Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • May 22, 2013 Wyckoff Parade grand marshal sailed in World War II by John Koster During the last two years of World War II, 2013 Wyckoff Memorial Day Parade Grand Marshal Steve Kastelfka sailed the world’s oceans as a Navy gunner on cargo ships and troopships. Born in Jersey City, Kastelfka grew up in Bayonne and enlisted in the U.S. Navy at 17 as soon as he graduated from high school in 1943. After basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois, he was shipped to Treasure Island in California, where he attended gunnery school. His first assignment was the merchant ship S.S. Joseph Smith as a Seaman First Class, and he sailed as part of the naval gun crew to the South Pacific, delivering supplies to New Guinea and New Caledonia. The ship sailed without escort vessels and the gun crew was ready for duty 24 hours a day. After fueling up in Australia, the ship sailed to Chile to pick up nitrates for Saint Charles, Louisiana, and passed through the Panama Canal. At Saint Charles, the ship picked up a cargo of sugar and then sailed to Cuba and Puerto Rico to pick up rice before returning to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. After shore leave, Kastelfka joined a gun crew on a British troop ship headed for Scotland, then was transported to Exeter, England, to prepare for the Normandy invasion in June of 1944. He remained at the Advanced Navy Supply Base until he was ordered back to the Brooklyn Navy tenance department, and last worked for the Wyckoff Department of Public Works where he retired after 25 years of employment. He married Anna Morelli, and purchased a home in Wyckoff in 1957. He and his wife are parishioners of Saint Elizabeth’s Church. The Memorial Day Parade, with Kastelfka as grand marshal, will begin on Monday, May 27 with ceremonies at 9 a.m. at Firehouse Number 1, behind Town Hall. A memorial service will follow at 10 a.m. with Erik Rubenacker of Midland Park - Wyckoff VFW Post 7086 as master of ceremonies and Wyckoff Mayor Rudy Boonstra giving the welcoming address. The memorial address will be given by U.S. Army veteran Frank Crotty, who served during the Vietnam War. The invocation and benediction will be offered by Pastor K.C. Vande Streek of Faith Community Reformed Church. Cheryl Spirer-Wyka will play the violin, accompanied by the Saint Elizabeth’s Church Children’s Choir. The parade will begin at 11:30 at Cornerstone Church, located at the intersection of Wyckoff Avenue and Russell Avenue, and will head left down Wyckoff Avenue, turn right onto Main Street, turn right onto Franklin Avenue, and left into Town Hall A plaque displays Kastelfka’s awards earned during his military service. Steve Kastelfka Yard, and sailed back home on the British ocean liner Queen Mary, then being used as a troop transport. Kastelfka was discharged as a coxswain in 1946, having won a number of commendation medals for his service. He worked for Braen Street as a foreman, then for Ramapo Regional High School in the main- and end at the Ambulance Corps building. Refreshments will be served at Fire Company #1 headquarters courtesy of the Wyckoff Township Committee and the Parade Committee.