Ron's parents

Unknown Location (circa  1943)

Left:  Evelyn Olga (Kaczmarek) Karpinski  (1921-1999)

Right:  Edward Joseph Karpinski, Sr.  (1919-1986)

Edward and Evelyn Karpinski were married in Chicago, Illinois, on August 24, 1940 and gave birth to two children there --

Beverly (1941) and Edward Joseph, Jr. (1943).  Edward senior entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943, so this photo was

probably take soon thereafter, as Edward's uniform appears new.  Over the next three years, Private Karpinski served as a

military policeman (MP) at several posts in the western United States, including Spokane, Washington, and received his

discharge in 1946, still holding the rank of private.  After the war, the young couple returned to Chicago for one year before

moving to the west coast and settling in the city of Long Beach, California, where two more offspring were born -- Ronald

Alan (1947) and Richard Leroy (1949).  "Big Ed" toiled as a diesel truck mechanic, repairing transmissions and differentials,

at one time, reputedly the best "gear man" in the Los Angeles area.  Evelyn remained at home as a traditional housewife.

In summing up their life's work, they "had four kids to raise," . . . as they were so extremely fond of saying.