20 saint francis magazine | fall 2025 Photography courtesy of Ed Habrowski (MSE ’75) and by Reggie Hayes Ed Habrowski hurried into his beloved grandmother Sophia’s bedroom after her funeral in September of 1983, eager to uncover why the room was off limits for the entirety of his childhood. Grandma harbored a secret. In the closet, “there amongst her black, open- toed, strapped shoes with two-inch heels, were two beige cardboard boxes tied with yellow ribbon,” Habrowski wrote in his recently completed essay, “A Journey of a Lifetime.” The boxes contained 234 correspondence pieces written by Habrowski’s father Julian during World War II, a vivid narrative of his wartime travels through England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Germany. Julian Habrowski served in the medical corps, assisting soldiers and others as the United States joined the Allies in fighting and defeating the Axis powers. Ed Habrowski, an educator for 51 years and a history buff, was intrigued. He vowed to retrace his father’s steps in what ultimately became an 18-day, unforgettable travel adventure. In 2023, almost 80 years to the day after his father reported to the U.S. Army, Habrowski took the trip abroad. Along with three siblings, a brother-in-law, a nephew and a family friend, he gained further insight into World War II and his father’s legacy. Ed’s father died unexpectedly in 1969 when Ed was only 20. Father and son never had a conversation about World War II, Julian’s work for the U.S. at first aid stations, dispensaries and hospitals, or the sights and people he encountered during the war. “I never asked him any questions, even though there were souvenirs around the house—a German helmet, a German rifle,” Habrowski said. “During the trip, I felt his presence quite closely.” Habrowski is no stranger to travel. He has been to five continents, all 50 U.S. states and “most of Canada, Central America, South America and Western Europe many times, eastern Europe except for Poland, southwest Asia and Saudi Arabia.” As an Indiana University doctoral student, he lived in Malawi, a country in southeastern Africa, doing dissertation research. Given his extensive experience abroad, the logistics of the trip were not intimidating. Eighty years after World War II, Ed Habrowski (MSE ’75) retraced his father’s overseas steps in service to the country and found a new connection to his heritage. saint francis magazine | fall 2025 journey sentimental
