Remembering Mississauga Builder and Cultural Architect: George Kowalczyk

George Kowalczyk at the Credits Awards Night 2023.

Mississauga’s Polish community deeply mourns the recent loss of Jerzy (George) Kowalczyk, a local Mississauga builder and patriot who selflessly dedicated much of his life to Canada’s Polonia.

Mr. Kowalczyk was born in 1930 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. During the Second World War, he was deported to Siberia with his family and went through many hardships before returning to Poland where he earned a civil engineering degree in Gdansk.

In 1959, Kowalczyk and his family immigrated to Toronto. In 1968 he founded Actron Consultants Ltd. in Port Credit. From his head office at 8 Elizabeth St., Mr. Kowalczyk oversaw the construction of apartments, condos, and commercial buildings in Mississauga, Toronto and across Southern Ontario.

Arguably, it was his building of Wawel Villa Seniors’ Residence at 880 Clarkson Rd. S. in the picturesque neighbourhood of Clarkson where he made his biggest impact. At the time that Wawel Villa opened in 1982, many of the veterans of the Second World War were in their golden years and looking for a place to retire. It was truly in their honour and for the entirety of GTA’s Polonia that Wawel Villa became a place where these seniors could live out their twilight years in safe, affordable and culturally sensitive housing (as is true today). Mr. Kowalczyk served as the seniors residence’s administrator for many years. 

Many of its earliest residents were decorated veterans including Col. Boleslaw Orlinski whom Kowalczyk counted as a true friend. It was Orlinski’s dream that a museum would be created for Polish veterans living in Canada. Ten years after Orlinski’s death, in 2002, Kowalczyk and veteran Krzysztof Lubicz-Szydlowski opened the Museum and Archives of the Polish Armed Forces, also known as the Orlinski Museum, in his honour. It was he who led the charge to incorporate the museum as a not-for-profit organization in 2019. In 2022, he received the cultural heritage award from Heritage Mississauga for his unwavering support of the Orlinski Museum and Mississauga’s Polonia.

It was at the Orlinski Museum where I first met my dear friend George. He was incredibly passionate about Polish history. He spent so much of his time and energy advocating for Polish veterans. He was so generous in that way, that nobody could help but feel his passion radiating with every word. On several occasions, I remember George taking me and others under his wing to teach about the many fascinating tales of Polish Canadian veterans. From him we gained not only a wealth of knowledge, but a new friend. He just had that way about him where he made you feel cared for and it was hard not to feel a sense of duty to spread the news of these amazing stories to others. He truly had a gift that not many have. 

He was a friend to all. A friend to me when I needed one. A grandfather figure. A teacher. He touched so many of our lives profoundly. He touched Mississauga’s Polonia deeply. And like so many greats, he was incredibly humble. If you were to ask him about his accomplishments - for there were many - he would more often than not wave his hand in dismissal. Despite that, I know that his enormous contributions to Polonia will be remembered.

It was fitting that he too spent his final days in Wawel Villa. Though he is now resting, I know his impact will continue to ring through the halls of Wawel Villa, the Orlinski Museum and the entirety of Canada’s Polonia. Dziękujemy Panie Kowalczyku!