McHOULL o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-05-27 published
O'ROURKE,
Gladys
Peacefully at York Central Hospital on Thursday, May 26th, 2005.
Beloved wife of the late Fred
O'ROURKE.
Loving mother of Maureen
and her husband Graham
McHOULL. Dear grandmother of Tanya and
her husband Chris and Lorne and will be remembered by her nieces
Shirley, Bev and Dale. A Service will be held at Marshall Funeral
Home Chapel, 10366 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill (4th traffic light
north of Major Mackenzie Drive) on Saturday, at 11 a.m. Visitation
one hour prior to Service. Interment Glendale Cemetery.
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McHOWSKI o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-09-19 published
Walter (Wladyslaw)
JAGIELLICZ
By Ludmila
JAGIELLICZ and Alice
O'CONNOR,
Monday,
September 19,
2005, Page A18
Veteran, friend, car lover, family man. Born April 6, 1922, in
Dobrowody, Poland. Died March 27 in Toronto of complications
from vascular disease, aged 82.
A black devil with a red-forked tongue sent fear into the hearts
of villagers as he roared by. In reality, the devil was a dark-clad
motorcyclist with a red scarf flapping in the wind. Motor vehicles
had come to Dobrowody, a quiet village in the eastern territories
of Poland (now Ukraine), where Walter was born.
There would be many modes of transport in Walter's life. In February,
1941, when Stalin's troops stormed into the village, Walter and
his family were crammed into freezing trains and deported to
Siberian logging camps. In the spring run-off, buoyed by supplies
of vodka, Walter drove logs downriver to the Russian Arctic port
of Archangelsk, breaking up the perilous logjams.
Then Stalin released the Poles to form a Polish army. Walter's
family was once again thrust on trains that puffed their interminable
way down the spine of Russia into the "stans: " Afghanistan,
Uzbekistan, and so on. Hunger and disease claimed untold lives.
The trek continued across Middle Eastern seas as Polish youth
were assembled into an army.
Water travel was never very popular with Walter. The Siberian
river journey, a brother who drowned, over-packed refugee- and
troop-ships -- all made Walter uneasy about water.
It was in the Middle East army training camps that Walter's love
affair with motorized vehicles began. He was taught to drive.
He was so good at it that he taught other soldiers to drive --
jeeps, trucks and tanks. Driving was to be a passion for the
rest of his life.
Later, during the battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, there was
ammunition to be delivered, but army vehicles blocked a narrow
road. So, Walter broke a path through the road's stone walls
with his supply-laden truck, and freed another logjam.
After the Second World War ended, Walter hit the rolling seas
again. Arriving in England, he rejoined his family and married
Gena MacHOWSKI, who had already caught his eye in Dobrowody.
Crossing the stormy Atlantic in the spring of 1952, he and his
family finally settled in Toronto. Luckily, later cross-Atlantic
trips were to be by airplane.
It was in Canada in the 1950s that Walter's passion for automobiles
translated into an avocation. Working in the booming Toronto
auto trade -- at City Buick, Parkwood Central and other dealerships
Walter was widely known for his "sharp pencil" as he appraised
the value of auto trade-ins.
Walter applied his passion for cars to good service. There were
frequent family car trips and constant chauffeuring. Walter also
became an avid volunteer for veteran and church groups. He used
his car to fetch and carry, to attend and chair, meetings, to
carry veterans' flags on Remembrance Day and to drive dignitaries.
Walter's volunteer efforts were recognized with numerous commendations
and the Golden Jubilee medal of Queen Elizabeth II.
Walter only retired when he was 80. The modes of transport that
finally failed Walter were his legs. Arthritis and vascular problems
escalated when he turned 80, culminating in cholesterol emboli
that destroyed his foot tissue. Just prior to his final illness,
Walter proudly passed his driver's test at 82.
Walter passed away on March 27, Easter Sunday. A few days later,
Walter's beloved Pope John Paul II also died. Walter had been
Karol WOJTYLA's volunteer driver on visits to southern Ontario
when the pontiff was still a Cardinal. Perhaps Walter has taken
up that role again.
Ludmila and Alice are Walter's daughters.
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