Becoming a Penn Stater
After returning from his military service, Sowa enrolled at Penn State on the GI Bill, enabling him to attend college at no cost. He graduated from Penn State in 1950 with a degree in electrical engineering and earned a master’s degree in physics from Wilkes College, now named Wilkes University.
His first role in his profession was at the Okenite Company, which made wiring cables. After the company moved its facilities from Wilkes-Barre to New Jersey, Sowa decided to make a career shift into teaching. He began teaching with a part-time position at King’s College in the 1960s before becoming a full-time faculty member at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, at the time offering classes at the Guthrie Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
“My father greatly enjoyed teaching and working with students and had a lot of respect for them,” his daughter Rebecca Bartuska said. “The faculty was very involved with recruiting, registration and advising and he was very connected to his students. He enjoyed teaching them and appreciated his coworkers and the atmosphere of Penn State Wilkes-Barre.”
Sowa primarily taught students who were pursuing an associate degree in engineering, Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s first two-year program. Within a few years of Sowa joining the faculty at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, the campus moved from downtown to the Back Mountain after Richard Robinson donated Hayfield House and about 50 acres of land to Penn State. Robinson was the nephew of Bertha and John Conyngham, who built the home in the 1930s. Penn State Wilkes-Barre opened in its new location in 1968.
While working at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Sowa completed his master’s degree and authored two textbooks. The campus began offering its first baccalaureate degree, a bachelor’s of science in electrical engineering technology, in 1987, the same year Sowa retired.
“I was proud to see the campus grow from the few classrooms in the Guthrie Building to the current Penn State Wilkes-Barre facilities,” Sowa said.
The next generation
Sowa married his wife, Marie, in 1952 and took his bride to a Penn State game for their honeymoon. They live in Nanticoke in the home where Marie grew up, and have three children: Michael; Christopher, who earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Penn State; and Bartuska, who earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Penn State. They also have seven grandchildren, four of whom are Penn State graduates.
Bartuska began her time at Penn State at the Wilkes-Barre campus as part of the 2+2 Plan, when her father was still teaching there.
“I literally grew up on campus,” Bartuska said. “From the time I was very small, I spent a lot of time on campus. It’s a beautiful place.”
She graduated in 1987, the same year her father retired. As he was leaving the campus, Bartuska was coming back as an employee, working in academic advising and career counseling. She later served as a campus volunteer and was invited to join the Penn State Wilkes-Barre Advisory Board. In that role, she was part of the selection committee for student leadership awards.
“That really gave me a great appreciation for the population of students,” Bartuska said. “I was very impressed with them and how hard they worked. I was also impressed by their altruism and their outside interests.”
Penn State Wilkes-Barre has continued to grow since Sowa and Bartuska worked there and now includes additional facilities and opportunities for students. The campus now offers seven bachelor’s degrees and four associate degree programs.
On to the third generation
Bartuska’s three daughters, Katherine, Elizabeth “Beth” and Abigail, all attended Penn State. Katherine earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and international politics through Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College. Abigail spent her first two years at Penn State Wilkes-Barre before transitioning to University Park, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture. Beth also began at Penn State Wilkes-Barre before completing her bachelor’s degree in biological engineering at University Park in 2021.
“When I told my grandfather I was going to Penn State Wilkes-Barre, he was thrilled,” Beth Bartuska said. “One of the jokes I recall my grandfather saying was something along the lines of ‘I wonder if they can give you my old parking space.’”
She originally planned to pursue a degree in environmental sciences and fine-tuned her goals after participating in an honors program trip to San Diego, where she did a research project on the Salton Sea and environmental remediation efforts taking place at the site.
“It was this experience that made me realize that that project was exactly what I wanted to do with my life, and I realized that I actually wanted to be an engineer,” she said. “Luckily, through Penn State Wilkes-Barre, I was able to easily switch to the engineering-based classes I would need first. And I loved it. I ended up in the biological engineering major at University Park, with a focus in natural resource engineering. I think my grandfather was even more thrilled when I told him I was going into engineering. Although what I was doing was a little different than his specialization of electrical engineering, he was still thrilled that I would be an engineer, like him.”
At Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Beth Bartuska was involved in many activities, including peer tutoring, the honors program and student government. She served as public relations officer, vice president and president of the Student Government Association (SGA) and as a member of the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG). At the end of her two years at the campus, she received the Florence C. Dougherty Pride of the Lion Award during the annual SGA Leadership and Athletics Awards Ceremony.
“My grandfather has definitely inspired me. I grew up hearing the fond way in which he recalled his days at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, and so when it came time for me to make my college decision, I was absolutely certain that it would be the right place for me,” she said. “Also, it made me excited to be an engineer. I look up to my grandfather, and always wanted to be just like him when I grew up. That inspired me to take the leap into engineering.”
After transitioning to University Park, she earned her degree from the Schreyer Honors College in 2021 and is now pursuing a doctoral degree from Northeastern University. Following her graduation from Penn State, Beth Bartuska and her grandfather set up a photo in the Chinese Breakfast Room — once Sowa’s office — at Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s Hayfield House.
Post-retirement and 100th birthday celebration
Since retiring in 1987, Sowa has kept busy with his family and his legendary cooking, particularly sauerkraut and the mushroom soup he is known for. He watched his grandchildren when they were younger so their parents could work. When he still drove, he took his sisters to the places they needed to go and helped them however he could. Sometimes, he took care of his sisters and his grandchildren on the same day.
“He likes to stay active and appreciates exercise. He goes to physical therapy twice a week,” Rebecca Bartuska said. “My dad has always been very interested in health and learning about health-related topics. And he likes to understand things and asks a lot of good questions.”
Sowa was honored during a surprise 100th birthday party at Bartuska’s home with family and friends in attendance. He was especially surprised by one guest — John Murphy, former Penn State Wilkes-Barre dean of students, after whom the Murphy Center on campus is named.
“He was really shocked and impressed to see him there. He hadn’t seen him since he retired in 1987,” Rebecca Bartuska said. “John talked to the guests for about 15 minutes, telling stories about him and my dad and their relationship. He also chatted with my cousins who he remembered from Penn State Wilkes-Barre.”
Seeing Murphy brought back many fond Penn State Wilkes-Barre memories for Sowa, who was an instrumental part of the campus for so many years.
“I think my dad was a role model in that he loved what he did,” Rebecca Bartuska said. “It can be hard for many people to find that, but I think once you do, your life will be better for it."