Jerome J. Cichowicz, a retired engineer who worked for Martin-Marietta Corp. and the Edgewood Arsenal, died of cancer Tuesday at his Catonsville home. He was 70.
Mr. Cichowicz was born in Baltimore and raised in Highlandtown. After graduating from Loyola High School in 1951, he enlisted in the Coast Guard. He served as an engine-room fireman aboard the USS Sedge in the Aleutian Islands until he was discharged in 1955.
After earning his bachelor's degree in physics engineering in 1959 from Loyola College, he went to work for Martin-Marietta Corp. at its Middle River plant. He was assigned to the Mercury program in the early days of the nation's space program and witnessed several launches from Cape Canaveral.
He left Martin-Marietta in 1968 and joined Edgewood Arsenal, where much of his work was classified, family members said. He retired in 1987.
Mr. Cichowicz began volunteering in the radiology department at what was then St. Agnes Hospital in Southwest Baltimore. He later was employed part time in the department and continued working there until earlier this year.
Mr. Cichowicz was a member of the Secular Franciscans and was ordained in the Third Order of St. Francis in 1999. He was also a member of St. Agnes Council 4449 of the Knights of Columbus.
He was a former vice president, treasurer and longtime member of the board of Mount DeSales Academy. He also had coached softball for the Edmondson-Westview Recreation Council.
Mr. Cichowicz was a member and Eucharistic minister at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church in Catonsville, where a Mass of Christian burial was offered yesterday.
Survivors include his wife of 45 years, the former Ann Rethman; four daughters, JoAnn Antoszewaki of Arbutus, Amy Corbett of Towson, and Mary Kay Barrick and Suzanne Jones, both of Catonsville; a sister, JoAnna Nies of Silver Spring; and 11 grandchildren.
