RICHARD WOLNIEWICZ – RICHARD’S PARK , MISSISSAUGA: WHO WAS RICHARD WOLNIEWICZ?

alan skeoch

sept. 17, 2024

AN EMPTY BEACH ON LAKE ONTARIO  NORTH SHORE

“ALAN, you need to walk more.”

“I do walk.”

“not enough,according to the therapist.   So today we are going for a walk at Richard’s Memorial Park….smAllest parl

on Mississauga lakefront.”

“Who was Richard?”

‘Bit of a mystery…not much is known about him except that he was 14 when he died.

“Why is the park named after him?”

“Because the boy’s heart was transplanted to Mayor Robert Speck ,mayor of Mississauga

back in 1971.  Mr. Speck wanted something done to remember Richard Wolniewicz”

“What is known about the tragic death of Richard?”

“Nothing that I can find.”

“Isn’t that strange…the boy has one of the nicest parks in Mississauga named after him but

there is no record of why he died at age 14…just before his 15th birthday.”

RICHARDS MEMORIALPARK, MISSISSAUGA

So, on September 17. 2024, Marjorie took me to Richard’s Park.  Hardly

anyone was there. The sun was shining and the beach was inviting so we

stripped down to our underwear and waded in.  We we’re almost alone

…one man doing excercises on the beach and another swimmer so far

out in Lake Ontario that he or she was only a bobbing speck.

These two humans took no notice of  two underwear clad 80 year old

citizens.  The water was delightful…soft sand…the water  gradually

got deeper. I was helped by my wooden can.  We left the walker on

the beach.   We had the whole park to ourselves really.  It was wonderfull

and  we plan to go swimming every day until fall turns to winter.

Next swim we will have bathing suits.  

**Please obey all signs posted at the beach and take caution if it has rained in the past 24-48 hours.**

Richard’s Memorial is the smallest of Peel’s three lakefront beaches. It has picnic areas and BBQs as well as a mostly sand beach. The park commemorates Richard Wolniewicz, a fourteen year-old boy whose heart was donated to Mayor Robert Speck in 1971. The Park is also home to a five-foot tall peace monument, bearing the inscription “Planet Earth is our Home, Humanity is our Family.”

RICHARD WOLNIEWICZ

1. Mayor Bob Speck’s heart donor was to turn 15 on Tuesday. Mississauga News, December 22, 1971
2. The generosity of a family is honoured in Lorne Park [Richard’s Memorial Park]. The Booster, January 4, 2006

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