Henry W. Twardus

Henry William Twardus, age 87, lived his life in various towns within Delaware including Newport, Wilmington, Felton and Dover. He passed away in Dover on June 25th, 2025; just 3 days shy of his 88th birthday.

Born June 28th, 1937 in Wilmington, he was the first born son of Henry A. and Clara (Czajkowski) Twardus. Henry’s early life, even as a child, revolved around helping his father with the family business, Henry Twardus Refuse. Because of this, he was not able to keep his grades up and ended up dropping out of school before completing high school. During this same time, he would play baseball whenever he did get a little free time. He became so good that he was invited to try out for the Stanton Baseball Team. He made the team, which became the semi-pro league. He played on this team for 3 years until he had to quit due to work expectations. He continued to work for his father until he joined the National Guard as a young man. There he worked with the artillery group from 1954-1962, which he very much enjoyed. After completing his service, he felt it important to finalize his education, which he did at the James H. Groves School. He then joined the staff at John Dickinson High School in the maintenance department where he was initially responsible for grounds keeping and finished his career there as a boiler technician.

Henry loved surf fishing and spent as much time as possible at New Jersey, Delaware, or North Carolina beaches, earning many awards & trophies for surf fishing catches. He was a lifetime member and a committee member of New Jersey Beach Buggy Association, Delaware Mobile Surf Fisherman and Delaware Surfcasters. For many years, he would obtain donations from various businesses to offer as auction items to help raise funds for these organizations.

As he matured, he strengthened his faith and became a member of the Knights of Columbus, St. Bernadette Council #14317. He fulfilled his sense of duty to his town, serving as a Councilman for the town of Felton, where he was very proud that he had successfully managed to implement a senior citizen tax reduction for its residents.

Along with his parents, Henry was predeceased by his brother, William Henry Twardus, in 2020.

Henry is survived by his daughters, Claire Wolinski (Bill) of Middletown, DE, and Carol Phipps (Carl) of Millsboro, DE; his grandchildren, William Wolinski III (Jess), Amy Wolinski Broyles, David Wolinski (Abby), Alana Phipps Sibitzky (Nathan), Christopher Phipps (Jamie), Samuel Phipps; and his eight great-grandchildren.

The family extends their heartfelt thanks to the staff at Harmony at Kent and Vitas Hospice for the compassionate care they provided to Henry in his final days.

Family and friends are invited to visit on Thursday, July 3, 2025 from 10:30AM-11AM at the Doherty Funeral Home, 3200 Limestone Rd., Wilmington, DE 19808. A funeral service will begin at 11AM and interment will follow in All Saints Cemetery, 6001 Kirkwood Hwy., Wilmington, DE 19808. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Henry W. Twardus, please visit our floral store.