- Date Of Birth: September 29, 1941
- Date Of Death: May 18, 2013
- State: Illinois
Florian J. Cholewinski 71 of Woodbine died Saturday, May 18, 2013 at home.
He was born September 29, 1941 in Chicago the son of the late Florian & Evelyn (Schimel) Cholewinski. He graduated in 1959 from St. Mel High School in Chicago and attended Roosevelt University. He served in the US Army during Vietnam. Flory & Sharon Gurican were married on February 3, 1973 in Chicago, together they purchased the Beyer farm north of Woodbine in 1989 and built Vel Terra Ranch from the ground up where they had a vision & a dream that made it what it is today.
He had been an Insurance Sales Representative for Mutual of New York and Guardian Life Insurance Companies. Florian started his music career at a young age playing accordion in competitions. Playing music was his life’s ambition. He especially enjoyed his time served in the US Army Band. He played in the Indianapolis and Chicagoland area with his own group, The Joint Effort, and many other groups. He enjoyed listening to R&B, big bands and many of the older musician greats. He was also an avid stamp collector starting his first album at age 8.
Florian served as Salvation Army Regional Representative for Carroll County for many years and also assisted disaster victims through Salvation Army’s volunteer service. He went through Hospice Training. He was a member of the NRA and was politically active and had joined the Tea Party. At Vel Terra Ranch he enjoyed his horses Ace & Oats and his dogs Tye & Snickers. He began experimenting with cast iron cooking and creating different recipes, also baking and going out to eat.
Flory is survived by his wife Sharon, 2-daughters; Julie (Brad) Nelson of Downers Grove, IL, Stephanie (Brian) Cecola of Barrington Hills, Il, 2-sons; Joseph Cholewinski of Venice CA, Scott (Tricia) Cholewinski of Lindenhurst, IL, 8-grandchildren; Andrew Nelson, Mikala Cecola, Grant Cecola, Thomas Nelson, Nathan Cholewinski, Caitlyn Cholewinski, Ryan Cholewinski Tyler Cecola.
He was preceded in death by his parents and 3-brothers Leonard, Joseph & Lawrence.
