John J. Gawronski
John came to Upstate New York in 2004 with his wife and three children, and settled in Norwich in 2006. John and his wife, Shannon, decided to leave the Washington, D.C., area for Upstate New York in order to raise their children in an environment similar to that enjoyed by Shannon, who was raised in nearby Greene.
John began working part-time at the Wilson Funeral Home in late 2009. In 2010, he enrolled in the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service’s mortuary studies program and soon after began working full-time at the funeral home. In April 2011, John graduated from mortuary school with magna cum laude honors and passed the national boards exam shortly thereafter. He is currently completing his funeral director residency requirement at the Wilson Funeral Home, and expects to obtain his funeral director license in June 2012.
While studying , John received the 2010 Scholarship Award provided by the Tribute Foundation, a philanthropic arm of the New York State Funeral Directors Association that represents over 900 funeral firms and 3,500 licensed funeral directors statewide. He was also awarded a “Second Career” scholarship from the educational trust of the Selected Independent Funeral Homes, an international organization of independently-owned funeral homes that has served the funeral service profession and families since 1917.
John earned a bachelor’s degree from the George Washington University (Washington, DC), and completed a graduate-level teacher education program at GWU. He is also a NY licensed secondary education teacher.
Prior to his funeral service endeavors, John worked for a time in banking, including NBT Bank, headquartered in Norwich. Prior to his move to NY, John also worked at Nextel Communications and the Washington Post newspaper. His most unique work experience was during a ten-year period as a senior legislative aide for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and director of a congressional relations office for a national, non-profit organization of state utility regulators.
John met his wife, Shannon, originally of Greene, in Washington, D.C., where she also worked on Capitol Hill. John and Shannon are the proud parents of three beautiful children: Erin, age 15, Gabe, age 11, and Katie, age 9, who attend Norwich City Schools.
Outside of work, John keeps busy with activities and events sponsored by the Norwich Family YMCA, where Shannon works as its health and fitness director. Together they coach youth basketball and indoor soccer teams, and assist the Norwich YMCA Dolphins swim team. John also serves on the Board of Directors of Hospice & Palliative Care of Chenango County. He also enjoys playing basketball, and can be consistently found carrying or reading works of history or current events.
