KAREL ALOIS BULANDRA

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KAREL ALOIS BULANDRA August 18, 1943 - August 17, 2016 It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Karel Bulandra on August 17, 2016. He was predeceased by his father Josef, mother Angela, and brother-in-law Jaroslav Kocmanek. Karel arrived in Montreal, Canada on Wednesday, January 13, 1971, and travelled by train in the extreme cold to get to Winnipeg on Friday, January 15, 1971. Within a week, he started working at Hartline Western Co., and a few months later he took a job with T&E Bishop as a carpenter, which was his trade. He met Emilia at the International School evening English classes where they attended twice a week. They became friends, fell in love, and got married on November 10, 1973. After about 10 years with T&E Bishop, the owners retired and Karel moved on to Globe General Agency as a maintenance carpenter. He took a locksmith course and earned his locksmith certificate, and then did most of the basic locksmith work for Globe. After a few years, Globe decided not to have their own maintenance crew, so Karel started his own lock and maintenance service. This was a good life experience, but he came across an employment opportunity to be a carpenter in the maintenance department of the Winnipeg Convention Centre. He applied and was chosen from numerous applicants because of his additional locksmith skills and experience. He retired from WCC in 2003 after 18 years. After his retirement, Karel and Emilia became active members of Canadian Czech-Slovak Benevolent Association and soon after Karel accepted a position on the board of directors, a position which he held until June of 2016. Karel and Emilia worked hard but always found time to travel. Karel liked to drive long distances, and they put quite a few thousand highway miles on their vehicles every year. They both enjoyed visiting Emilia's family in Argentina and Karel's in Czech Republic and Poland. They also liked their winter getaways to Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. In the fall of 2014 Karel was diagnosed with cancer, and in December of 2014 he underwent surgery, followed by treatments for most of 2015. He received a good health report later that year. It was a big shock to him and to Emilia when they learned in April of 2016 that his illness had returned. He is survived by his wife Emilia of 42 years of marriage; brother Gerhard (Dagmar); sisters, Zdenka Zaleska (Tadeusz), Marta Kocmankova and Anna Mikulova (Ceslav); nephews, Daniel Zaleski (Gabriela) and Filip Zaleski (Pavla), Marek Mikula (Martina) and Adam Mikula (Lenka); and niece Martina Nedelova (Honza); as well as numerous grand-nieces, grand-nephews, and cousins in Czech Republic, and Emilia's nieces and their families in and around Winnipeg. Karel and Emilia have also been long-time close friends with Richard and Bernice Pokorny and their daughters, Sylvia and Carol, to whom he was a godfather. He will be greatly missed by all. Peace be with him. Funeral Divine Liturgy will be celebrated on Monday, August 29 at 10:30 a.m. by Fr. Leonard Ratushniak, CSsR, at Saint Andrews Ukrainian Catholic Church, 160 Euclid Street. Donations in Karel's memory may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society, 193 Sherbrook St., Winnipeg MB, R3C 2B7. VICHNAYA PAMYAT KORBAN FUNERAL CHAPEL 204-956-2193 www.korbanchapel.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 27, 2016