CZESLAW JOZEF SZCZESNIAK

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CZESLAW JOZEF SZCZESNIAK July 20, 1923 - January 6, 2013 It is with deep sorrow the family announces the peaceful passing of our Uncle Chester at Riverview Health Centre on Sunday, January 6, 2013. He was predeceased by his wife, Wieslawa (Vicky) Krajewski-Szczesniak. In their retirement years, they enjoyed travelling to Mexico, Palm Springs, and especially their favourite Waikiki Beach with family and friends. Uncle Chester grew up in Lublin, Poland. At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, his parents were killed during a Nazi bombing raid. Left orphaned and homeless he began a journey of survival. During the Nazi Occupation of his homeland, he joined The Polish Underground Army. Captured he was sent to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in southern Poland. Later he was transferred to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria where he laboured until his liberation in May 1945. After the war, Uncle Chester worked his way through Germany, then to Scotland, and finally Winnipeg, where he restarted a new life. He found employment with the Manitoba Provincial Government, where he eventually ended up at the Legislature tending after the Grounds until his retirement. He was an active parishioner of St. John Cantius Church and member of St. Joseph Seniors Club. The family would like to thank the nurses and staff of ward 2AB at Riverview for their care and compassion. A private family service has taken place with internment at Assumption Cemetery.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 26, 2013