Joseph Budziszewski was born in 1922 in Milwaukee. His father immigrated to the United States from the Bialystok region of Poland; later he worked as a coal miner in Pennsylvania and as a medic with the 103rd Division during World War I. He finally settled in Milwaukee where he was employed in a foundry. Joseph graduated from St. Hyacinth School in Milwaukee, and during World War II served as a radio operator with the 103rd Division. Following the war he worked as an electrician with Cutler-Hammer, and currently is employed in the same capacity at the Milwaukee City Hall. In 1954 Budziszewski spent a year at the Salvatorian Fathers Seminary in Menominee, Michigan, where he studied Latin, German, and the Gregorian chant. He married JoAnne Mauhs, a former Sister of Notre Dame, in 1973.
In 1959 Budziszewski began studying voice seriously with Clara Bloomfield. Although he had sung with St. Stanislaus church choir since 1947, and with local choruses and glee clubs, Budziszewski's first operatic role was as the jailer in the 1959 production of Tosca. Budziszewski continued to sing in several opera productions each year with various Milwaukee groups, and won critical acclaim for his performances. He also sang for the New Life Choir (Chor Nowe Zycie), for special programs and events, and for the annual “Hi Neighbor” concerts held in Kosciusko Park. For the latter, Budziszewski commissioned the orchestration of a different Polish folk song each year, which he performed in the Polish language.
Joseph Budziszewski died in 1998.
