Wiesław "Bill" Kozek

Obituary

With deep sadness, we announce the passing of our beloved husband/father Wieslaw Joseph (Bill) Kozek, who was born in Poland on February 6, 1939 and passed away on August 29, 2026 peacefully in his sleep at home in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Bill was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, godfather, friend, neighbor, professor, mentor, researcher, colleague, world traveler, and life-long learner. Bill led a full life that touched many people. His wisdom was shared freely so we could use it to help others. Dinnertime conversations were long and entertaining. We listened. We laughed. We learned. There were stories. There were discussions. There were lessons. Bill inspired us to learn more, to do more, and above all, to do good for others, especially those who may not have been as fortunate as we were. Bill lived by example, patiently, graciously, and thoughtfully. 

Bill was born in eastern Poland in early 1939. He was the youngest of 6 siblings. At the start of World War II, when Bill was 7 months old, his family was forcibly relocated to a Siberian labor camp (the notorious Gulag). Most survived. His mother and siblings were eventually transferred to a refugee camp in Tanzania (Africa) until Bill was 6 years old. Bill fondly remembers the view of Mt. Kilimanjaro off on the horizon and the excitement when camp would occasionally go on lock-down because a wild predator had been sighted nearby. After the War ended, Bill's family was reunited in Derbyshire, England, where they lived until Bill was 16. Then in 1955, they immigrated to Buffalo, New York, which remains the extended Kozek family's epicenter.

After graduating from Canisius College in Buffalo, Bill moved to New Orleans to pursue a doctorate in microbiology specializing in parasitology and tropical medicine at Tulane University. These studies would, in turn, set the course for the next few decades of Bill's exotic adventure. Bill met Mireya, his wife of 55 years, in New Orleans while working on his dissertation. They were married in 1971. Their son Mark was born while Bill held a post-doctoral position at the University of Florida Medical School. Their daughter Laura was born while Bill held a post-doctoral position at a University of California-Davis Medical School. Their son Robert was born while Bill directed a research laboratory in Colombia. In 1984, Bill and Mireya settled in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where for 35 years he taught at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Science Campus ("el Recinto") until his retirement in 2019.

Scientifically, Bill dedicated his life to the pioneering studies of Wolbachia endosymbionts and Trichinella spiralis. His work contributed to helping establish the scientific basis for antibiotic approaches to filarial diseases. Bill was also recognized for applying advanced light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy to investigate the life cycles of parasitic nematodes.

An active presenter at national research conferences, Bill made it back to Buffalo as often as he could and caught up with Mark, Laura, and Robert, who by now, had left our beloved Island and scattered across the United States. Through the international research conference circuit, (joined by Mireya) Bill continued to travel the world to catch up with his classmates, his colleagues, and his collaborators, both new and old. More meals were shared and more stories were told, mostly about their families and about life. (One memorable such meal took place in Derbyshire in 2006, a reunion with Bill's elementary school besties, whom he hadn't seen since the early 1950s--more than 50 years earlier!)

Upon his retirement, (briefly interrupted by Covid) Bill and Mireya continued to travel and to visit their family. Bill rode a camel and slept overnight in the Sahara Desert. Bill went to the 2021 US Tennis Open. Bill attended the 2022 MLS Cup Final (Go LAFC!, where Mark and Robert are members.) Bill cruised the Nile River and walked through the Valley of Pharaohs. Bill traveled to the end of the world (Ushuaia, Argentina). Bill took in the view from the top of tallest building in the world (Burj Khalifa, Dubai). Bill attended his older brother Leszek's surprise 90th birthday, he attended a grand-nephew's wedding last summer, and he attended his grandson Dashiell's birthdays. This summer Bill embarked on a Danube River cruise through Eastern Europe. The week before his passing, Bill was keen to finalize the details for an upcoming conference in Colombia and subsequently, to plan a "bucket-list" trip to see the Great Wall of China.

In the weeks before his sudden and unexpected passing, Bill had been eager to talk to family and friends about the aforementioned Danube River cruise: about the people he met, the new places he visited, the new cultures he experienced, the myriad photos he had taken that needed to be uploaded. We believe Bill spoke to many of you about this trip. (This paragraph is still in progress.)

Bill is survived by his wife Mireya, his children Mark (Melissa), Laura (Vikram), and Robert, his grandson Dashiell, his older brother Leszek, and many beloved nieces and nephews. Bill was predeceased by his parents Jan (1971) and Aniela (1979), and his siblings Tadeusz (1940), Ludmila (1998), Eugeniusz (2001), and Krystyna (2017).

Another announcement.

The University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus posted the following In Memoriam on the UPR Medical School's Facbook page.

Note about Internet Safety

NOTE: If a website asks you to pay for anything besides an "in lieu of flowers" option with KF (you will know what we mean), it is not the official website. Our website may have been hijacked and copied without the family's authorization. Sadly this happens. Please contact the family directly via email or text for the correct link to Bill's Memorial website.

Gallery

Memory wall

Favorites

Our Celebration of Bill's Life

In Lieu of Flowers