Karol R. Wojcikowski, 49, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who was a decorated navigator and an assistant air attache at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, died September 5, 2001, when the bicycle he was riding was struck by a car at Broadmore Drive and Westover Terrace in the Cascades subdivision of Sterling, Virginia.

Colonel Wojcikowski, a Cascades resident since 1996, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. An investigation by the Traffic Safety Unit is continuing.

He was a native of Holyoke, Massachusetts. He graduated from American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, and received a master's degree in business administration from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in
Daytona Beach, Florida.

His 20-year military career, which began in 1979, included service with the National Reconnaissance Office in Washington as a space warfare center liaison and at the Air Force Academy as an aviation science instructor and chief of flight operations.

Proficient in Italian, Polish and Russian, he served with the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1993 to 1996 and spent part of that time in Italy. He collected information about that country's willingness to participate in NATO-sponsored peace initiatives as well as Italian support of efforts in the former Yugoslavia.

In the early years of his military career, Colonel Wojcikowski was a navigator on KC-135 refueling tankers, a military version of the Boeing 707. In 1983, during a routine mission, he was part of a crew that towed a disabled fighter jet to safety after its engine failed over the North Atlantic. The crew of the tanker received the coveted MacKay Trophy for the most outstanding flight of the year.

After his retirement from active military duty in 1999, Col. Wojcikowski started a management consulting business.

Survivors include his wife, Anne Wojcikowski, and their two children, William and Alexandra, all of Sterling; a brother; and his mother, Barbara Wojcikowski of Sterling.

 Age 49, of Sterling, VA on Wednesday, September 5, 2001. Beloved husband of Anne Wojcikowski; loving father of Alexandra and William Wojcikowski; son of Barbara and the late John Wojcikowski; brother of Thaddeus Wojcikowski. Funeral services will be held at Sterling Park Baptist Church, 501 W. York Rd., Sterling, VA on Monday, September 10, 2001 at 10 a.m. Family will receive friends after the service. Interment Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, October 3 at 9 a.m. with Full Military Honors. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions may be made to Christian Children's Fund, Attn: Honor Someone You Love, 2821 Emerywood Pkwy., Richmond, VA 23294.