Good Afternoon Everyone, on behalf of our entire family, we would like to welcome all our family, and friends, either attending in person, or through the Livestream, to this afternoon’s Celebration of Life for Walter (or Wally) Iwanciwski. It is so good to see so many familiar faces and Thank You to all who have travelled some distance to be here today. Walter would be very proud, and honored, to feel the love of so many, who he had such a positive impact on their lives, and them on his life, at his Celebration of Life service today.
It has been a very challenging past couple of years, to get us to this point, today, to be able to celebrate the life of Walter Iwanciwski. The world has changed significantly, since Walter’s passing, on October 27th, 2020, from political unrest & war, to extreme weather events, and of course a Global Pandemic, which through it, has had its many restrictions, including opportunities to gather for events like we are doing today. We are all very thankful, for this opportunity, to finally honor, a great man today, surrounded by the love of those who meant so much to him.
Walter (Wally) Iwanciwski passed away peacefully, at University Hospital of Northern, BC, in Prince George, on October 27th, 2020, surrounded by the love of his family, at 84 years of age.
Walter was born on May 7th, 1936, in Rosevear, Alberta, the fifth, and first Canadian born, child, to Peter and Magdalena Iwanciwski, who immigrated to Canada, from the Ukraine. Peter immigrated in 1929, to purchase and build a Homestead, for the arrival of Walter’s older three brothers (Mike, Bill, & Fred), and mother in 1930.
Walter was raised on that farm, in North Rosevear, where he also attended school. He always loved to learn, and stayed in school, with as long as the responsibilities on the family farm would allow. He learned many things at school, as Walter would call his “educational smarts”, but he probably learned even more from his family and being on the farm, which he referred to as his “practical or life smarts”. One of the practical things he learned, and was quite proud of, was driving a tractor at a very young age. He was also quite the Entrepreneur as he learned you could make money from his endeavors as a squirrel hunter with selling their pelts. Even at a young age, Walter enjoyed spending time with his family, and valued being a part of the close knit and loving Iwanciwski family.
Walter had many friends, as a youngster, but that wouldn’t surprise most, as no matter his age, through life, people always seemed to gravitate towards him, as he was a very positive person, and always made time for his friends. With Walter being a practical joker, on one occasion he & one of his buddies, Eddie Velechko, thought to conduct their own experiment on their classmates. They dropped a bar of soap in the school drinking water barrel and later that day watched the procession of students finding their way to the outhouse at a far greater frequency than normal. They may have gotten away with it, but gave themselves away, by being the only two that didn’t need to use the outhouse that afternoon. Walter also cherished time spent with another of his close childhood pals named Eddie Senyk. They shared a love of hockey, spending endless hours on the frozen ponds of Rosevear, imagining they were playing in the NHL. As there were only the Original Six NHL teams back then, and only two of them were Canadian teams, Eddie said he was the Montreal Canadiens when they were playing, so that left Walter being the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s funny as Eddie remained a diehard Canadiens fan his whole life, and I believe Walter always had a soft spot for the Leafs, even with being in Vancouver Canucks territory, and some loyalties to the New York Islanders, later in life. As they were certainly resourceful back then, using frozen cow patties as hockey pucks, their hockey season would come to an abrupt ending when the warmer Spring temperatures came.
After working on the family farm, which also included a small sawmill, from which they sold their lumber to Buyers in “the big city” (a.k.a Edmonton), Walter got his first job in the real world at the Pumping Station, in Marlborough. Soon after, with his love of cool cars, especially his 55 Chevy and 58 Buick, he started to pursue his dream, of becoming a Mechanic, at Universal Motors, in Edson, working alongside his hero, his older brother Fred. He then followed Fred to Edson Motors to continue down this career path. With Walter being a very handy guy, and a quick study, always learning & applying new skills, and with his mechanical aptitude, being a Mechanic was right up his alley.
During this time, in 1955, as fate would have it, Walter, and friend Nicky Joy, went to a country dance one evening, and he met a young lady, named Christine Carlson, who was with her good friend Bubbles, and when Walter set eyes on Christine, he knew it was Love at First Sight. From that chance meeting, their relationship flourished, and they really started to become a part of each other’s families. Everything seemed so right to them both, with being lifelong partners, so after Walter’s proposal of marriage in 1957, they made it official, on June 21st, 1958, and began a lifetime of adventures together, as husband & wife. After the wedding, Walter & Christine moved to Hinton, Alberta, where Walter was then working at Bob’s Esso, still working on becoming a Mechanic. They moved into a small cottage, in the valley area of Hinton, to start their married life together.
Not too far from his current employer, at that time, there was a new Pulp mill, going through the process of a startup, and Walter learned from a customer, this new mill was hiring. At that point, Walter’s pursuit of being a Mechanic ended, and a new lifelong career started, in the Pulp & Paper industry. He started a short time later, at H.A. Simons, the main Consultant working for the new mill. After the new, Northwestern Pulp & Power mill opened, in 1957, which was Alberta’s first Pulp mill, Walter successfully became an employee of this new Pulp mill.
Walter & Christine enjoyed all that Hinton had to offer, from a great new career for Walter, to the opportunities of participating in clubs and other social activities (like bowling, curling, and Freemasonry), in making many new friends, and all the new amenities that came with an up & coming community, progressing from a Hamlet to a Town. Walter & Christine eventually settled in a house on Sunwapta Drive, which was perfect, as it had room to start and grow a family in, and was a short walk across an open field, for Walter’s commute to work. It was also close to Edson, so both Walter & Christine’s families were never too far away for a visit.
With Walter completing some renovations to the Sunwapta Drive house, including manually digging out a crawl space under the house, and building a garage, the timing was good to work on another project … expanding his family. Walter & Christine entered the world of parenting with the arrival of Terri Lynn Iwanciwski, born on March 1st, 1965. They enjoyed the early years with Terri so much, number two kid Shawn Walter Iwanciwski, joined the Iwanciwski family on November 17th, 1967. As Shawn was born in 1967, it was Canada’s 100th birthday, so they called Shawn their “Centennial Project”. The Iwanciwski family would not be complete until Ryan Rodney Iwanciwski came into the world on June 17th, 1969.
With the Pulp & Paper industry expanding at an accelerated rate, many new Pulp & Paper mills started up operations across Canada, and many opportunities became available for Walter to move up into higher Operations positions. He was successfully offered new job positions in Cranbrook BC, Thunder Bay ON, & Quesnel BC to name a few. After much discussion, and consideration, Cariboo Pulp & Paper, in Quesnel BC, seemed to be the best fit, for Walter’s career advancement, and as a growing community, in which to bring up a young family.
Walter & Christine found the perfect house, for the Iwanciwski family, at 510 Perry Street, in a newer blue-collar neighborhood, with a new Elementary school being constructed, very close by. Walter again put his skills to work, to finish the basement, with a laundry room, rec. room with wood burning stove, cold room, a bedroom, a bathroom, and what was called “Dad’s corner” which was Walter’s space to plan and bring to life his many creations, and more importantly, where the kids broken toys got fixed. In due time, Walter also built a two-car garage, with the help of his brother Fred, and a combination Greenhouse/Shed which was a fun project to do with his sons. This house became the Iwanciwski home, where the kids grew up, and Walter & Christine resided for over 46 years. It was the home to many special events, milestones, and in which a lifetime’s worth of special & cherished memories were created.
In Walter having very strong beliefs about being a loving family man, caring deeply about his family, and being the best possible provider, he achieved all these things, and more, for his wife & kids, in Quesnel. Walter & Christine were happy to get reacquainted with friends from Alberta living in Quesnel, making new lifelong friends, participating in new activities for themselves, and always supporting their children in any school or other activities they pursued, and clubs or sports teams they were involved.
Walter enjoyed being a Cub Leader, in the Boy Scouts organization, and had the Cub Leader name “Baloo”. He especially enjoyed building cub cars with his two sons, and then racing them against other cubs in the Cub Car competitions, and Cub Campouts at Fish Lake. He also was very involved with his son’s hockey pursuits, always as a great “Hockey Dad”, but also helping with coaching. This included playing in many street hockey matches in the Iwanciwski driveway. He proudly took on the role of Taxi Dad for Terri’s baton classes & basketball games, and his son’s sporting teams & activities. He also really enjoyed time with his family, whether it be playing board games, making special big breakfasts most Sunday mornings, cooking a big dinner on some nights when Christine was participating in her clubs & activities, or watching Hockey Night in Canada with his family (especially watching Bob Nystrom win 4 Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders), and the World Junior Hockey Championships at Christmas … especially with his daughter Terri. These were precious & special times for Walter that he often spoke about fondly.
Walter very much enjoyed vacations with family, whether it was to Disneyland, Hawaii, Penticton, Vancouver Island, or Alberta, and camping both locally, and in other destinations in BC & Alberta. He looked back fondly on all the adventures, and misadventures, during family vacations, and would love to reminisce about his very special memories. One memory of Walter, when visiting Disneyland, he wasn’t a willing participant in any of the roller coaster type rides, always saying he would hold our coats & bags, while we went on these rides, later us figuring out he was too proud to admit his motion sickness was the real reason. It was also a funny sight to behold, with Walter attempting to do the Hula Dance, with lessons taken during a tour of the Polynesian Cultural Centre in Oahu.
Walter was always a great teacher of life lessons to his kids. He taught us at a very young age to be respectful & well mannered, to have empathy & show kindness, and the value of working hard to fulfill your dreams. With his kids all having paper routes at a young age, Walter gave his kids an opportunity to learn simple economics … in working to earn money to buy things you wanted. This sometimes would take the form of imparting wisdom from his own life experiences, for his kids to learn from, to knowing when to step back and experience things firsthand, unimpeded, to create their own successes and learn from their own mistakes. We remember some of Walter’s teachings, by the sayings he used, with differing situations. In trying to be the best possible people, he would say “treat others as you would want to be treated”. To be a good listener … “you have two ears, two eyes, & one mouth for a reason” … to learn through listening & observing twice as much as you talk. He would remind us, and especially many times in our teenage years when we were running late, that “time waits for nobody”. When our day didn’t go so well, he always had the perfect timing to say “tomorrow is a new day”. He also used his many adages as comic relief, with his great sense of humor. He once told his eldest son, when he was getting ready for a date, that it smelled like he used “$4 worth of a $5 bottle of cologne”. There was also a time when Walter witnessed somebody not paying attention walking off a sidewalk and on to a busy street … to which he so eloquently put it … “if that person was not more careful, they were going to get that run down feeling”.
While working at Cariboo Pulp & Paper, Walter was very active with both Union and Social Club activities. He took his experiences of union involvement at Northwestern Pulp & Power, in Hinton, to the union in Quesnel. He was very involved, and passionate about, the Collective Bargaining process and Job Evaluation. Walter’s words of wisdom about the Collective Bargaining process were “the less you say, the less they have to hang you on”.
While the kids were younger, Walter continued playing hockey, mostly with his pulp mill co-workers and against other Quesnel mills, in games that often took place in the early morning hours, often after a hard worked Nightshift. Unfortunately, during one of those games, he ran into a guy much bigger than him, and came out of it with a broken nose, that even after healing up, gave him that unmistakable look of a seasoned hockey player. He also stayed involved with hockey in Quesnel, as a referee, for many years, and was named the “Referee in Chief” for Quesnel Minor Hockey, in one of those years. While Walter’s sons were still in minor hockey, he also took over the Equipment Management for the entire Quesnel Minor Hockey Association. He took that program, from a state of disrepair and transformed it into a well-oiled machine, and all on volunteer hours. Walter was humbled by the recognition he received, for his dedication to Quesnel Minor Hockey, when receiving a special award, from the BC Amateur Hockey Association. He also was nominated for Quesnel’s “Citizen of the Year”, for not only his dedication to Quesnel Minor Hockey but also to the community of Quesnel, to which he was very proud.
Walter was always very passionate about his involvement with Freemasons. This continued from Hinton, to Quesnel, when he joined the Quesnel Lodge # 69, shortly after settling down in Quesnel. He had a close relationship with the Brethren of his Lodge, and always very grateful for his friendships with his Masonic Family. Right Worshipful Brother Del Cyr will be speaking about Walter’s Masonic history, and lifelong involvement, later in today’s service.
Walter had a love of gardening, which started as a youngster, with learning so much from his father, and continuing that foundation throughout his life. Over the years, he consistently grew amazing tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, peas, beans, strawberries, apples, cherries, rhubarb, & raspberries. However, he also enjoyed experimenting with growing other fruits & vegetables every season. One of the experiments he was most proud, was successfully grafting on an apple tree, by growing two different types of apples on one tree. His children often dug up a carrot, washed it under the garden hose, and enjoyed its freshness, being straight from the garden. With Walter always being a generous man, he made sure his neighbors, friends, & co-workers also had the opportunity to try his produce.
Walter was known for many things, both honorable, and quirky. When it came to whistling, he was one of the best, and just came natural to him. You could tell he was having a great day, when he blessed the world, with his version of a classic like “Lara’s Theme” from the movie Dr. Zhivago, and Johnny Horton’s “The Battle of New Orleans”, to some 80’s pop songs. He was also a master of accents, as he had a keen ear and observation of people speaking with a foreign accent, with reproducing that accent seemingly effortlessly … it was a true gift and very entertaining for both family & friends. Then there’s the pocket protectors … whether he was in his work clothes or just hanging out at home, Walter always wore his pocket protector. His family often joked about him having everything but the kitchen sink in his pocket protector, and any shirts purchased for him had to have a front pocket. Walter’s family also joked to him that with his love of Hall’s cough candies (whether he had a sore throat or not), and Werther’s caramel candies, that he should buy stock in those two companies.
Walter occasionally was known for his stubborn nature, to which his family, of course, had some fun with. In fact, he received a gift one Christmas that was a sign saying “Rule #1 … The Boss is Never Wrong and Rule #2 … if the Boss is Wrong … Refer to Rule #1.” There was also a time when the family drove down to see Bob Nystrom play in a game against the Vancouver Canucks, and despite Christine’s best attempts to provide the navigation for Walter to get the family to the hotel, he did it his way, and ended up driving our family station wagon the wrong way down a one-way section for busses only, on Granville Street, in downtown Vancouver.
Walter always stressed to his children, the importance of doing well in school, and in going to College or University, to set yourself up for success in life … and that’s exactly what they did. When the kids were entering their next stage of life, with post-secondary education, marriage, and starting their own families, Walter & Christine also were enjoying their next stage of life. Now, there was more time to focus on their interests and each other. Walter continued to enjoy his work with Quesnel Minor Hockey, his involvement with Freemasonry, his love of gardening, and “puttering around the house” (as he called it) working on small projects. There was a light red, faded, and very seasoned plastic Adirondack chair, strategically positioned, just outside the garage, he would sit upon often, enjoying the sun on his face, while pondering life, or simply reflecting upon the many special people & events that got him to that point in his life.
Walter & Christine also had the opportunity to travel … something they had been looking forward to for many years. Whether the new adventures, were just for the two of them, or travel with family & friends, they certainly loved exploring more of the world. They cruised to Alaska and were absolutely amazed by the breathtaking scenery, especially the beauty and enormity of the Alaskan Glaciers. Walter did mention the food on the cruise was exceptional too. Their travels also took them to Hawaii, Reno, Washington State, Nashville, and through the Canadian Maritimes & some N. Eastern U.S. states. They also took advantage of their Holiday Trailer, with many camping trips, sometimes just the two of them, other times with family & friends.
Some of the happiest times, in Walter’s life, was time spent with his Grandchildren. As Brittany, Riley, Nash, Lauren, Kaeden, Samantha, & Alexandra, arrived in the world, over several years, he cherished the opportunities to see his Grandkids, and more importantly ensure he was always a big part of their lives. There were many special memories created for both Walter, and his Grandkids, whether captured in photos, or in our minds eye, continuing to last a lifetime, for the entire extended Iwanciwski family. One especially great memory was Grandpa Walt, partially taking out his top false teeth, and making a scary monster face, that spanned all the grandkids early years, and they all couldn’t get enough … saying “again Grandpa again”.
In the latter years of Walter’s retirement, with his health starting to deteriorate, he & Christine left their home of 46 years, in Quesnel, and relocated to an assisted living Senior’s Home, in Prince George, for Walter to receive new medical treatments. It was a very difficult time, but to their credit, they did very well with transitioning their lives to Prince George, and adapting to their new home. They soon had made new friends and were participating in the activities offered by the Seniors Home. It was really special, with Ryan’s family residing in Prince George, they were there for Walter & Christine, and had some great family time together.
Walter lived a great, honest, and joyous life, filled with much love, right up until he was taken from us, on October 27th, 2020. He was incredibly caring, generous, loyal, and great man, who always had time for family & friends, whether that was to lend an ear or provide a helping hand to someone in need, or impart some worldly wisdom he knew would make that person better, or at least get their ship steered in the right direction. Walter was very intuitive & resourceful, and always seemed to know the right thing to say, at the right time.
When learning of Walter’s passing, many family members & friends reached out to our family, to not only express their sympathies, but lovingly share their feelings about the positive impact that Walter had on their lives. There was a consistent theme, of what these individuals, who had the good fortune of Walter being a part of their lives, had to say about him … and that was much respect, love, and admiration for the person he was, the big heart he had, and the kindness & love he shared. That was simply amazing to the Iwanciwski family, to hear from so many, about what Walter’s life meant to them.
Walter continues to live, in each of our hearts and minds, and we will always have our very special and cherished memories, of this amazing man. We love you Walter and sleep well until our paths cross again.
“Dobroyi Nochi Tatu”
Thank you to everyone attending Walter’s Celebration of Life, both in person and through Livestream today. It means so much to our family, to be able to celebrate Walter’s life, with so many loving family & friends.
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