Stanislaw F. Konopka

He was born in 1908 in Zalesie Gorzyckie (Zales Pniowski), an administrative district in Tarnobrzeg. For three years, he lived in Trzemeszen, a province in Poznan, where his parents had a farm and a large rental house. He came to Canada at the age of 16 with his parents. They first lived in Thorold and, later, in St. Catharines; they moved to Toronto in mid-1925. The young Konopka was forced to work right away. He made a living working on the construction of the Welland Canal. After working there for three years, he did a six-month apprenticeship in extracting sand cores in casting houses and worked as a caster for 30 years.

In 1925, Stanislaw F. Konopka and his father joined The Polish Alliance of Canada. He first belonged to Branch 1 and, later, to Branch 5. Interestingly, his paternal uncles were among the founders of the first Polish organization in Toronto, the Sons of Poland Brotherhood, which later became The Polish Alliance of Canada. In 1929, Stanislaw Konopka received his Canadian citizenship and, two years later, married Canadian-born Ada Nowak.

At the beginning of the 1940’s, he spent two years publishing The Alliancer. In 1949, he was elected President of the PAC Head Executive Board, which he remained until 1965. He turned out to be an excellent leader and organizer of Alliance life. He was able to win over people of various ages, as well as to find a common language with the large wave of immigrants who arrived in Canada after World War II.

As a result of the recognition and confidence he gained, twenty new alliance branches were created, many of which purchased or built alliance halls.

Stanislaw F. Konopka had an enormous influence on other things, as well. In the 1960’s, with the help of the editor of The Alliancer at the time, Franciszek Glogowski, Konopka organized a fundraiser within the Polish community in Canada to help Poland. As a result, Poland obtained a cobalt bomb needed for the treatment of cancer patients.

He also supported the return of the „Wawel Treasures” to Poland. He encouraged the establishment of contacts with the Polish nation, which led to the organization of the Travel Committee, later registered as „PAC Travel and Tours Ltd.” In 1964, Franciszek Glogowski, who was also the publishing director, resigned from his position of editor-in-chief of The Alliancer. His responsibilities were then divided: Benedykt Heydekorn became editor, while Stanislaw F. Konopka became publishing director. Konopka retained this position until 1976 when he retired. This period was one of publishing developments; the newspaper also moved to a new domicile at 1638 Bloor Street West.

After retiring, Konopka was constantly interested by the problems of the PAC. S. Konopka’s closest relations worked socially in the ranks of the Alliance: his wife in the Ladies’ Circle, and his daughter in the Youth Alliance.

In recognition of his enormous contributions to the development of the organization, he was given honourary membership to the PAC during the XXX PAC General Assembly in 1981. Stanislaw F. Konopka died on September 21, 1982. The Polish Alliance of Canada lost a great volunteer, an outstanding person, and a very dedicated member of the Polish community in Canada.