Stan Rzyzora, who has died at the age of 78, was a man who spent a great part of his life in and around Knowlton. He was a member of the large Polish community that came to this area after the Second World War.
By : Fred Langan.
From wartime Europe to Knowlton
Stan was born in 1948 in a refugee camp in Reute, Germany. His father, Jan Rzyzora, and mother, Antonia Lis, were both slave labourers under the brutal Nazi regime. Like millions of other victims of the war, the Rzyzora family worked to escape war-torn Europe. Jan Rzyzora, Stan’s father, came to Canada in 1952. His wife and two sons followed the next year. A Polish community organization in Montreal found a small farm for the family just outside Knowlton.
A life in work and craftsmanship
Stan Rzyzora attended Knowlton High School, as it was then called. He and his brother Jan both worked as caddies at the Knowlton Golf Club, and Stan became an accomplished golfer, winning at least one junior championship.
Stan attended Bishop’s University for two years and left to work at Clairol in Knowlton, and then at a sales job at Wire Rope Industries in Montreal. An outgoing man — “He had an infectious personality,” said his brother Jan — he was successful in sales and also worked in Toronto for a while.
He started his own firm, but it failed in the recession of the early 1980s. Stan returned to Knowlton and certified as a painter and plasterer and worked mostly on his own. He also worked at the Raleigh bicycle factory in Waterloo before it closed. An accomplished wood worker, he made Muskoka chairs for local customers.
Polish culinary traditions
Stan Rzyzora was well known for two specialities: Polish dill pickles and Kielbasa sausages using Polish recipes from his parents.
Stan was married twice but had no children. He is survived by his brother Jan, sister Elizabeth, two nephews and three nieces.
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