Eulogy for ALM Piotrowicz (17/11/1932-7/2/24). Delivered 5/3/24 at St Maksymilian Kolbe Church,
Derby
I would like to say a few words about my late father.
Most people who met him will remember him as a decent and upright man. St Paul said that the
upright man lives by his faithfulness, and throughout his long life my father remained faithful not
only to the church, but also his family, his Polish roots, his vocation as a doctor and his belief in a
just and fair society.
At times he could appear austere and serious , but he was always courteous and would try to
see the best in people and the world around him. For example, he rarely spoke of his wartime
experiences as a child in Warsaw, but the memories he did choose to share were not those of a
victim. I remember him telling us about the German soldier who took pity on him and offered him
an orange - a scarce commodity for anyone at the time. It was with with a sense of awe that he
spoke of the deep snow drifts in the streets and that the ice on the river Vistula was so thick that it
could support the weight of tanks during the Russian advance . After his home had been
destroyed and his family sought refuge, he recalled the joys of the family spending time with an
uncle who was a forester in the woods around Warsaw and later at Laski, an institute for the blind
where his mother had worked
After the war he settled initially in Newark, Nottinghamshire where he first met my mother. They
subsequently married and remained together for 67 years. His family was important to him. He
spared no effort caring for us and supporting us. I remember that when I became seriously unwell
five years ago, despite his increasing frailty, he would insist in driving me to the hospital and
accompanying me to my appointments.
He trained as a doctor in Ireland and later became a consultant radiologist in Derby. I believe he
enjoyed his job and that he was respected by those he worked with. I recall once visiting him at
work and him giving me a guided tour of the hospital. We were frequently stopped by colleagues
who wanted to complement him on work he had done for them. Even, now more than a quarter of
a century after he retired, whenever I go for a scan, a radiographer will often recognise my name
and say that that they they still remember him.
My father never cared much for material things or luxury consumer items, but he always made
sure he was smart and well dressed and would rarely leave the house without wearing a jacket
and tie. As children me and brothers remember him sitting behind the wheel of the car wearing
driving gloves and a narrow brimmed hat. He also had a fur hat which he used wear when
picking us from school. Together with his dark glasses this gave him the appearance of an eastern
European spy, which caused our friends great amusement. I still don’t know whether this was
accidental or a manifestation of a dry sense of humour which he undoubtedly possessed.
It is also difficult to remember him without thinking of his pipe which seemed always clenched
between his teeth and the aroma of pipe tobacco that used to follow him about. Even though he
gave up the habit in his 50s, it was something that he greatly missed and something about which
he would reminisce during his last illness.
My father could appear quiet and introverted. However, when writing up memories of his
childhood and early adulthood we could see how much better and more freely he was able to
express himself in writing. A modest man, he never made show of his erudition, but would often
surprise us, when during a conversation, he would make a reference to some obscure work
literature or piece of music
We were all witnesses to his creative side. He loved tending the vegetable patch at the bottom of
our garden and he became an expert in cultivating the grapes that came with the vinery when we
moved to Derby. He even put his hand to wine making at one stage. He was a keen amateur
carpenter and joiner and used his skill to restore the greenhouse when it required repair. These
hobbies seem to bring out the best in him. I remember once, when he had just
finished replacing a broken pane in the greenhouse, me or one of my brothers put a football
through it. Having noticed this, he simply fetched his tools and put a new pane in, muttering
“accidents happen” or words to that effect.
There are so many other things I would like to say about my father. Time does not allow me,
except in passing to mention how kind and generous he was and that he had a deep sense of
justice and fairness, although these did not perhaps always work to his advantage. He could
become frustrated with things, but we never heard him swear or use bad language. He always
made an effort to do what was, for him, the right thing.
His final years were marked by declining health and increasing frailty, but he did his best to make
the most of things. Although he suffered from poor hearing and vision , he was still able to follow
sport on TV and loved to watch ski-jumping, which is now almost a Polish national sport -
however, I could never understand why he liked to spend so much time watching snooker.
His religious faith was important to him and he kept this to the very end. He would make an effort
to attend mass every Sunday, despite the effort that this would entail . Two weeks before he went
into hospital for the last time it took both me and my brother to bring him to this church so that he
was able to receive communion
He will be very much missed.