- Tarka, Chester s.
Chester S. Tarka, 96, died with loving hospice care
Oct. 7, 2015, after brief hospitalization. Born in
Chicago Feb. 9, 1919, he lived in New york City since
1950. A decorated Army veteran of more than fours
years during World War Il including the Normandy
invasion and Battle of the Bulge. he served in an
artillery division under Gen. Patton. After the war,
he studied at the University of Chicago and finished
with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Art
Institute of Chicago.
Beginning in 1955. he was an artist in the Division of
vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum
of Natural History. There, he supported the research
of curators and scientists for more than 60 years.
He was an extraordinary artist and scientific illus-
trator and a teacher of photography and illustration
to generations of students. His work improved the
quality and impact of their work immensely.
He traveled and painted in France, enjoyed tennis
and Classical music, and read widely in art, history,
and philosophy.
Along with close staff friends at the AMNH, Chester
is survived by three nephews and several great
nieces and nephews in the greater Chicago area
and in CO, and cousins in NY, CT, and MA. He was
buried with military honors in a private ceremony
Oct. 13 at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National
cemetery in Schuylerville, NY.
Sign Guestbook at chicagotribune.com/obituaries
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Konieczny Szczech Family History
1919 - 2015 (96 years)