Bacynski, Henryk
(Dec. 19, 1914 - Jan. 7, 2007)
Fraternal leaderFrom the time he arrived in the port of New York on October 29, 1949, it looked like Henryk Baczynski, fit pretty well into the Polish community of Springfield, Massachusetts. He joined Our Lady of the Rosary R.C. Church, founded in 1917, Lodge 1053 of the Polish National Alliance, and worked as a carpenter.
Unlike the Polish immigrants who came before him, the National Catholic Welfare Council brought the Bacynski family, including his wife, Maria, and two sons, Stephen, who was born May 5, 1943, and Edmund, four years younger, from a Displaced Persons camp in Germany, and resettled them. In 1949, the 522-foot USAT General R.L. Howze, on which they sailed, and other transports made almost 150 voyages taking refugees of World War II to the United States, Australia and other countries. In previous years, the ship, built at Richmond, California, in the 1940s, carried troops and supplies to the combat zones of the Pacific and returning American troops to New York. After the Vietnam War, it established a record for ships loaded with refugees with 38 babies born in a five-month period.
For the rest of his life Henryk Baczynski was active in his church and PNA, serving many years as lodge president, member of various committees, delegate to PNA conventions every four years, and enjoyed fishing and gardening. He did everything he could to maintain Camp Stanica for youth activities, dancing, and family outings.
From: Edward Pinkowski (2009)