Harry Dembicki

Harry A. Dembicki, 90, Topeka, died on Saturday, March 1, 2008, at Brewster Place Health Center.
He was born January 10, 1918, in Detroit, Mich., the son of Victor J. and Angelina Dolata Dembicki.

Harry served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and retired as a flight-control officer. He especially enjoyed the camaraderie of military friends for the 18 years he lived in Colorado.

He didn't just occupy an address in the community but embraced Topeka as his adopted hometown. Harry did everything "out loud." Whether at work or play, he strove to excel in whatever he endeavored.

Harry was a retired insurance executive, extensively educated in the industry, and earned numerous certifications. He was partner and vice president of the Hussey Insurance Agency in Topeka.

In service to others, He was a 32nd-degree Mason and 50-year member of the Masonic Lodge, Arab Shrine; a 53-year member of the American Legion; a member of SERTOMA; the Elks Club; the Moose Club; was president of the Potwin Elementary School PTA; a founding member of the Potwin Protective Association; was chairman for the building committee of St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Colorado; a member of Grace Episcopal Cathedral; and a past member of Topeka Country Club; and the Military Officers Club.

Harry had a lifelong love for boating and the water, even working on a tugboat barge as a young man in Michigan. He enjoyed the outdoors, be it the elaborate gardens of his home, the lake where he spent many happy days with family and friends, or in the mountains. Harry loved to "greet the mountain," as he called it, every morning while living in Colorado.

He pursued diverse interests and hobbies, including a love for music and the many instruments he collected and attempted to master. Harry had a joy for travel and was an avid reader with an inquisitive mind.

He was married nearly 64 years to Frances V. Gillespie, whom he wed on March 31, 1944, in Topeka. She survives.

Other survivors include a daughter, Kathryn Ann Proffitt, and her husband, David, of Fairway; a son, H. Adam Dembicki, Jr., Fort Collins, Colo.; grandchildren, Juliana McCully, Jennifer Dillon, Lindsey Trimboli, Joshua Dembicki, Lucas Dembicki, David Dembicki, and Louise Dembicki; great-grandchildren, Weston, Merritt and Murphy McCully, Annabelle and Meghan Dillon, and Sophia, Halle and Isabella Trimboli. He was preceded in death by a sister, Henrietta Medbury.

Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 20, 2008, at the Brewster Place Chapel. Private family inurnment will be in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Good Samaritan Fund at Brewster Place, 1205 S.W. 29th Street, Topeka, KS 66611; Grace Episcopal Cathedral, 701 S.W. 8th, Topeka, KS 66603; or the Helping Hands Humane Society, 2625 N.W. Rochester Road, Topeka, KS 66617.

The family would like to offer special thanks to the Brewster Health Center staff for their dedicated care and compassion.