Following an illness which began on May 1 of last year when he suffered a stroke, Alex J. Markunas, 63, of 823 North Main Street, Forest City, Pa., until recently owner-operator of The Solitude Inn, located in Route 17 approximately five miles west of Hancock, died at 9:45 a.m., Tuesday, June 20, 1972, in the Emergency Hospital, Carbondale. Pa. Late last year he suffered a second shock and was a patient in the Veterans' Administration Hospital in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., for several weeks. Mr. Markunas was well and favorably known in the Hancock area since 1955 when he began working as a beverage custodian and professional mixologist at the former Hancock House. Two years later he purchased the Solitude Inn which he operated until he was stricken 13 months ago. The establishment changed ownership approximately three weeks ago when it was sold to the Jamaica Garage Corporation which, it is understood, also operates a restaurant in the Parksville area. Mr. Markunas was bom in Forest City on December 6, 1908 a son of the late Bartholomew and Winifred (Wysocki) Markunas. He graduated from the Forest City High School in 1927 and then went to Bingham ton where he was employed by the Endicott-Johnson Corp. He joined the US Army Air Corps in 1942 and served with the 8th Air Force, including 29 months in England, until he received his honorable discharge as a staffsergeant at Fort Dix, N. J. in 1945. Immediately after receiving his discharge he went to Madison, Wisconsin, where on July 28 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Beckwith and they returned to Forest City where Mr. Markunas was employed until coming to the Hancock area. Mr. Markunas was a communicant of St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Forest City and also a member of Charles & Martin Skubic American Legion Post Xb. 524 in that community. He is survived by his wife at the Forest City address and one son, Robert, a first year graduate student a t MIT in Boston, Mass. He is further survived by two sisters and one brother, Mrs. Frances Kilonsky, Forest City, Pa.; Mrs. Louise Grum, Browndale, Pa., and Vincent Markunas, Johnson City. Three nieces and two nephews also survive. Mr. Markunas' body reposed at the Jones Funeral Home in Forest City, Pa., where a Rosary service took place last Wednesday evening at 8 o'clock. A prayer service was held at the funeral home Thursday morning at 9 o'clock followed by a Requiem Mass at 9:30 in St. Anthony's Church. The Rev. Joseph Papka, pastor of St. Michael's Church in Forest City, was the celebrant and burial was in St. Anthony's Cemetery. Members of the Charles & Martin Skubic American Legion Post served as bearers and extended full military honors at a graveside service.