Julian Sornat

Julian Sornat was born on 21 November 1941 in Harsleben, Germany during World War II. He was 2nd of 5 children of Julian Sornat and Antonina Podyma. Julian grew up in south western Poland since the age of 5. He went to Technikum Mechaniczne a High School in Kłodzko, where he was a good athlete. He competed as a mid-distance runner at national championship in Poland. After high school, he was drafted to Polish Naval forces, where he was an intelligence desk analyst. Julian graduated from College in Wroclaw with a degree in education. Initially he worked as a teacher in high school where he thought various courses, including math, Russian and technical subjects. He eventually became a school administrative manager. In 1967, he met his future wife Emilia whom he married the following year; heir 52nd anniversary was exactly one week before his decease. In 1970 his only son, Gregory, was born. Living in Poland in the early 80s Julian joined rising Solidarity movement and became one of its leaders in the lower Silesia region. After the communist regime declared martial law in Poland, Julian continued his fight against oppression underground. Local communist authorities attempted to make his life very miserable; frequent arrests, interrogations, night time home searches, psychological and physical threats became a norm. Finally, in July of 1987 Julian has left Poland for Italy where he has spent next 15 months. In 1988 Julian has settled in York, PA, where he started a new life and worked as a machinist. He worked very hard, often long hours in order to ensure his son could afford to go to college. In 2002 Julian became a proud grandfather when Sara was born; three years later his 2nd granddaughter, Isabella, has arrived. In 2013 he finally retired and moved with his wife to Palm Bay, Fl to be closer to his son, daughter-in law and grandchildren. Throughout his life Julian has fought a long battle against cancer. He has lost his first kidney in 1981; he underwent dozens of surgeries and finally the last portion of his 2nd kidney was removed in 2014. He spent next 6 years undergoing chemo dialysis. In January of 2020 Julian has undergone a kidney transplant; the recovery was long and erratic. He spent last several months battling various post-surgery complications. On August 10, 2020 at 05:28 AM EST, his heart did not endure. He passed away at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, FL.