Former Lorain Mayor Alex M. "KiKi" Olejko, 87, of Lorain died Wednesday September 9, 2009 at Community Regional Medical Center in Lorain after a lengthly illness.

He was born March 25, 1922 in Lorain and had been a lifelong Lorain area resident.

Kiki attended St. Stanislaus, Hawthrone and Lorain High Schools. During World War II, he worked for the Department of the navy in Peral Harbor for 4 years. Kiki worked at U.S. Steel for 38 years retiring in 1983. He became mayor of Lorain in 1984 serving until 1995. Piror to that he served as Ward 4 and Ward 5 councilperson and as council-at-large. He was appointedto the Lorain County Regional Airport Authority and resigned to serve as Lorain council president in 1983.

Kiki played minor league baseball for the Opelika Owls in Opelika, Alabama. He was a catcher and played against the likes of Bob Feller, Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial. Kiki knew each player personally and would exchange barbs with Musial about their Polish ethnicity. Kiki was a card-carrying member of the Professional Baseball Association. When he came back to Lorain, he continued playing baseball and fast-pitch softball into his 50's.During the 1994 Major League Baseball strike, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner offered Mayor Olejko a professional contract to play baseball for his team for $100.00 more than he was making as mayor of Lorain.

He was a member of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Lorain and the church Holy Name Society, an inductee of the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame an a member of numberous clubs and organizations.

One of Major Olejko's favorite sayings was "Three are only three places to be. Heaven, Puerto Rico and Lorain, Ohio." Now KiKi has visited all three.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years Helen "Scooter" Olejko (nee Kocak), children: Monica Olejko of Berea, William A. Olejko of Vermilion, Patti Tyburski (Bill) of Parma, Bonni Metelsky (Dan) of Amherst, Mary Aylce Woltman (Jim) of Lorain, Kat Varju (Julius Jr.) of Lorain and Christopher Olejko (Lynette) of Lorain, 15 grandchildren, 1 great granddaughter, sisters Berniece Sadowski (Milton), Josephine Schneider (Elmer), Mary Poprock (Edward)and Stella James (Walter)all of Lorain. and Helen Chmielewski of Parma.

Info Source; The Morning Journal∼Alex Olejko, colorful former mayor of Lorain, dies at 87
by The Plain Dealer
Thursday September 10, 2009

1922-2009

Survivors: wife, the former Helen Kocak; children, Monica Olejko of Berea, William A. of Vermillion, Patti Tyburski of Parma, Bonni Metelsky of Amherst, Mary Alyce Woltman of Lorain, Kat Varju of Lorain and Christopher of Lorain; 15 grandchildren; a great-grandaughter; and five sisters

Funeral: 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, 2702 Elyria Ave.

Contributions: Lorain Youth Baseball, P.O. Box 262, Lorain, OH 44052

Arrangements: Gluvna-Shimo-Hromada Funeral Chapel
LORAIN, Ohio — Mayor Alex "Kiki" Olejko offered many quips, but he was fond of one in particular: "There are only three places to be -- heaven, Puerto Rico or Lorain." Olejko's son-in-law, Dan Metelsky, former Lorain councilman and state representative, said Thursday, "Now he's had the opportunity to be all three places."
Olejko, 87, died Wednesday, his third day at Community Regional Medical Center. He'd struggled with several illnesses in old age.

The former steelworker, who ran his lifelong city for a dozen years, was not a polished politician, nor a boring one. He was the hometown cheerleader, leading the charge at council meetings and in interviews with humor, name-dropping and story-telling.

At the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 1988 he tacked "Lorain" pins on just about everyone he met.

Olejko called host Ted Koppel a "candy ass" on Nightline. He once called city Auditor Craig Foltin a "little bean counter," but later apologized when Foltin got the city out of debt.

"You did it, kid. I didn't think you could do it, but you did it," Olejko told the Republican, who later became mayor.

Foltin, now executive vice president of Cuyahoga Community College, said Thursday, "He was a man's man and a tough son of a gun... It started off a little rocky with me and Kiki, but we soon had a strong working relationship. We turned a $4 million deficit into a $4 million surplus."

Olejko was a Democrat, the party which continues to dominate city government. He was elected to city council in 1957, a position he held for 15 years. In 1984, the year after he returned as council president, Mayor Joseph Zahorec died in a car accident. Olejko took over the reins that afternoon.

He stayed until 1995, then bowed out, saying he wanted to relax and spend more time with his wife of 55 years, Helen, and their big family, including seven children, 15 grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

He said Olejko as oh-LAY-koh and Kiki as kie-kie. His parents emigrated from Poland and settled in Lorain, where his father helped build the furnace at the steel mill.

Olejko, one of 11 children, graduated from Lorain High School. During World War II, he spent four years with the Navy at Pearl Harbor. Then came 38 years at the mill.

He also played baseball for the minor-league Opelika Owls in Alabama, earning the nickname Kiki after Hall of Fame outfielder Kiki Cuyler.


Plain Dealer file

Alex Olejko

1922-2009

Survivors: wife, the former Helen Kocak; children, Monica Olejko of Berea, William A. of Vermillion, Patti Tyburski of Parma, Bonni Metelsky of Amherst, Mary Alyce Woltman of Lorain, Kat Varju of Lorain and Christopher of Lorain; 15 grandchildren; a great-grandaughter; and five sisters

Funeral: 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, 2702 Elyria Ave.

Contributions: Lorain Youth Baseball, P.O. Box 262, Lorain, OH 44052

Arrangements: Gluvna-Shimo-Hromada Funeral Chapel

Olejko played catcher, breaking fingers and hurting his knees. About age 60, he had his right knee replaced. An infection resulted, and he lost the lower leg.

With a prosthetic leg, he kept golfing awhile and pitched for city teams against U.S. Navy crews in port. In his wallet, a photograph showed him standing next to acclaimed baseball manager Connie Mack.

After pro ball, politics became Olejko's passion, and he rooted for the home team. He served a councilman for Ward 4 and Ward 5, councilman at large and council president. He also served on the Lorain County Regional Airport Authority.

As mayor, he helped stage a welcome-home parade for Lorain native Terry Anderson, Associated Press's chief Middle East correspondent, released from Lebanon after nearly seven years as a hostage.

"Once he comes back to Lorain and sees the big blue lake when the perch are biting he'll never want to leave," the mayor boasted. That did not happen. Anderson opted for the hills of Athens County.

Olejko did not have much luck with another scheme either. He wanted to donate millions of gallons of water from the Great Lakes to Florida cities devastated in 1992 by Hurricane Andrew, and called on other mayors for help. No one was interested.

He wrote President-elect Bill Clinton a letter, complaining that he snubbed a loyal steelworking town by not visiting Lorain during his campaign and he better come during his presidency.

"All of the damn cities in the world to visit and he went to Springfield, Ohio," Olejko told a reporter. "I told him I expected him to come to Lorain. I expect him to say, 'Yes, mayor, I will come to Lorain.'¤" Clinton never visited the city.

But he did cajole then U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros to visit Lorain.

"He would not sit down and allow other mayors to speak until I promised to visit Lorain," Cisneros told the crowd at the Puerto Rican Home during his 1994 visit to Lorain.

In Columbus, Olejko lobbied for casino ships, telling the Ohio House committee, "I don't have any fear of prostitution, organized gambling or what you might call 'the mafioso.'¤" Casino gambling remains illegal in Ohio.

For his work in appointing Hispanics into city leadership positions, Olejko was honored by the Ohio Commission on Spanish-Speaking Affairs. He visited Puerto Rico once for a conference.

Foltin said Olejko strove to help the city's struggling manufacturers, especially the mills and Ford. He also laid the groundwork for waterfront developments.

After leaving office, Olejko spent time on the city's planning commission and continued to attend council meetings, using a cane or walker for assistance. Metelsky, said Olejko continued to follow local politics and enjoying speculating about who was running for what office.

But in the 1990s he lamented to a New York Times reporter that he missed the old days of politics.

"Years ago you'd see Kennedy and Nixon debate. They'd shake hands and talk about the issues. Now they're talking about families and scandals. It's sickening. I've been in politics since 1957, and I've never seen such crappy ads."

Olejko was sad to see his lifelong church, St. Stanislaus Catholic, set to close at the end of September.

"I was born there, baptized there, went to school there, got married there," he said. "It looks like I won't be buried there."

His Mass will take place there Saturday.

Said Metelsky, "Maybe he wanted to make sure he went the right way."

This obituary was originally written by former Plain Dealer reporter Molly Kavanaugh and updated by Plain Dealer reporter Grant Segall.