It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Jerzy (George) Kowalczyk, on January 9, 2026. Jerzy was born in Bydgoszcz, Poland on June 21, 1930. He had an extraordinary life marked by determination, honour and resilience. As a young boy, Jerzy, along with his family was deported to Siberia in 1940, where he endured many hardships for the next six years. Upon his return to Poland, he completed his university studies in civil engineering in Gdansk specializing in coastal and marine structures. He immigrated to Canada in 1959 along with his wife, Aida and young daughter, Hania and settled in Toronto. He was employed by various engineering companies in the fields of civil, structural engineering and project management. Given his entrepreneurial skills, work ethic and many successes he soon branched out and established his own firm-Actron Consultants.

Through Actron, he successfully completed a host of projects as Engineer and Project Manager mainly in high rise apartment, condominium, institutional and commercial buildings working for developers and the private sector. Countless of his projects were in Port Credit and Mississauga. Others were in Vancouver, Toronto and in southern Ontario. He was a proud member of Professional Engineers Ontario. His last project was managing the development of Wawel Villa, a senior’s residence in Mississauga where he subsequently took on the administrator role of the facility. During his years at Wawel Villa, he established The Museum and Archives of the Polish Armed Forces (the Orlinski Museum).

Aside from his professional career Jerzy was active in many Polish-Canadian organizations including membership in Polish Scouting (Krag Tatry). Jerzy was the recipient of the Siberian Exiles Cross and received many other noteworthy accolades from his work in the community. In 1973, Jerzy began construction of the family cottage on beautiful Kaminiskeg Lake in Barry’s Bay, Ontario. There, with his family, he spent many summers and winters doing the things that he loved most – sailing, canoeing, skiing (downhill and cross country), and most of all ‘puttering’ around the cottage. He loved being there! There was nothing that Jerzy could not fix or construct on his own. He was a lover of pets and always had treats in his pockets for the family dogs – Fafik, Truffles, Jasper and Finnegan.

Jerzy was predeceased by his wife, Aida and by his brother Wlodzimierz. He leaves behind his daughter, Hania Solecki (Christopher), grandchildren Dominique Johnston (Tyler) and Andre Solecki (Carla), and his great grandchildren Samantha, Everett, Owen, and Aniela, who all were blessed to have him in their lives. Very special thanks are given to the wonderful staff at Wawel Villa. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to Wawel Villa Senior Residence in Mississauga.