Harry Edward Pilarski Apr. 25, 1922 - Apr. 16, 2014 NAPLES, FL - Harry Edward "Bud" Pilarski of Naples, Florida, died on April 16, 2014 at Physicians Regional Hospital after a brief illness. He was 91 years old.

Harry is survived by his beloved wife of 65 years, Carol Louise (Broxholm) Pilarski; daughter Kim Pilarski-Hall of Knoxville, Tennessee; grandson Ian Edward Pilarski Turner of Morgantown, West Virginia; granddaughter Alexandra Jane Turner of Savannah, Georgia, sister Jane M. (Pilarski) Calef of Omaha, Nebraska, sister Virginia M. (Pilarski) Campbell of South Bend, Indiana; and fourteen nieces and nephews, including beloved nephew Edward J. Pilarski and his wife Gina of Niles, Michigan.

He was preceded in death by son-in-law Richard F. (Rikki) Hall of Knoxville, Tennessee, brothers Edward and Donald, and parents.

Born April 25, 1922 in South Bend, Indiana to Edward A. and Anna (Paczesny), Harry attended South Bend Central High School and Purdue University where he played baseball and was a member of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity.

He served in World War II as a radar crewman with the 129th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, seeing ground combat in Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes; Rhineland, and Central Europe.

After the war Harry taught high school in Albion, Michigan and Niles Michigan, where he coached baseball and taught biology. In 1960 Harry and Carol opened an A&W Drive In in Buchanan, Michigan, which they ran with love and fun for 18 years. They had the pleasure of mentoring and working with scores of Buchanan's teenagers over the years, many of whom still keep in touch. After retiring to Naples in 1978, Harry started a new career as an animal control officer with Collier County, which was the source of more fun stories and adventures.

No service is planned. Please honor Harry via a gift to Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Naples. www.rookerybay.org. Arrangements entrusted to The Beachwood Society, 4444 N. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1, Naples, FL 34103.

.Published in South Bend Tribune from Apr. 19 to Apr. 21, 2014

08/07/2022 EJS