John Szajda

John was born in Lebanon, November 8, 1945. His father was an English lawyer on active service in the Middle East, his mother, Olympia, had escaped Poland just before the war started. As a youngster, John spoke four languages - English, Welsh, Polish, and some Russian. On return to England, his parents separated and John went to live eventually in South Wales, just north of Swansea, where his father had given up his legal career and become a dairy farmer. His descriptions of his early life are peppered with reminiscences of life on the farm, including an owl that spent its daytime sleeping on his bedroom dresser (the window was never closed), a fox terrier posted to guard the henhouse that turned out worse than the fox, being on friendly terms with the local constabulary, wandering the Welsh coast, and being less than efficient dispatching hens when asked by his mother to get a chicken for supper.

He married Pauline in 1966 and after the birth of their first child, Mark; they immigrated to Canada in 1967. John had trained as an industrial engineer in the UK, Pauline as a psychiatric nurse, and after getting settled in Toronto John pursued further training at the then Ryerson College. He subsequently pursued a range of industrial careers, closely following the advice of one of his professors that he should not stay in one place but should pursue a wide range of work experiences. He subsequently worked at Fruehauf Trailers, among many others, and was plant manager for Jacuzzi before starting his own manufacturing operation. Pauline pursued a career in long-term care. Both John and Pauline were engaged in the community, John as a football referee with colorful stories to tell of ethnic turmoil on the football pitch in the 50s and 60s. After a second child Craig and many work experiences, John and Pauline retired and settled in Rockwood, close to their, by that point, growing family. After becoming great-grandparents, they could count tribe members Mark and Natalie, Craig and Denise, Justin and Becca, Brandon and Cassie, Mike and Alanis, Erik and Leah, Meghan, Leanne, Thomas, and a host of close family friends. John was always described as a "lovely man" by those who met him, as well as by his family, who referred to him as "Gramps".

John had an enquiring mind given to endless ideas of how he might adapt new discoveries to existing problems, and at one point even started making diesel fuels from waste kitchen oils. During his time with Jacuzzi, he introduced the process of vacuum forming to Canada with great success and was constantly thinking of ways to harness 3D printing in manufacturing. In retirement, he gave freely of his time, and devoted endless hours to his growing family, his friends, and to their welfare. Before waning eyesight hampered his progress, he read widely and was not happy just to have an answer, he wanted to understand. His outlook is well illustrated by the fact he preferred to listen to international news to understand what was happening in the world rather than local news telling what was happening in his backyard. Although no more a saint than the rest of us, he was kind, thoughtful, and helpful - a lovely man and a good human being. He will be deeply missed by everyone, and especially by his wife, Pauline.