The following is a brief schedule for Sunday the 17th.
1. We all expect to meet at the reception hall of Beechwood Cemetery sometime before 11:00
2. Walk out together to the gazebo location together for the service to start at 11 AM
3. Opening prayer - Deacon Wayne
4. Reading of text about my brother Richard, the Gazda family and the quest for information about his death - Diana Dale
5. Prayer for Richard's parents and dedication prayer - Deacon Wayne
6. Our Father and Eternal Rest prayer recited in Polish - Ian and Diana
7. Letting Go, Our Father and the following Eternal Rest prayer in English - Deacon Wayne: "Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon him"
8. Invitation to speak by anyone who wishes to do so - Deacon Wayne
9. Blessing of the Leaf and Mounting of it on the Tree of Life - Deacon Wayne and Meaghan Shanahan 10. Lunch at the Dales for all assembled

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We are all here to remember and to honour my brother Richard Feliks Gazda by dedicating a memorial leaf on the Tree of Life here at Beechwood Cemetery.

For over 65 years, no one in our family could recall the exact year of his death. My mother was so traumatized that she could only recall the day it happened - August 15th but not the year.

Throughout my adult life, I have been trying to find out what actually happened to my brother, when he died and where was his final resting place. While they were alive, I consulted with my mother, my aunts, cousins and anyone else who knew my parents at the time in question. Before my mother died in 2004, I asked a Canadian official working in Buenos Aires to obtain a list of cemeteries in the area where my mother thought Ryszard had died. However none of them rang a bell.

After my mother died, I continued working on this problem. I wrote to the Argentinian Embassy and the Argentinian Archives. I also hoped that there might be some sort of church record of his funeral. I sought the help of some of the people in my church.

Deacon Wayne especially was very very helpful. Through his auspices, Father Riesbeck of our diocese wrote a letter to Cardinal Archbishop Poli of Buenos Aires. I also got in touch with the parish priest of a Polish parish in Buenos Aires. Finally, Deacon Wayne remembered that his fellow Deacon, Deacon O’Donnell had a daughter, who happened then to be living in Buenos Aires. She very kindly took up my quest on the spot and after quite a bit of digging around was able to obtain a copy of my brother's death certificate. Thanks to her, we now know that he died in Merlo - Buenos Aires on August 15th 1950.

We now know that my brother Richard's short life came to an end in an automobile accident on the streets of Merlo when he was only 3 years old. Richard was born in Redruth, Cornwall, England on July 26th 1947.

My father, Feliks Gazda was in the Polish Air Force at the start of WWII. He made his way to Romania, was interred in a Stalinist camp from which he escaped. He made his way to the Black Sea to Marseille and from there to Lyon where he was a pilot with the French Air Force until 1940. Then he made his way to Blackpool England and flew with the RAF. He joined the 112 Shark Squadron and flew in N Africa. He later flew across Africa many times from Rabat, Khartoum to Cairo in the Transport Unit, flying many types of planes to aid the war effort. At the end of the war, my parents settled in Cornwall briefly after London. It was there that Richard was born.

They emigrated by a freighter to Buenos Aires from Southampton in February of 1949. It was difficult to get to Canada immediately under the Polish quota at the time. Richard lived with my parents in Ballestra - a suburb of Buenos Aires at Calle Jose Ingenieros 1149, Estafeta no. 1 until his death in Merlo.

We are blessed to have Ian, Deacon Wayne, father, Deacon O’Donnell and his daughter, as well as our good friend Cathy here today. We have all heard about Richard and while none of us, alas, knew him, it feels like we have come to know him, some for longer time than others. Ian and I will recite the Our Father in Polish for Richard as well as a prayer customarily recited at the end of memorial services in Poland; and then Deacon Wayne will lead us in the Our Father in English.

Thank you for coming to remember and help give Richard a most fitting adieu.

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O God, Who has commanded us
to honour our father and mother,
have compassion in Thy mercy,
on the souls of Richard and Diana’s father and mother; forgive them all their sins,
Comfort them in knowing that their dear son Richard rests in your eternal care
and grant that the Gazda family may be reunited in the joy of eternal brightness.
Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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God, bring comfort and peace to Diana and Ian. Peace is your essence. Peace is your name. Bring peace to this family who has lost their precious son and brother Richard in death. We come to you, God because we know that you sorrow, and are acquainted with grief. You too have endured the loss of a child. You empathize. We can’t help but ask, “Why?” Forgive our insistence, our confusion, even our anger. We believe that you are just, and we ache to understand how this tragic death is an expression of that justice, how it expresses your love. We also know – in our minds at least – that you seldom answer the “why?” question. We press you, but on these matters you are mostly silent. What we ask instead is “how?” How can we move forward? How can this bring us together and not tear us apart? How can we now live under the shadow of this untimely death? Answer this prayer with your comfort and guidance. There is no way to remove the pain. The grief is real. The only sanity is to know, to believe, in a life beyond with you, when all the scales are righted and the sufferings are made good. We trust you and your promise that while this child’s life on earth is done, his life beyond has just begun. With that release we lose him and let him go into your arms, then by faith receive in return the boundless comfort of your presence. That is all, that is enough. In Jesus.” We dedicate this leaf as a living memorial to Richard Feliks Gazda – May he rest in peace in your ample loving arms in Christ our Lord in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit – Let us go in the peace of the Lord.

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Richard.
You’re still here in my heart and mind,
still making me laugh and cry cause your stories live on.
I hold you in a thought and I can feel you.
I feel you and this gives me strength and courage.
The tears I have cried for you could flood the earth
and I know you have wiped each one away.
For you Brother, I promise you this,
I will go on with my life and make you proud.
I will always hold you in my heart.
I promise you I will be missing you everyday till the end of time,
but this is not my end and I can’t hold my head underwater….
I need to breathe.
I need to love and miss you, but I also need to live because through me you will live,
you will still laugh and love,
you will still sing and dance,
you will still hug and kiss.
You will forever be in our lives,
you will forever be a brother,
a son,
a friend.
I am going to miss your shining face
I think of you and wonder why?
I might cry or smile,
but at the end of the day I am one day closer to you...