Steven R. Romanowski, an Army veteran who had a four-decade career as a glazier, working on public and private projects, including at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., died on Oct. 4 at home in Rensselaerville, N.Y. He was 64. His death, of a heart attack, his family said, was unexpected.
Mr. Romanowski, who had a house in Montauk, was an enthusiastic fisherman who loved travel and camping, especially with friends at Hither Hills State Park there. He enjoyed spending time on his son-in-law, Matthew Meehan’s, boat, which he kept in Montauk, and eating ice cream with his grandsons, Trevor Meehan and Cooper Meehan.
With his construction skills, he was able to help friends build their own houses in places all over the United States, his family said.
He was born on Aug. 23, 1958, in Amityville to Edward Romanowski and the former Edna Eagleston. He went through the public schools in West Babylon, where his family lived, graduating from high school there in 1976. That year as well, he joined the Army and was stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia as a member of the 21st Infantry Company B2. He also served in the 82nd Airborne Battalion. He received the Army Achievement Medal while in the 2nd Battalion 108th Infantry and was honorably discharged in 1980.
He and his high school sweetheart, Annamarie Battista, married on April 27, 1979.
Mr. Romanowski was a member of the New York Army National Guard in Leeds, N.Y., from 1996 to 2003.
In 1980, following his active duty military service, he began as a glazier apprentice and moved up quickly to become a supervisor, foreman, and general superintendent, overseeing a 25-person crew of glassworkers with jobs for Cornell University, Four Seasons Hotels, and the upstate Rivers Casino. He was a member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 9, Local 201, where he was a teacher and mentor to younger workers, and Local 1087 in New York City.
Mr. Romanowski recently retired and had been making plans to drive across the country, travel abroad, and hike the 46 high peaks of the Adirondacks.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughters, Samantha Romanowski of Oregon City, Ore., Nicole Meehan of Montauk, and Elizabeth Romanowski of Guilderland, N.Y. His siblings, Thomas Masterson of West Islip, Vicki Lunegaard of Babylon, Mary Romanowski of Littleton, Colo., Ann Romanowski of Ridge, Teresa Carol of Fredericksburg, Md., and Paul Romanowski of Arvada, Colo., all survive as well.
He was buried at Calverton National Cemetery with military honors on Monday. His family has suggested contributions in his memory to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, Kan. 66675-8516.
