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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, November 8, 2013 | 8 continued from p.1 family -- a connection severed during the Second World War. "For the first time in my life, I feel as if I'm actually living a story that has been pre-written," Rosemary said. "We have been separated by time, continents and culture." Growing up, Rosemary heard stories from her mother, Regina Kocyk, as to how Regina met Rosemary's father, Florian, at the time of the Second World War. She heard how her father had once had another family in Poland -- for all intents and purposes left behind when he was captured by the Germans and incarcerated in a labour camp from 1939-45. She didn't know her dad had a son before the war -- her half brother -- until her mother told her about him before she died in April 2011. "When she told me the story, that my father had a son, I had tears in my eyes." After her mother's death, Rosemary knew she had to find her half sibling. Her father had died when she was seven and, as an only child, she'd never known much about his side of the family. Using Ancestry.com, Rosemary began searching, which led to a young man in Australia, also looking for relatives in Poland. "I mentioned to him I had a half brother in Poznan, Poland," Rosemary said. A week later Discovery of family ties, a gift to be remembered Ryszard Stoebe, 82, of Poland, and Oakville's Rosemary Stoebe, 53, holding the Oakville Beaver last summer in Poland. The two reunited after learning they were half brother and half sister -- their father lost touch with his first wife upon being taken prisoner during the Second World War. Afterward, he met Rosemary's mother, also a victim of war, and married. Also pictured are photos of their father's documents and identification tag from the war. Bottom right, her father, Florian Stoebe. | photos by Nikki Wesley ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) she received an email from the young man who'd travelled to Poland and sent her a newspaper clipping from the town of Wronk dated SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN th - 9:00 a.m. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16th During the Santa Claus Parade, the following roads, and adjacent streets will be closed from 7-11 a.m.: · Lakeshore Road from Allan Street to Brant Street · Kerr Street from Lakeshore Road to Stewart Street · Stewart Street from Kerr Street to Maurice Drive · Felan Avenue from Stewart Street to Rebecca Street · Rebecca Street from Dorval Drive to Forsythe Street · Robinson Street from Navy Street to Allan Street The co-operation of all motorists is requested. For additional information on road closures, contact Bob deHoog, Road Corridor/Permit Co-ordinator, 905.845.6601 ext. 3337. Don't worry about parking, take the free Santa Shuttle provided by Oakville Transit. The free Santa Shuttle runs every 10 minutes from the Oakville GO Station stopping at all regular stops along Reynolds to the Church/Dunn bus terminal. The Santa Shuttle will begin at 8 am with the last Santa Shuttle leaving downtown at 11:25 am. Please note that for safety reasons children must be removed from strollers and/or wagons while on the bus. Strollers must be folded and wagons put in an upright position. During the Parade, Oakville Transit will detour Routes 2, 14, 15 and 17 out of the Parade area. To ensure emergency vehicle and public access, visibility and traffic flow, residents and visitors are asked to adhere to parking regulations during the Parade. TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURES FREE SANTA SHUTTLE visit: www.oakvillesantaclausparade.ca Oakville Santa Claus Parade For more information on the or leave a message at: 905-815-5981 May 2011, a month after her mother had died. "There were three elderly men in the photo and they were celebrating being in their 80s as they commemorated a monument for children of the war," Rosemary said. "One of the men was my half brother." She obtained a phone number and called. After comparing backgrounds, they realized they were related. Her brother was also an only child. Rosemary, her husband, Peter, and their youngest daughter, Kate, 15, spent two weeks in August visiting their newly-found family. "I knew we had to go. We couldn't put it off. Because of his age, my half brother might not be alive if we waited," Rosemary said. "Ryszard looks identical to my dad. Never would I have believed after his passing 46 years ago (at age 51) when I was seven, that I would see his image at the age of 82." While in Poland, Rosemary also visited the graves of her mother's parents. "My mother's father, Marian Kocyk, was a railroad conductor and there I was travelling the same method, probably even on the same rails," Rosemary said. "When the Germans had taken my mother, her father attempted to retrieve her, but he wasn't able to get her on the train without papers and there were too many German guards, so he had to return on the train without her. "When I booked my flight, little did I realize the impact of this journey. It went from Toronto to Montreal, then Montreal to Munich, Germany and from Germany to Poland. I would be returning the same way my mother had arrived: Poland to Germany to Montreal to Toronto." Rosemary's mother, Regina, was 14 when she taken from her home in Poland in 1944. She never saw her parents again. Regina's father died in 1944 and her mother in 1945. While living at a Toronto seniors' residence, Rosemary's mother often told her daughter stories of how her father had saved her life. Regina first met Florian, when she was ill with typhus in hospital. At the time, the sailor and radio telegrapher, was working as a pharmacist after the war had ended. "He wound up delivering medicine to a patient in the hospital when he noticed my mother, who was very ill in the next bed to the person he was bringing medicine to that night," Rosemary explained. When her mother awoke the next morning, there was a note by her bed that read "DLA GRZECZNYCH DZIECI (For Polite Children)." Florian and Regina would eventually settle in Canada. He worked in B.C. and her mother in Québec, before they finally crossed paths again in Toronto and married. Florian's first wife died of cancer in 1978. "Our father raised Ryszard until Ryszard was around eight and he died when I was seven, but we both have very warm childhood memories of him," Rosemary said, noting both she and her brother have some identical family photos. "I now have another sister-in-law and brotherin-law, a nephew and niece and five great-nieces." Rosemary's daughters have been exchanging Facebook messages with her great nieces and they share similar interests from drawing and horseback riding to distance running. "It makes my heart content," Rosemary said. "It's phenomenal." Rosemary noted a "time-honoured" tradition in Poland where people visit the graves of their relatives, light candles and recall stories about them. "I am so pleased my family lineage is continuing. I look forward to grandchildren from my daughters one day, but to be lucky enough to now potentially see great, great nieces and nephews come along is very heart warming and a very special gift. "Never in my wildest dreams could I have imaged this turn of events. "Remembrance Day has always been special to our family, but this year it is definitely special."