John W. Kuncas

John William Kuncas, age 95 of Export, Pennsylvania died August 5th, 2021.   He was born February 19th, 1926 in Naugatuck, Connecticut, son of Lithuanian immigrant parents Theodore Kuncas and Mary Maciuta Kuncas.  He had two sisters, Anne and Francis, and an older half-brother Stanley from his mother’s deceased first husband.  After graduating from Naugatuck High School in 1943 he immediately enlisted in the U.S. Navy.  After basic training at Sampson Navy base in New York, his post was radar operator on the troop transport USS W.A. Mann, carrying troops to North Africa.  He received an honorable discharge in 1946, then reenlisted several months later.   In 1948 he entered the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1952.  He was ordered to the USS Gurke, deployed to Southeast Asia to support military actions on the Korean peninsula.   Returning to the U.S., he was ordered to the carrier USS Shangri-La and again deployed to Southeast Asia.  Returning from that assignment he attended the U.S. Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California, where he met his wife, Judith Cary Davis, daughter of William V. Davis, Jr.  They were married in Washington D.C. at the United States Naval Chapel.  After graduation, he was ordered to the USS Kepler, then assigned to shore duty in Vietnam in 1967.   His final service assignment was as an instructor in Electronics at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.  His medals and decorations include the World War II Victory Medal, China Service Medal w/ 2 stars, Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal 2nd Award, Vietnam Service Medal with device, and the Bronze Star.   He retired from the Navy in 1970, settling in Export, PA.  He taught Electronics at the Community College of Allegheny County in Monroeville, then the main campus in Pittsburgh.  He retired from teaching in 1985.  He served several terms as commander of the American Legion Post in Export, and as a troop leader with Boy Scout Troop 205, at Newlonsburg Presbyterian at that time.  Interested in his ethnic heritage, he learned to speak Lithuanian again and traveled to Lithuania several times to visit relatives, historical and religious landmarks.  He was a member of the Lithuanian Citizens Society of Western Pennsylvania and participated in cultural events at the Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning’s Nationality Rooms.  His interest in the American Civil war led him to take family trips to many battlefield sites and become a member of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association.   In retirement, he enjoyed traveling with his wife Judith to other countries to visit distant relatives, famous cultural sites, and other places of interest.   His hobbies included beekeeping, photography, fishing, hunting, and reading.  He was a licensed amateur radio operator, call sign W3OSM, and a member of ARRL, the Amateur Radio Association.  He was a member of St. Mary’s church in Export, then Mother of Sorrows Church in Murrysville.  He engaged in charitable activities; he collected and delivered several truckloads of donated clothes, bicycles, household items, and sewing machines for shipment to Lithuania, organized by the Lithuanian Catholic Nuns.  Widowed in 2017, he is survived by his sons Andrew and Thomas, his daughter Christina and two grandchildren.  A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, September 17, 2021 at Mother of Sorrows Church, Murrysville at 10 a.m.  He will be interred alongside his wife, Judith in the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies at 2 p.m.     www.hartfuneralhomeinc.com