Tomasz Wilczewski

Tomasz Wilczewski, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away on December 23, 2024 after a four-year battle with leukemia. 

Tomasz was many things: an officer, an immigrant, a student, an employer or an employee, uncle, dad, dziadzio, husband,… yet to all he was first and foremost a friend who was always there to lend a hand or an ear. Born in post-war Poland in 1950, Tomasz did not have an easy childhood, and through hard work and sheer will was accepted into Poland’s Air Force Officer Training College in 1969, a year after he met the love of his life, Renata. Tomasz and Renata married in 1973, and the next year he graduated from the Academy.

The ultimate optimist and a consummate planner, Tomasz was not discouraged when the communist regime “cut his wings” and grounded him as a pilot. He took early retirement and set upon his most ambitious and audacious plan: to move his family across the iron curtain to Canada, a country he dreamt of since his youth, to join his brother. Leaving Poland in 1986 as a retired Air Force Captain, Pilot First Class, Tomasz arrived as a refugee at Vancouver International Airport in 1987 with his wife, two children, and $400 in his pocket to start a new life half a world away. He succeeded by every measure.

His optimism and inner strength could not be extinguished even by a cancer diagnosis. He continued to travel with Renata, visiting 43 countries on five continents, always making time to attend Air Force Academy reunions, birthdays, and family events. He was always present, and always will be.

Tomasz was the bedrock of the family: patient, devoted and the definitive good man. He is survived by his loving wife of 51 years, Renata, his immensely proud children Warren (Renata) and Anna (Trevor), and his four grandchildren, each of whom held a special place in his heart, Thomas, Hanna, Kaliya, and Brayden. His sense of humour, positivity, and generous spirit will live through them. He is also survived by his niece Ania and nephews Arek and Michael. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Janusz.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Tomasz Wilczewski to the BC Cancer Foundation, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and for those able, please donate blood.