Chester A. Kowal
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Chester A. Kowal (August 17, 1904-September 28, 1966) was an American politician, a basketball player, a boxer and a World War II veteran. From 1962 to 1965 he was mayor of Buffalo, New York.
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[edit] Early life
He was born into a Polish-American family in Buffalo on August 17, 1904, the eldest of eight children. When his blacksmith father was disabled in an accident, the family decided to open a grocery store at 55 Gittere Street. At 13, Kowal became second in charge at the store.
He attended St. Adalbert's School, School 58, and Hutchinson Central High School. After high school, he went to work as an auditor-accountant for a tire firm. In 1920, at the age of 16, he lied about his age to join the 106th Field Artillery, National Guard , but left the unit when his actual age was found out.
[edit] Basketball
He turned down a basketball scholarship to Canisius College in Buffalo in order to play professionally to earn money. He played with the once world champion German Orioles and the Buffalo Lincolns basketball teams, and also played semi-pro baseball with the Easter Brands.
[edit] Boxer
Kowal was also an outstanding boxer. Once he found himself fighting for the Western New York AAU welterweight championship because the original opponent was not available. He won three decisions that night which made him a contender for the U.S. Olympic boxing team. Unfortunately, he later injured his right hand, which put him out of contention.
During this time Kowal attended the Buffalo School of Commerce, as well as attending the University of Buffalo in the evenings.
[edit] Early worklife
For a while he worked for a tailor and joined Local 20 of the United Garment Workers of America. He later became secretary, and then president of the union; he kept his union membership for the rest of his life.
His family started Walden Bottling Works in 1924, a company that bottled carbonated beverages at the height of Prohibition. He managed the company in his spare time.
There is a mention that Kowal was the 1924 Golden Gloves welterweight champion. If true, it was possibly for the State of New York or the Buffalo area.
In 1926 he entered his first public position as an auditor in the Department of Parks and Public Buildings of the City of Buffalo.
In late 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Force as a private and was sent to Officers' Training School. He saw service in the U.S. Southwest before serving five months in the Pacific Theater during World War II. In April 1946 he was discharged as a lieutenant-colonel. He was president of the Pope Field Officers' Club during part of this period.
Kowal became the first World War II veteran elected Erie County American Legion commander in 1950.
[edit] Politics
That same year he turned down the Republican endorsement for state senator because of his Legion activity.
In 1951 Kowal ran for city comptroller on the Republican ticket. He was successful in his first election, defeating the incumbent Democrat by nearly 5,000 votes. In 1955 Kowal won a second term by nearly 25,000 votes. During his tenure he modernized and centralized accounting and payroll procedures and increased the city's return on investment funds by close to $400,000 in one year. He devised a long-range debt management and reduction plan which was approved by the Buffalo Common Council in 1952.
[edit] Race for Mayor
Since Kowal had made such a strong showing in his previous race for comptroller, he was chosen in 1957 to represent the Republican Party as their mayoral candidate. He ran unopposed in the September Republican primary and was thus at liberty to concentrate solely on the November election. City Court Judge Frank A. Sedita won the Democratic nomination over the endorsed candidate, Elmer F. Lux. Lux remained in the race as an independent.
On October 30, 1957, after leaving a political rally, Kowal's car was struck while en route to another rally. He was slightly injured and was not able to campaign as vigorously as before. William C. Marcy, Senator Mahoney and other friends decided to carry on Kowal's campaigning.
The general election was held on November 5, 1957. In an amazingly tight mayoral race, Sedita just edged Kowal. As Republican campaign workers tallied the votes, they appeared to be losing in most offices. Present at Republican headquarters in the Ellicott Square Building were former Mayors Bernard Dowd and Joseph Mruk, "reminders of more jubilant election nights in the past."
The unofficial vote tally was: Sedita 72,306; Kowal 72,246; Lux 45,759; James A. Peck (Liberal) 1,835; and 4,477 void and blank. The counting went right down to the last two districts and it appeared that Sedita had won by 60 votes.
[edit] Second run for mayor
Chester Kowal ran again for mayor in 1961. After three years of Sedita rule, Kowal wanted another chance. His campaign planks called for "removing politics from the Police Department, a workable environmental plan, relief from 'unfair' assessments and high taxes, helping industry and business, traffic improvements, public safety, human betterment, a Senior Citizens' Commission, and integrity in politics." Kowal was endorsed by at least 12 organized labor unions. Sedita was the endorsed Democratic candidate.
In the primary election, held on September 7, 1961, Mayor Sedita lost his race to Councilman Victor I. Manz by 25,337 votes to 24,900. Sedita was determined to stay in the mayoral race and so continued as an independent on the Citizen's Party ticket. In addition, Peter B. Carr also ran as an independent.
The final electoral contest between Kowal and Sedita occurred on November 7, 1961. The Republicans made a much stronger showing in most offices than they had in the past few years. In the four-way race for mayor, Kowal came out on top, defeating Sedita, 74,995 votes to 62,196. As in the 1957 race, the third candidate garnered a lot of support, with Manz receiving 51,899 votes and Carr 8,016. The GOP gained two more seats on the Common Council, bringing their total to four.
[edit] Other life
Chester Kowal was married to a Polish-American woman, Stephanie Adamski, and they had two children. They lived at 60 North Parade Avenue in Buffalo.
Kowal was active in many social and fraternal organizations, including the Buffalo Trap & Field Club and the Knights of Columbus. He was past national director of the Polish Union of America. He was also a member of the Polish Alliance, the Moose, the Competitive Civil Service Employees Association, the Villa Maria Aid Association, the Buffalo Area Boy Scouts of America, the Garment Workers of America Local 20, the Elks Chapter No. 23, the Male Choir of Bavaria, and was former director of the Greater Buffalo Advertising Club.
He was past commander of the Erie County American Legion, past commander of the Adam Plewacki Post #799, former director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Amvets, and the Disabled American Veterans.
On September 28, 1966, Kowal died in his sleep. The apparent cause was heart failure due to heart disease, from which he had suffered for several years.
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