Mitchell Budniak

Mitchell Budniak, of Highland Park, closed his tab , a few minutes before Last Call on Friday, July 8th, 2022, at the incredible age of 81. He was born in Poroda, Sarny, Volhynian Voivodeship, in the Second Polish Republic on August 3, 1940, in the midst of total global war. His family survived the massacres of Volhynian Poles in 1942, and enslavement by the Third Reich until the end of the war, in what became his longstanding tradition of refusing to die in situations where it seemed all but certain. The family eventually resettled in the United States in 1951 and made Chicago their new home. Despite the fragmented and incomplete education he received in Germany during the war, as well as the fact that he spoke no English, Mitch excelled academically. Following graduation from Holy Trinity High School in 1959, he became the first person in his family to attend college, earning an engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He went on to achieve success in the field of electrical engineering, as a freelance designer of circuits for power supply systems. Mitch was the living embodiment of everything promised by the American Dream. Mitch was a confirmed bachelor until age 44, when he met his future wife Jennifer Boyd while working at Qwint Systems. They married in 1985 and settled in Highland Park, where they raised a son and two daughters. In 2021, they welcomed a granddaughter and grandson within a six-month span of time. Mitch spent his final year on Earth doing what he arguably did best; singing songs that made babies laugh, at least five days a week. Mitch is survived by his beloved wife of 37 years, Jennifer Budniak; his son Joseph Budniak (Tracy Anderson), daughters Michelle Budniak (Alan Molumby), and Andrea Harrison (Michael Harrison); his granddaughter Kaia Harrison, grandson Rowan Molumby, and bonus granddaughter Ruby Molumby. Mitch is also survived by his sisters Alice (the late Chester) Dynia, Kristine (the late Marion) Krzak, and Harriet Budniak; twelve nieces and nephews, and many more great nieces and great nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Jozef Budniak and Stella Budniak (née Szymanski), his Uncle Walter Budniak and Aunt Mania (née Szymanski) Budniak, sisters Helen (the late James) Szukala, Irene (the late John) Borawski, and niece Lucille Borawski. Visitation will be held on Monday, July 11th beginning at 4 pm, at Muzyka & Son Funeral Home, 5776 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL. A Funeral Service will follow on Tuesday, July 12th at 10 AM at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, Mitch would prefer that you perform a random act of administrative defiance towards an uptight local bureaucrat, share a piece of sausage with somebody else's dog, or donate in his name to PAWS Chicago, https://my.pawschicago.org/tribute-donations/Donate.

Mitchell Budniak

August 3, 1940 - July 8, 2022