George A. Kudirka

Friday evening, October 14th, after a long and difficult illness, George A. Kudirka, M.D. passed away at age 88. He was born in Alytus, Lithuania on April 29th 1923. He graduated from "Ausros" High School for boys in Kaunas, Lithuania. He received his medical degree, MD, at Tuebingen University in Tuebingen, Germany. After graduation, and the conclusion of World War II, he emigrated to the United States. He resided in NYC, where he completed his medical internship and residency as a family medical practitioner. He was a diplomate and fellow, in good standing, of the American College of Family Physician's for fifty years. He was board certified and attended yearly conferences with his wife throughout the world. In 1951 he married Irena Giedrys from Kaunas, Lithuania in Brooklyn, NY. He was a Korean War veteran, serving as a physician with the rank of captain. They eventually settled in Mason City, Illinois, where they resided for over fifty years, raising a family of five children; four sons, George, Tom, Tony, John, and one daughter Daina Kudirka Shuster. All children are graduates of higher education institutions, three sons earning medical degrees, MD, and one son with two Masters Degrees in political science and international business. Their daughter attained a BS in Nursing with an RN designation. Dr. George Kudirka resided the last four years in Sierra Madre, California, close to their daughter, but maintained his family residence in Mason City, Illinois. He is survived by his wife Irena Kudirka of sixty years, his five children, eleven grandchildren, and a sister Irena, one niece, and two nephews in Lithuania. The funeral will take place on Thursday, October 20th at 11AM at St. Casimir's Lithuanian Church in Los Angeles, California. He will be buried in Mason City, Illinois on Saturday October 22nd, 2011. The family requests, that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to St. Casimir's Lithuanian Church in Los Angeles, in the name of George A. Kudirka, MD. With gratitude - The Kudirka Family