William F. Wraga

William Francis Wraga passed away peacefully on January 13, 2023 in Montclair, NJ. He was 96.

Bill was born on December 26, 1926 in North Bergen, NJ to Walenty W. Wraga, a furniture maker who immigrated from Poland to the United States, and Frances Wraga (nee Koniar).

Bill graduated from St. Peters Prep in Jersey City, where he ran cross country and played six-man football and received academic honors every year. He served with the U.S. Army in the Pacific during the reconstruction after World War II, rising to the rank of first lieutenant, completing his service in the 78th Lightning Division.

While a U.S. Army paratrooper reservist, Bill earned a B.S. in physics from St. Peter’s College in 1951 and then a M.S. in physics from Fordham University in 1954.

For forty-three years Bill worked as an engineer—an “electric actuator man”—in the aerospace industry, concluding his career at the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, for which he also served as company historian. Contracts he worked on included the Navy Harpoon tactical missile and the F-16 Fighting Falcon, as well as space programs including Apollo and Viking.

Bill was an avid bee keeper, a photographer who built his own darkroom, a sailor who was a Junior Navigator with the U.S. Power Squadrons, and a ham radio operator under the call sign KA2KYI. He possessed excellent carpentry skills, as well.

A long-time resident of Upper Saddle River, NJ, Bill was an active parishioner with the Church of the Presentation, in retirement counting Sunday collections there.

Bill was predeceased by his parents, by his beloved wife Mary Jane M. “Mollie” Wraga (nee Conlon), and by his sisters Eleanor Moll and Dorothy Knorr. He is survived by his second wife Alice Malias-Wraga, by five children from his first marriage, William G. Wraga of Bogart, GA, Ellen Boyle of Ballston Lake, NY, Martin F. X. Wraga of Mullica Hill, NJ, Maryjane A. Wraga of Longmeadow, MA, and Suzanne M. Smith of North Caldwell, NJ, and by nine grandchildren.

He spent the last several months of his life in a skilled nursing facility, where his children also tended to him. 

Looking back on his life, Bill reflected, “Those were the days. Life was complicated, but really very simple.”

The family will receive visitors on Friday, January 20, 2023 at Van Emburgh-Sneider-Pernice Funeral Home in Ramsey, NJ from 4 to 8 p.m. 

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2023 at the Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River, NJ at 11:15 a.m. 

Burial will take place on Saturday, January 21, 2023 at Maryrest Cemetery in Mahwah, NJ.

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