Chester A. Kowal (August 17, 1904 – September 28, 1966) was an American politician, a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player, a

box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

er and a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran. From 1962 to 1965 he was mayor of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

; he was the last non-Democratic mayor of that city until

Byron Brown Byron William Brown II (born September 24, 1958) is an American politician who is the current mayor of Buffalo, New York. He has served as Buffalo's 62nd mayor since January 2006, the City's first African-American mayor and longest serving ...

temporarily switched parties in 2021. He was born into a

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.83% ...

family in Buffalo on August 17, 1904. The family operated a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

at 55 Gittere Street. He attended Hutchinson Central High School. 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. He boxed with the Western New York AAU and was a contender for the U.S. Olympic boxing team. He was married to a Polish-American woman, Stephanie Adamski. His family started Walden Bottling Works in 1924; he managed the company in his spare time. In late 1942, he enlisted in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

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

. In April 1946 he was discharged as a

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

. He was active in veterans organizations. In 1951, Kowal was elected Buffalo city comptroller on the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

ticket. He was defeated in his run for mayor in the 1957 election by Frank A. Sedita, but prevailed in the mayoral election held on November 7, 1961. He served a single term as mayor. On September 28, 1966, he died in his sleep.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowal, Chester A. American politicians of Polish descent Mayors of Buffalo, New York New York (state) Republicans 1904 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American politicians United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Military personnel from Buffalo, New York United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army colonels