Decades of service — Alfred “Al” Wasielewski has been a Resaca City staple for over four decades. Wasielewski was recently recognized by the City of San Benito, his longtime employer, just days after his 76th birthday. He’s also seen bottom right in a NEWS file photo operating his ham radio. (Courtesy photos/City of San Benito, San Benito News Archives)
By TRINA “INDI” JOHNSON
Special to the NEWS
Just four days after his 76th birthday, the City of San Benito declared September 29 Alfred “Al” Wasielewski Day, honoring a man whose decades of service have strengthened the community in both visible and unseen ways.
“I never expected anything like this,” Wasielewski said of the honor. “It’s overwhelming.”
Born in Buffalo, New York, Wasielewski served in the U.S. Navy from 1969 to 1971 as an electronics technician. It was during his service at Great Lakes in North Chicago that he met his late wife, Maria, with whom he formed a lifelong partnership.
“We met, we changed our lives, we moved,” he said. “My wife came down first, and I stayed back for about a month to close up everything. Then I drove down here, and we settled in San Benito. In fact, ever since we moved to Texas, we’ve lived in San Benito.”
After arriving in Texas, Wasielewski began working in maintenance at a local hotel, then moved on to serve at St. Joseph Catholic Church, where he maintained the facilities until 1995. “I felt like I was doing something useful,” he said. “It gave me purpose.”
The City of San Benito called him in the mid-1980s to work as an inspector. “They said, would you like to come to work for the city as an inspector, and I jumped at it,” he said.
During that time, he studied for and earned his master electrician’s license. He stayed with the city until 2002 before moving to Fun N Sun Resort for 17 years.
Retirement, however, was short-lived. “I couldn’t take it, couldn’t take retirement,” he said. “It’s just too much for me,” so Wasielewski turned around and went back to work for the city.
Wasielewski is best known for his 25 years as the city’s emergency management coordinator. A ham radio operator for nearly 50 years, he started helping the city with storm communications as early as 1982.
“Whenever storms came up … I’d be at the old post OPD on Reagan Street, and I was handling emergency communications,” he said.
In 1991, when then-coordinator John Adams retired, Wasielewski was recommended to succeed him. “I took over … I did all the paperwork, I designed the basic plan and the annexes,” he said. Although the work was unpaid at first, he dedicated himself fully. He obtained FEMA grants that supplied two generators for the city, storm shutters for key buildings, and a variety of other resources. “When I got my two generators over here … I turned in a 10-page double-sided report explaining why I needed that generator,” he recalled.
Adjusting from Buffalo to South Texas brought challenges beyond just work. “The most challenging was coming down here … the last thing I went through in Buffalo was a blizzard of ’77 … and the change … to go from summer temperatures around 80-85 to summer temperatures of 110 … it was quite the sticker shock,” he said.
Wasielewski also built close friendships in the community. He remembered Charlie Robinson, former NEWS editor, as one of his best friends.
“Charlie was my best friend when I first got here,” Wasielewski said. “We’d get together every Saturday night, talk, argue, and laugh. He wrote many books on local history. We used to debate about the Gulf versus the forests — I’d say, who wants to sit on hot sand with the sun beating down? I’d rather be in a cool forest with the trees.”
Reflecting on his legacy, Wasielewski emphasized the importance of teamwork and caring for others.
“I’m not a person who holds a grudge,” he said. “There’s no ‘I’ in team. I have three wonderful workers … they take it out of my head and put it into their hands, so to speak, and they get it done for me.”
Beyond work, his passions continue to shape his days. Every lunchtime, his Chihuahua escorts him on a walk.
He spends hours at his radio, maintaining a complete emergency communications setup. “I don’t even need the internet … I can communicate with a tremendous amount of stations,” he said.
He also ponders the lessons from his life and career. “If you go to somebody, don’t go there with your problem. Go there with a way to solve your problem,” he said, recalling advice from an old friend in Buffalo.
Patience and dedication to God, family, and work have guided him. “Don’t ever put anything above God … your job is always going to be a job, but you’re only going to have one family,” he said.
Though 76, Wasielewski remains active, humble, and dedicated. “This is my last job. I would never leave here until they kick me out,” he said. The city and its employees, he added, feel like family. “I’m extremely proud,” he said. “I cared for the city. I wanted to do as much as I could.”
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