Leon Stanley Kawecki; Designed Commemorative Medals

Leon Stanley Kawecki, 79, designed commemorative medals and posters and painted portraits of historical figures of Polish descent. Born in Poland in

1921, Kawecki spent time in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp, arrived in the United States in 1951, and became a citizen five years later. He worked as a designer at Meade Packaging in Buena Park for 35 years, until he retired in 1989, making his medals and painting in his spare time. He designed a silver and bronze medal to salute the 175th anniversary of the birth of Polish composer Frederic Chopin. Other medals commemorated Pope John Paul II and George Washington flanked by his fellow “freedom fighters,” the Polish-born Generals Thaddeus Kosciuszko and Casimir Pulaski. Among his posters was one marking the 500th anniversary of the birth of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus in 1973. One of his last medals was a salute to one of Poland’s greatest actresses, Madame Helena Modjeska, who became the leading Shakespearean actress in the United States in the 1880s. Kawecki, who lived in Garden Grove, died Wednesday.