John Edward Romanosky (Buddy), of Johns Island, died peacefully Friday, November 25, 2020, at his home on Johns Island. The family and friends of John Edward Romanosky are invited to attend his Graveside Funeral Service at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul churchyard, 126 Coming St, Charleston, SC, 11:30 AM Friday, December 4, 2020. A reception will follow at the family residence on Johns Island.
John was born in Charleston on July 8, 1923, to Peter James and Lenora S. Romanosky. He grew up in the family home at 329 East Bay Street and attended Bennett public school and the High School of Charleston. He enrolled at the Citadel as a civil engineering student in the fall of 1940, having won an academic scholarship. John enlisted in the Army Reserve in October 1942, during his junior year and entered into active duty in May of 1943. After completing basic training, the OCS at Fort Belvoir, he was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He completed parachute and glider training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and served on active duty in the Pacific Theater as Parachute Engineer Unit Commander of Company ‘A,’ 127th Airborne Combat Engineers, 11th Airborne Division. After returning from the war, John returned to the Citadel and graduated with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering in June, 1947. He attained the grade of Captain as a Reserve Commissioned Officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
After graduation, John was employed by the American Bridge Company division of U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh, PA, as a structural engineer, performing structural design steel tasks on bridges, powerhouses, and high rise office buildings. He returned to his beloved Charleston in the Fall of 1948 and was employed by the Charleston District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a hydraulic and civil engineer on work related to flood control, damns, bridges, tunnels, and spillways. With the advent of the Korean conflict, John was assigned military project design functions related to paving, grading, drainage, water supply, water distribution, water storage, sewerage collection and treatment plants for the military. He soon met Nellie Gladys Sharpe and the couple were married in Mary, 1951.
In 1952, John became Chief of the Military Hydraulics Design Section until October 1957, at which time he resigned from the Corps to work with a local architectural and engineering firm. He returned to the Corps of Engineers in 1963 to oversee the successful construction of the jetties at Murrells Inlet and Little River, as well as the Cooper River Rediversion Project, including the St. Stephens Powerhouse. John always put the people of South Carolina first and was looked up to as a leader by those in state and local government.
John became Chief of the Operations Divisions of the Charleston District in March of 1968. He successfully bucked the tide of very powerful political forces seeking to close the Charleston District, at no small peril to his position and career. John did so because he believed in the Corps mission and because of his love for Charleston and the State of South Carolina. His sense of humor and common sense approachment to life and work set an example for all around him. He always counseled his staff: ‘If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember what you said.’
John was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church and served as Sunday School Superintendent and Junior Warden at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul. John is survived by a son, John (Sheila), two daughters, Jenifer Lynne Romanosky and Lisa Camille Romanosky, two grandchildren, Anna Kathryn Romanosky and Caroline Romanosky McGee (Jason), and two step grandchildren, Clair Glover Edwards (Jim) and Suzannah Glover Countryman (Andy).
Posted in: James McAlister
Posted on: 2020-11-30
Link to original obituary: https://www.jamesamcalister.com/obituary/7232443