Saturday, January 9, 2021
… I met Tony for the first time at Warsaw Airport in Poland in summer of the year 2000. He and his daughter Tina replied with enthusiasm to our invitation and their great Poland trip began. We toured so much of Poland in a few days, including a little village Kozice placed somewhere between Warsaw and Lublin [this little place surrounded by scenic woods was established seven hundred years ago!], where Tony’s Dad Pavel was born.
When we were going out of the beautiful cathedral in Gdansk, Tony said to me with tears in his eyes – Zbyszek, my Dad who was born in Poland and lived there until he emigrated to the USA in 1912, did not see as much of his homeland as I was able to see in a week…
Our trip continued in spite of Tina’s broken wrist and touring appetite grew so much that we traveled by car to Rome, stopping in scenic mountainous Slovenia for a night. Arrrivederci Roma! - we had a chance to tour much of the ancient Rome and we set our feet on the famous San Petro square next to the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican watching the Pope John Paul II addressing the crowds at noon.
We returned to Poland having plenty of fun and Tony, in spite of his age, travelled much on foot and talked a lot, every day speaking more Polish. Sometimes he inserted funny, obsolete Polish words he learned from his Dad Pavel.
Five years later Tony visited Poland again with Tina and Joan, participating in our daughter ‘s wedding and touring plenty of places including Tatra mountains with famous mountain town Zakopane and a little masterpiece – wooden Gothic (!) church in Debno, where we slipped into during an ordinary saint mass.
Me and my wife Joanna have been looking many years for having a chance to visit Tony in his house and it finally happened in winter 2011. Tony and Helen celebrated 50 wedding anniversary and we were lucky to tape part in the celebration! This time it was a life trip for me and my wife, we toured six US states including Pennsylvania with Kulpmont and Marion Heights where Tony’s Dad was directed on his emigration from Poland and we visited Pavel’s grave covered then by deep snow.
I will remember Tony as a jovial guy with a friendly smile. When I kept calling him on May 30, his birthday, years after his Poland trips he still remembered many names of places and people.
Tony, rest in peace after such a long and successful life!
Zbigniew Lechniak, Warsaw & Kozice
[Kozice is a true nest of Lechniak family]
