Brian Romanowski

"Committed to Christ"

Air Force man didn't let scoliosis stop him

By PETER MALLER
of the Journal Sentinel staff

Brian Romanowski was born with a mild case of scoliosis, a genetic disorder that resulted in the curvature of his spine - but he dreamed of joining the U.S. Air Force.

"He talked about going into the military from the time he was in grade school," his stepmother, Addie Romanowski, said Sunday. "We thought it was impossible because of his medical condition. But he wouldn't take no for an answer."

While a junior at Wauwatosa East High School, Brian Romanowski began talking with a military recruiting officer who encouraged him to enlist. In July 1996, the year Romanowski graduated, he passed a military physical examination and launched the start of his career.

Based at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, Romanowski was promoted to staff sergeant four years after joining. He was trained as a technical analyst, charged with deciding whether repairs on airplanes met necessary aviation standards.

"It was his whole life, said Addie Romanowski. "He lived for the military."

As he returned home from church July 21, Brian Romanowski lost control of his motorcycle and died in a one-vehicle accident. He was 24.

"The Air Force, his family, his religion and his motorcycle were the most important things to him," said Addie Romanowski. "His Christian beliefs followed him into the military."

His sister, Jenifer, a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, flew to Hawaii to accompany her brother's body back to Wisconsin.

Brian Romanowski refused to allow his physical condition to interfere with living a normal life. At Hamilton High School in Milwaukee, where he spent his freshman year, he was a member of the wrestling team. In Wauwatosa, he played trumpet in the high school symphonic and jazz bands.

Romanowski became seriously committed to Christianity when he was 15, Addie Romanowski said. While working as a dishwasher and pizza maker at Balistreri's Italian-American Ristorante, he was inspired by his co-workers and started attending Grace Christian Fellowship in Milwaukee, she said.

"This is a kid who worked as a dishwasher and from his dishwasher's salary, he was giving 10 percent of his salary to the church," she said.

Brian Romanowski was soft-spoken and did not crave attention. But people were drawn to him, Addie Romanowski said.

"He was such a good listener that people always wanted to talk with him," she said. "He would just listen, and his comment was always, 'It's going to be OK.' "

He was still a teenager when his father, Stan, taught him to ride a motorcycle. Stan Romanowski grew up in a motorcycle-riding family. His parents owned a Harley-Davidson, and he rode in the sidecar of their machine.

Brian Romanowski's motorcycle was his only form of transportation, Addie Romanowski said.

"He said he didn't want to be enclosed by doors and metal," she said. "He said he wanted the sun and the wind on his face."

Besides his father, stepmother and sister, he is survived by his mother, Gail Romanowski, and her fiance, James Piche.

Brian Romanowski also is survived by a brother, Jeremy J. Phillips; his grandmother, Virginia Romanowski; a nephew, Justan R. Romanowski; a niece, Sara AnnMarie Phillips; and an aunt and an uncle, Pam and Ross Veitenheimer.

Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. today at Grace Christian Fellowship, 9900 W. Capitol Drive. The service will follow at noon. Interment will be at Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Union Grove, at 2:30 p.m.

The family suggested memorials to the church.

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