A pharmacist in Cicero for 26 years, Erwin Joseph Gadzinski, 66, did more than fill prescriptions. “He really got to know people and took time to answer their questions,” said his son, Andrew. Mr. Gadzinski died of cancer Friday, Feb. 20, in his North Barrington home. The son of a pharmacist, Mr. Gadzinski grew up in Cicero, where he graduated from Morton East High School. In 1961 after receiving a degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Pharmacy, he began working as a pharmacist at his father’s drugstore on Rush Street in Chicago, near Holy Name Cathedral. “He used to take prescriptions over to the cardinal’s mansion,” his son said. Mr. Gadzinski worked for Golden Rexall Pharmacy in Berwyn, and in 1963 bought Nowak Drugs from an uncle in Cicero, which he renamed Erwin Rexall Pharmacy. He married his first wife, Kate O’Neil, in 1964. The couple started a family and moved to Stickney, where they lived until divorcing after 22 years. In 1988, Mr. Gadzinski married again, to Mary. The following year he sold his pharmacy and went to work for a pharmacy in Barrington. After that pharmacy closed, Mr. Gadzinski went to work for Dominick’s Finer Foods. He handled quality-control issues at stores, then became head pharmacist at the chain’s store in Crystal Lake. He stopped working six months ago because of illness. Active in the Polish American Pharmacy Association, Mr. Gadzinski was its president for one term in the 1970s. In addition to his wife, former wife and son, survivors include daughters Margaret Kencewicz and Victoria O’Neil; a sister, Mary Ann Rinella; and two grandchildren. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 337 Ridge Rd., Barrington.
