Obituary of Alexander M. Romanchuk

Alexander M. Romanchuk, 97, passed away on Friday, April 26, 2024 at the Terraces at Lawrence in Lawrenceville. Alex was born in New York, NY and grew up on the family farm in Hopewell New Jersey. Alex graduated from Hopewell HS and attended Purdue University in Indiana, before enlisting in the Army Air Corp during World War II. After his marriage in 1952, Alex lived in Trenton, Ewing and Lawrence. Alex worked for over forty years at the US Naval Jet Propulsion Center in Ewing Township NJ, until his retirement in 1994. Predeceased by his parents, Michael and Helen Szpylczak Romanchuk, his brother William Romanchuk and sister Helen Romanchuk Collins. He is survived by his loving wife of 71 years, Mary Ricco Romanchuk, their son Michael Romanchuk and his wife Anne Marie, their daughter Joan Van Wagner and her husband Mark, their son James Romanchuk and his wife Doreen; his grandchildren, Jennifer Roslowski and her husband Joshua, Nicholas Van Wagner and his wife Laura, Chelsea Romanchuk and Carli Romanchuk, two great-grandchildren Aidan and Ashley Van Wagner and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Alex was a devoted and loving husband, father and pop-pop. He lived a full and happy life, which included fishing, hiking and traveling. He enjoyed exploring the state and national parks, and had a profound appreciation of their natural beauty. Bird watching was a particular passion of his and he visited spots where their migration offered great viewing opportunities. Alex loved hiking on the Appalachian Trail and had been able to do so in a number of states, including a hike to the summit of Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Throughout his life, Alex was a sports fan. He rooted for the Cleveland Indians and was known by all the neighborhood kids as the guy who would buy or trade them for their Cleveland Indian baseball cards. He was a diehard fan of the Cleveland Browns and a passionate and longtime fan of the New York Rangers. Alex instilled, and passed along, his love and loyalty for the Rangers to every subsequent generation of his loving family. In addition to his love of sports, Alex was also a gardener at heart. He enjoyed many years of growing vegetables from seed in his extensive, homemade, basement greenhouse. He always grew far more than he could use in order to share them with his family, friends and coworkers. His farming roots ran deep. In his life and work, Alex had acquired a great degree of both mechanical and electronics skills and knowledge. He was as at home under the hood of a car as he was working with precise instruments and devices on a sophisticated lab bench. He was always willing and happy to help others using these skills and equally happy to teach his skills to others. Alex leaves behind nearly a century of cherished memories, not only with the family members mentioned above, but also a large group extended family members and many friends. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday at 10 AM at Incarnation Catholic Church, 1545 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Hamilton, NJ. Visitation for Alexander will be held on Thursday from 6 to 8 PM at Poulson & van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. There will be no additional visitation prior to mass on Thursday.