Michael J. "Mike" Zdrojewski waited more than 50 years for combat medals he'd earned as an Army infantryman at the Battle of the Bulge and other European conflicts during World War II.

By then, he'd put together a new life in Brentwood as a sheet metal worker, husband and father of five.

Mr. Zdrojewski, 89, died Friday at his son Ken's Brentwood home from respiratory problems.

"He did everything he could for us," said Ken Zdrojewski. "And he knew most everything -- plumbing, electrical, carpentry. He taught us to do everything the right way."

His father was active in his children's interests and, in the early 1960s, coached another son's Little League team to a 20-0 season, with Ken as bat boy.

A third son, Norb, took the lead in securing their father's war medals, enlisting the help of U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle. After hearing of other World War II veterans being honored, the Zdrojewski children thought their father deserved recognition, too.

As a member of the 94^th Infantry, Mr. Zdrojewski had taken shrapnel in the back and nearly lost both his feet to frostbite.

He spared his family those war stories over the years, but instead shared the time he sat near the front during one of Bob Hope's USO tour shows and tossed an orange to Mr. Hope, which the entertainer deftly caught behind his back to the roaring approval of the audience.

While he avoided talking about the nightmarish details of his service, he was proud to finally receive the medals in 2001, medals that included a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

"He liked the fact that he could pass that on to his grandchildren," said Norb Zdrojewski, of Rostraver.

After his discharge from the military, the North Side native wed Jane and the two were married for 55 years before her death in 2003.

Following his retirement in 1984, Mr. Zdrojewski remained active and particularly enjoyed traveling to the family's Somerset County cabin to hunt and fish.

In addition to his two sons, Mr. Zdrojewski is survived by two others, Mike, of Brentwood, and Gary, of Negley, Ohio; a daughter, Maureen Brant, of Franklin Park; and nine grandchildren.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Boron Funeral Home, 1719 Brownsville Road, Carrick. Funeral prayers will begin at 9:20 a.m. tomorrow in St. Sylvester Church, 3754 Brownsville Road, where a Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m.