On Sunday, March 17, we lost our beloved father and husband after a long battle with cancer. Devoted husband to Krystyna Szczesny, his wife of 50 years, and loving father of Maciej.

Tomasz was born in Lwow, Poland (later Lviv, Ukraine), during the last year of WW2, when the city had come under Soviet occupation. Together with his mother and grandparents, he fled to Jelenia Gora in Western Poland when he was just an infant, and was raised there without a father. He went on to study engineering at Wroclaw Technical University, and his talents opened up rare opportunities to travel outside the Iron Curtain. With his wife and son, he lived in Denmark and Sweden before settling in Canada in 1989.

He loved classical music, opera, fishing, and the outdoors. His kindness, sense of humour, work ethic, and genuine humanity opened hearts wherever he went. He always put his family first, and his own needs second.

We wish you could have been spared the suffering at the end of your life dad, but your strength, courage, and dignity through this fight serves as an example to us all. You leave a big hole in our lives, impossible to fill. You grew up without a father, but were the best one anyone could ask for. We love you and miss you dearly. In the words of our ancestors, Wieczny Odpoczynek Racz Mu Dac Panie.

Memorial donations can be made to the Juravinski Cancer Center in Hamilton, Ontario (https://www.hamiltonhealth.ca/memorialgiving), or the Canadian Cancer Society (www.cancer.ca).