John Kopczynski

John F. Kopczynski was born in Buffalo, NY on April 30, 1917 and was a lifetime resident of Western New York. He was active in sports and music but always felt his greatest accomplishment as a youth was achieving the rank of Eagle Scout from Troop 142. He attended Buffalo Technical High School and then the Rochester Institute of Technology where he graduated in 1939. He served his toolmaker apprenticeship at Burke Tool & Die in Buffalo, NY and was employed at Bell Aircraft where he eventually became Chief Tool Engineer.

Mr. Kopczynski then co-founded his own business in 1945, the Pivot Punch and Die Corporation. The company grew around many of his patents, the most successful being the “Pivot Punch” which revolutionized the metalworking punch and die industry world wide. This company grew to over 300 people at two facilities. In 1955 the partner’s went in separate directions each taking a part of the business.

Mr. Kopczynski then went on to become mayor of North Tonawanda, NY from 1957 – 1959. During this time he also founded the St. Mary Manufacturing Corporation, a metalworking firm located in North Tonawanda, NY where he continued his inventive ways. During his lifetime he succeeded in obtaining approximately 80 patents, one of which being the St. Mary “Spin Roll”, a holding fixture that is widely used in the metalworking industry. His research and patent work took him from all terrain vehicles on land with his “walk wheel” patent, (oval wheels instead of round for increased traction) to outer space with his theories on gravity and planet rotations within our solar system. His favorite quotation which was not his own was “man does not invent, he only discovers that which is already in nature”. An example of this would be his patented “Trotter” vehicle concept, which duplicated on wheels, the motion of a horse’s legs in its method of movement.

In 1975, Mr. Kopczynski also founded Ascension Sheet & Metal Fabrication, Inc. for light metal fabrication. The company was started by purchasing the assets of the former Joyce Plumbing and Heating Co. of Tonawanda, NY. After a few years in Tonawanda, Ascension moved into the former Richardson Boat Company building on Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda and is still occupying the building in 2007.

In 2000, both St. Mary Manufacturing Corporation and Ascension Sheet & Metal Fabrication, Inc. were merged into one entity and renamed Ascension Industries, Inc. with headquarters on Erie Avenue in North Tonawanda, NY. The merger was successful in that Ascension Industries grew to become a first class metalworking manufacturer with strong welding, fabrication, machining and turnkey assembly capabilities for original equipment manufacturer’s throughout the United States.

As revealed in the names of his established manufacturing companies, Mr. Kopczynski was a deeply religious man. The “6:30 Club” of St. Christopher’s Church would find him faithfully attending the 6:30 AM services daily to which he would walk from his home. The Madonna statue that he commissioned from an artist in Italy was prominently displayed on the front lawn of St. Mary Manufacturing on Erie Avenue until he donated it to the Knights of Columbus in North Tonawanda to commemorate their new building on Erie Avenue, which they benevolently named the Madonna Chapter. A significant religious achievement was his being appointed a Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem by the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

His community and civic involvement, besides being mayor of North Tonawanda, included distinguished service awards from the Lions Club of the Tonawanda’s, Junior Chamber of Commerce and an American Legion award for Americanism. Also, he was a Fellow of the Lions Club International Foundation. He was a Charter Commissioner of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. In addition, he served as a member of the Board of Regents of Canisius College and Chairman of its “Chair of Polish Culture” and was a member emeritus of the Council of University at Buffalo. He was also a member of the Advisory Board of Kenmore Mercy Hospital, a member of the Tonawanda Industrial Expansion Corp. (TIEC), and the Society for the Promotion, Unification and Redevelopment of Niagara, Inc. (SPUR). In 1968, he was named “Citizen of the Year” by the Chamber of Commerce of the Tonawanda’s. Mr. Kopczynski was also one of the first contributors to provide funding for the startup of the North Tonawanda History Museum.

Mr. Kopczynski was married for 65 years to Alexandra (Piech) Kopczynski, also a life long resident of Western New York. They had two sons, John Jr. and Michael. Mr. Kopczynski died in February 2005 leaving behind a successful business and a family charitable foundation to continue his participation within the community and to carry on all his hopes, dreams and aspirations. He molded his life around the belief that “you’ve got to put into life more than you get out of it”. Those of us who knew him firmly believe that he did accomplish this.