Posted on 12/10/2005 5:39:18 PM PST by REactor
A Polish army veteran - thought to have been Britain's oldest man - has died at a nursing home in Cumbria.
Jerzy Pajaczkowski-Dydynski - known as George - who was 111, lived in Sedbergh until ill-health forced a move to a nursing home in Grange over Sands.
The former colonel was born in what is now the Ukraine, but was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1894.
He escaped the German invasion of Poland in 1940 and worked as a gardener in Scotland before moving to Cumbria.
His son-in-law Richard Thomas from Birks Fold, said he and other members of the family had seen the highly decorated veteran at the Boarbank Hall nursing home before he died on 6 December.
Mr Thomas said: "We saw him on the day he died. He had a very colourful and eventful life."
Mr Dydynski studied law at the University of Vienna, but when World War I broke out joined the Polish Army and saw service in the war between Russia and Poland in the 1920's.
He was still with the army when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, but eventually managed to escape to Britain.
He spent months in hospital after falling ill on New Year's Eve 2003 and breaking his hip.
The colonel was born in Lwow on 19 July, 1894, and moved to Sedbergh from Edinburgh in 1993 with his now late second wife Dorothy.
The family said his long life was down to his positive outlook and, until recently, a daily half glass of Guinness.
He leaves 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
The colonel was called up to the Austrian Infantry in 1915 and became a sergeant before going to Montenegro and Albania where he fought against the Italians.
He married in 1924 but his first wife later died so he married again in 1946.
Family from Poland, Britain, the US, Australia and France are due to attend a funeral service at Sedbergh Parish Church on 12 December.
The man was living-history. RIP!
Guinness - the fountain of youth!
So they cut off pop and he went up and died.
"The former colonel was born in what is now the Ukraine, but was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1894."
I wonder what it is like to live in 3 centuries.
Every medical study done up til now has shown that the equivalent of 2 drinks/day (be it wine, beer or whiskey) adds years to life. Don't overdo it, but not drinking at all is a definite risk factor.
his hometown of Lwow changed hands four times during World War II and finally wound up in the Soviet Union.
But finally finally wound up in Ukraine :-)
something interesting I think
The very old people are just that, they are living-history...I have worked in nursing homes for many years, and whenever I had some spare time, I would love to talk to those very elderly, whose minds were still fairly intact and they would tell me tales of their youth, ,their growing up years, what they experienced in living human terms...
Things I had read about only in history books, were often brought to life by this wonderful seniors...I took care of a little lady, who was 105, and aside from being slightly hard of hearing and had lessening sight, and being frail, , there was nothing wrong with her...she came out west, here to Washington State, as a small child, in a covered wagon with her parents...she would tell us amazing stories, of her early days in Washington, probably even before Washington was state...
The nursing homes are full of wonderful seniors, who have a wealth of information in their minds...all too soon they will be gone...I am privileged, that I have known so many of them, and was a witness to their stories...
The town has also undergone a few name changes during his lifetime. German-speaking Austrians called it Lemberg, while it was Łwów to the Poles and Lvov to the Russians. Today, the townspeople reside in in Lviv.
Just imagine, this man was born in the 1800's. Too soon they will be all gone.
That is what is so sad...when they are gone, their stories will be gone, and if no one remembers those stories, it will be almost as if those occurences never happened...
I am a great believer in oral traditions...passing down family stories from one generation to the next...my dad was like this, he would tell us the same stories over and over again, stories of the family, that were passed down to him, orally, stories of things he remembered...we kids sometimes wondered why he told us these stories so much...it was not until I got a little older, and a bit wiser, that I realized he wanted me to never forget the stories...and so I continued that tradition with my own children...
My older son died many years ago...but my younger son, has endured my endlessly telling him the family stories, with my own experiences added on...sometimes, he would roll his eyes, and say, "Ma, I have heard the story"...and my reply to him, is exactly what my dad told me..."Yes, I know that you have heard the story before, but do you know what it means?...when I am gone, will you still remember the stories"...
My son, is now older and a bit wiser, and he sees the wisdom in this...hopefully, one day, should he ever have children, he will continue the tradition of passing down the family stories...
All the seniors in nursing homes, all the seniors wherever they are, ,have stories to tell, but often have no one who is interested...and that is the saddest part of all...because they will all too soon be gone, as will their stories...
BUMP
Well, first you live in the first century, then you live in the second century,, and last you live in the third century. Get it, or shall I repeat it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.