Edward "Ed" Joseph Dolezel

Jeremy Anderson2021-12-26T18:59:16-06:00

Name: Edward "Ed" Joseph Dolezel
Location of Birth: Taconite, Minnesota
Date of Birth: January 29, 1912
Date of Death: October 6, 1994
Parents: Joseph Dolezel & Mary (Mekash) Dolezel
High School and Class: 1929 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
College: 1931 Itasca Junior College, Coleraine, Minnesota
1935 University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota - BS degree
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts - MS degree and doctorate in meteorology.
Highest Rank: Lt. Col. (Lieutenant Colonel)
Branch: Army
Other Branch: Air Force
Date Sworn In: 1942
Place Sworn In:
Date of Discharge:
Place of Discharge:
Military Awards:

Military Highlights:
WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
State: Minnesota
Name: Edward Joseph Dolezel
Race: White
Age: 28
Birth Date: January 29, 1912
Birth Place: Taconite, Minnesota, USA
Residence Place: 395 - 2nd Avenue South, St. Cloud, Minnesota
Registration Date: October 16, 1940
Employer: U.S. Weather Bureau, St. Cloud, Minnesota
Weight: 145
Height: 5-10
Complexion: Light
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Brown
Next of Kin: Joseph G. Dolezel, father, Taconite, Minnesota

Newspaper article: 1944 – Letter from Lt. Edward Dolezel, M.I.T., Cambridge, Mass: “Dear Club Members: Thank you for the two pictures you sent recently. Mrs. LeClair Sr. wrote a comment on the back of the picture of the group in front of the pool hall. I must admit I had less trouble identifying Joe Skorich, Babe Camilli and Vince than some of the younger fellows in front. Also I was very glad to get the snapshot of Lt. ‘Brick’ Brown’s ‘Taconite Express.’ During the past summer I went to Texas for an instructor’s short course and was sent back to Cambridge to work on weather research. Judging from the servicemen I have met, there are very few of them who have a club like yours backing them. Yours, Ed. Dolezel.”

Newspaper article: October 1945 – Lt. Edward J. Dolezel writes from Ashville, North Carolina: “Dear Mrs. LeClair, Thank you for the picture of Taconite “taken from the dump back of Saw’s”. It was forwarded from Cambridge and arrived in the first batch of mail I received down here. The house I am most interested in just barely got in the picture. Our office in Cambridge was closed and all of us were sent away. I was expecting a much longer trip but came only 900 miles to the H.Q. We are located in the Smoky Mountains so there is some nice scenery in this area. The best news I’ve had in a long while is that Al is back from Germany. Incidentally, this is still a sheet of the stationery the club sent out last Christmas. The club has done a grand job. Sincerely, Ed. Dolezel.”

Newspaper article: January 1946 – Lt. Edward Dolezel, Oklahoma writes: “Thank you for the Christmas and birthday cards and also for the gifts you enclosed. We have come south from Minneapolis in our B-24 to conduct some research tests which required warm temperatures and high humidities. While we were down in Louisiana a cold front came by and brought the Shreveport area its first snow in two years. Right now the plane is parked at Will Rogers Field and we are returning to Minneapolis today. Best Regards.”

Wars Involved:
World War II

MIA / POW:

Civilian Life:
Edward Dolezel was an assistant observer for the U.S. Weather Bureau in St. Cloud, Minnesota prior to entering service. The next 22 years were spent as a weather officer in the US Air Force. His Air Force assignments included bases in Newfoundland and London, Baltimore, Kansas City and Cape Canaveral. Ed retired in 1965 as a Lt Colonel. He married Mary Harrington in Massachusetts in 1947.

Ed died in Belmont, Massachusetts and is buried in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Watertown, Massachusetts. He is survived by his wife, Mary; a brother, Albert; and sisters, Edith Schagh and Grace Kelsten along with several nieces and nephews.

Tribal Affiliation(s):