Frank John Sopko Sr.

Frank John Sopko, Sr., 94, a resident of Alexandria, Virginia, passed away at home on July 4, 2024. The fact that he died on the 4^th of July was symbolic as he was a very proud U.S. Army Korean combat veteran who loved America.

Frank was born on January 29, 1930, in Kosice, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to Ignac Sopko and Maria Bartosova.  During WWII when the Jewish population began hiding from the Nazi regime, some were aided by Frank’s family.  After a Slovak collaborator reported him to enemy soldiers, Frank was captured and placed in a labor camp, where he remained until General Patton’s unit liberated the camp at the end of the war.  Following liberation of the camp, Frank, who spoke Polish, communicated with a young Polish American soldier informing them about the German’s armory placement throughout the area.  The soldiers “adopted” him during this timeframe and ended up smuggling him into the United States on a U.S. military vessel bound for Norfolk, Virginia. Once he arrived, his passage to Ellis Island was paid by the ship’s captain.  Once Frank was documented and cleared by the immigration authorities, he was sent to a distant relative of his mother in Pennsylvania.  He lived there until a St. Benedictine priest arranged for him to be boarded at the school for boys in Cleveland, Ohio.  During his time at St. Benedictine, Frank was on the track, football, and wrestling team where he was a teammate of the late Chuck Noll who later became the Pittsburgh Steeler’s football coach.

Following completion of high school at St. Benedictine, Frank moved to Dearborn, Michigan with a fellow student, Stephen Luptak and lived with him and Stephen’s mom. During this time, Frank was hired to work for Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, and after the Korean War broke out, although not yet a U.S. citizen, Frank joined the United States Army on March 8, 1951.  Not long afterwards, he was assigned to Company I 160 Infantry Regiment and was soon shipped to Korea where he saw 9 months of combat.  Frank was honorably discharged on December 8, 1952, with two bronze stars.  Following his discharge from the U.S. Army, Frank was notified that his previous requests for citizenship had been denied as the Displaced Person’s Act had expired while he was serving on the front lines in Korea, and he was to be deported back to communist-controlled Czechoslovakia. When it became apparent that Frank was on the front lines in Korea when the law expired, Mr. Arnold Zeleznik, a local attorney, became interested in his case, and with his help, local newspapers and radio stations began making his case known. Following the involvement of local television stations, local politicians, and Michigan Senator Ferguson working with Congress, Frank was granted permanent resident status on May 6, 1953, and he was sworn in as a naturalized U.S. citizen on April 6, 1954.  Frank later became an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Affairs (VFW) Stg. Stanley F. Romanowski Post #6896 in Detroit, Michigan on January 22,1955, and was a member of the VFW’s honor guard where he proudly honored fallen soldiers, active, reserve, and retired for several decades.

Years later Frank’s son Stephen hired a researcher to locate his family in Kosice, Slovakia and in 2005, after more than 62 years from being taken from his home, he was reunited with three of his remaining sisters, a few nephews and nieces, and their children.  It was a very moving experience for him and his two son’s Stephen and David who were on the trip with him.

Frank was loved by many and will be remembered by all for his great story telling and his sense-of-humor.  He loved to fish, attend Slovak festivals where he would dance with all the beautiful young ladies, and most of all he enjoyed spending time with his sons and grandchildren giving them advice on how to live a successful, happy life.

Frank was preceded in death by his parents, siblings, his granddaughter Jennifer (daughter of his son David), and the love of his life, wife Linda Diane Martin.  He is survived by his sons: Stephen Sopko (Karen); David Sopko (Jolinda); Frank Sopko, Jr. (Louise); Joseph Sopko (Carolyn); and nine grandchildren: Morgan, Eric, Rachael, Jessie, Lindsay, Tristan, David, Mia, and Lara.

A funeral Mass will be held on Friday, August 9, 2024, at 12:00 p.m., at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 8710 Mount Vernon Hwy, Alexandria, Virginia 22309, with a reception to follow at the church banquet hall.  Frank will be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery at a future date.