Walter J. Kolkowski, 78, of Prospect Heights, was a security guard with Glenbrook Security Service, Glenview, for the past 8 years. Mr. Kolkowski was previously a maitre d’ and restaurant captain for more than 40 years, most recently at the Old Orchard Country Club in Mt. Prospect. In the 1950s, he was a waiter at the Pump Room in Chicago. Mr. Kolkowski died Saturday, Jan. 6, in Glenbrook Hospital, Glenview. He served with the Merchant Marine during World War II and received the Atlantic War Zone bar, the Mediterranean-Middle East War Zone bar and the Merchant Marine Combat bar. For 28 years, Mr. Kolkowski served as an usher in St. Alphonsus Ligouri Catholic Church in Prospect Heights. “He always was very generous,” said his daughter Prisca Kolkowski Tibbetts. “He was a fabulous chef and cook. He always made sure that anyone who was hungry was fed. He even fed the animals near his house. He fed the deer that would gather there, the opossum, raccoons, geese and fish. Every stray animal knew my dad,” his daughter said. “He was very active. He always worked hard in his garden. He was always smiling, always had a positive attitude. He lived life to the fullest.” Other survivors include his wife, Rita; four other daughters, Carmen Dean, Susan Gensen, Stacy Noll and Cynthia; three sons, Michael Backlund, Walter Backlund and Richard Reno; his mother, Anna; three sisters, Helen Dandurand, Mary Murphy and Josephine Evans; a brother, Stan; 12 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. A memorial mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Alphonsus Ligouri Catholic Church, 411 N. Wheeling Rd., Prospect Heights.
