team in Joliet.

Army service

At age 18 years Glenn enlisted into the U.S. Army. In a 2018 Herald-News story, Glenn said his father had told him to “stay away from that draft board. They’ll call you when they want you” because Glenn’s brothers were already drafted.

But Glenn wanted to join the Army. He served in the South Pacific as an artillery mechanic and participated in the invasion of Okinawa.

In the Herald-News story, Glenn said he serviced both the artillery and frontlines Island by taking men back and forth. Mark said Glenn’s ship would move in a zig-zag angle to avoid submarines. When the ship neared on Okinawa Island, the ship was attacked by Japanese pilots using their planes in kamikaze suicide attacks, Mark said.

“One plane came close,” Mark said. “It hit the deck at a low angle and then skipped off like a rock on a pond and crashed into the ocean.”

The Battle of Okinawa was among the bloodiest periods of the war, with upward of 20,000 U.S. casualties from April through June 1945, the Herald-News story said.

“I can’t imagine an 18-year-old – or any age – going through that,” Mark said. “It was probably his first time leaving Illinois. He was halfway around the world with bullets and bombs flying around him. I just can’t imagine what that would be like, going through that trauma, that experience and having him come back OK and get a job and a regular life. That’s got to be a difficult transition. But he seemed to be able to put it behind and section off that part of his life.”

Glenn actually did not discuss most of his time in the war, Mark said.

“A lot of the stories he told were about hanging out with his buddies and seeing the world,” Mark said. “He always looked on the positive side of things.”

Glenn served from 1943 to 1946 and then returned to Joliet. Mark said his friends set Glenn up on blind dates, which is how Glenn met his wife Helen; the couuple married in May 1949.

In addition to Terry and Mark, the couple had a third son: Richard Masek of Naperville.

In an email, Terry shared examples of Glenn’s kindness and willingness to help.

Family service

Terry said Glenn taught Terry how to ride a bike without training wheels and how to “bait a hook, patiently watch the bobber, and land a fish without losing it” when Glenn took his sons fishing at Lily Cache in Plainfield.

“I remember being 5 or 6 years old - when television was still in its infancy - and sitting on his lap while we watched the Friday Night Fights together over a big bowl of popcorn,” Terry said in an email. Terry also said, “I remember feeling safe because my dad was in the house.”

When Terry was 10 and joined Little League, Glenn signed up as an assistant coach. When Terry was in scouting, Glenn became an assistant scoutmaster. Glenn gave his sons an allowance for washing dishes and cutting the grass, Terry said.

“I remember my dad eating most of the items that my brothers and I left on our plates at dinner,” Terry said in an email.

Terry recalled how Glenn tended to his tomato garden and cut the boys’ hair. Glenn could fix anything, including his car, and he often tinkered at his “huge green workbench in the basement,” Terry said.

“I remember giving my dad used golf balls for Father’s Day, his birthday, and Christmas - even though he never golfed,” Terry said in an email. “He still pretended to be happy with those gifts.

Mark said Glenn was “strict when he needed to be and bossy when he needed to be.” Glenn was also “helpful and supportive and came to our events,” Mark added.

“He had all the attributes of that generation: responsibility and a sense of obligation and of doing the right thing,” Mark said. “He liked to have fun; he liked to make people laugh; he liked to tell a story.”

Glenn worked at Texaco in Lockport for 40 years, retiring in 1981 when the plant closed. Terry said Glenn had perfect attendance.

“I remember having a successful game on the Texaco softball team - and I can still remember how good I felt making my dad proud as he watched our game with other dads from the spectator stands,” Terry said in an email.

When Glenn worked at Texaco, he had two weeks of vacation time every year. Glenn reserved one week for the World Series and one week for road trips to Indiana or Wisconsin, Mark said.

“We’d find a motel with a pool and air conditioning, spend a couple of days, and then come home,” Mark said in an email. “We might be the only people who have ever ‘vacationed’ in Dyer, Indiana, or Genoa City, Wisconsin.”

Senior service

After Helen’s death in 2014, Glenn moved to Essington Place in Joliet, later called Solstice Senior Living. Mark said Glenn created a stand-up act where he told jokes and sang songs – especially “My Way,” by Frank Sinatra, Mark said.

“It was important to him to get people up and entertained and happy and moving around,” Mark said. “Rather than just sitting there watching life go by, he wanted to be a part of it. He made things happen.”

Glenn also traveled to Washington D.C. five years ago as parr of an Honor Flight experience for military veterans, which Glenn really enjoyed, Mark said.

“For his birthday a few years ago, I took him on a chartered plane ride over Lake Michigan and the downtown area of Chicago,” Mark said in an email. “That was another experience that he really enjoyed.”

Mark said that after Glenn died, loved ones especially remembered Glenn’s joy and his big smile.

“If you can be remembered for spreading joy,” Mark wrote in an email, “you have had a life well lived.”

• To feature someone in “An Extraordinary Life,” contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com.