À la mémoire de
John Wakulat
20 septembre 1937 –
21 octobre 2021
John Hans Werner Wakulat, loving husband and father, former owner of Pollocks Home Hardware, founder of the Roncesvalles Village BIA, former president of TABIA (Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas), and Alex Ling Lifetime Achievement Award-recipient, died on Thursday, October 21, 2021.
His spirit lives on in his two children and grandchild: Robert (partner Denise, and son Quincy) and Tania, along with friends and relatives around the world who were touched by his wit, charm, and genuine love of meeting new people (especially over a home-cooked meal).
John (then known as Hans Werner) was raised by his grandparents in Flemhude, a village in the northernmost state of Germany. He always imagined he’d work with trains. His grandfather was a station master and the family lived above the station itself, so he was surrounded in his formative years by the rush of people coming and going from far-away places. Many of his fondest memories harkened back to this period in his life.
Little did he know that he’d arrive in Toronto, Canada as a bright-eyed 18-year-old, knowing only a few words of English and savouring a big city for the first time. It was shortly after World War II and he was invited to stay abroad with his aunt Hilda (Sharoun, nee Wakulat) and her family, including his 2-year-old cousin John, to pursue a brighter future. He left 7 siblings, his mother (Mutti), and grandparents back in Germany. In Canada, he soon anglicized his name as Germans were viewed with lingering mistrust. However he felt about that, he quickly reinvented and established himself in his new home.
Hilda treated John like a son. She bought him his first bicycle and taught him about life in Canada. She and her husband ran an office supply store with specialty typewriters (featuring international characters) and a thriving international parcel business.
John worked for his aunt and uncle fulfilling parcel orders, making round trips to and from Union station. Seeking independence, he eventually moved into a rooming house in Roncesvalles Village with several other young immigrants. One of them, a carpenter, told John about an opening at a neighbourhood hardware store. The owner, Mel Pollock, took a chance on this young, unskilled boy of twenty—and was glad he did! John quickly proved himself to have an extraordinary work ethic and he easily learned the ins and outs of the business while earning Mel’s trust and confidence.
By the 60s, the store had joined the Home Hardware family and by the 70s, John was the manager. He was clean cut, well-groomed, and well-known in the community. Not just for his warmth and conviviality, but also for his bright, hand-lettered window signs, quintessential of local businesses of the era.
Outside of work, John was an avid nature-lover and amateur photographer. He co-purchased property on the Trent River with a friend in 1971, following the great Canadian tradition of owning an idyllic hideaway far from the bustle of the city. Both friends decided to bring their families up for the first long weekend to rest and recharge in the great outdoors. John invited his aunt Hilda.
“I can’t, I’m hosting a young Polish girl,” she replied.
“Bring her with you.”
He picked up his aunt and 19-year old Grazyna (Grace) Jeremicz who had been living and working with Hilda, selling music records to the Polish-speaking community. When they arrived, the other family didn’t show up so it was just the three of them. No matter. John spent a weekend playing volleyball with Grace and taking her on boat rides, while Hilde hummed around the cottage and cooked up a storm. John learned that, like him, Grace had come to Canada as a teenager, on her own.
A month later, he proposed.
“What? No!” she said.
But John was persistent. At Christmas, in High Park, he finally put a ring on her finger. And in August of 1972, so began a marriage of nearly 50 years.
The two built a life together and soon welcomed two kids, Robert and Tania.
John was an early riser and hard worker. When Mr. Pollock finally retired, he asked John to take over ownership of Pollocks Home Hardware. By then John was like a son to him, and Robert and Tania like grandkids. John accepted the responsibility and was also invited to join the Home Hardware board. His new role came with travel perks: overseas trips to learn about the hardware business in other places—global inspiration for his work locally. With the family in tow, John was invited all across Canada, as well as to South Africa, Kenya, and Switzerland.
John and Grace delighted in those trips. John for the politics, history, and camaraderie, Grace for the arts and culture—and both for the magnificent views. John had at least two cameras when Grace met him and would continue to add to that collection over the years. He adored taking photos in wild and majestic places, atop mountains and beside rushing rivers. He was so absorbed with the natural world that she had to remind him not to leave her out of the photos! “My eyes can’t take it all in!” he once said of the Okanagan Valley.
Throughout their life together, he and Grace shared this love of travel and the outdoors. They became members of the Bruce Trail Conservancy, frequented James Garden, West Deane Park, and walked many trails criss-crossing the Humber Valley. John always had his camera and a pair of binoculars to take in the details. Often, while hiking, Grace and the kids would walk ahead, leaving John to stage his perfect shot. To this day there are countless boxes of Kodachrome slides, John’s keen eye preserved for the next generation.
While he nurtured his family, he also never ceased to appreciate the Pollocks staff who were essential to the success of the store. As an owner he continued to be hands-on—unloading deliveries, stocking shelves, pricing products, and being a friendly face for all his customers. And every summer he would invite his staff back to Etobicoke for a raucous family-filled pool party.
John’s generosity of spirit extended to the needs of the community around him. At home, neighbours were always encouraged to ask for a helping hand and John was quick to show up with tools, two outstretched arms, and an open heart. Back at the store, John was a fierce advocate for local commerce, recognizing the value of collaborating with fellow small business owners to improve the neighbourhood and get things done. His leadership was instrumental in founding the original Roncesvalles BIA and overseeing its eventual merger with the High Park BIA. He took his inspiration from Alex Ling who had been the founder of the world’s first BIA on Bloor West Village and continued to call Alex a friend until the latter passed away.
A man of great ambition, he didn’t stop at just chairing the RVBIA. His tireless pursuit of local economic development and, above all, passion for giving a voice to small businesses, led him to become a Board Member and then the second Chair of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas where he could grapple with these issues on a city-wide scale.
At home, John was a voracious reader, and family archivist. He read every newspaper he could get his hands on. At times there were three different newspapers arriving at the house not to mention a library’s worth of periodicals! The Wakulat dining table was regularly piled high with magazines that would have to be cleared at Grace’s insistence before each meal.
John filled their home office with lavish photo books showcasing global cultures, foods, and customs. He acquired the entire hardcover set of Encyclopedia Britannica going back to the 60s. (Robert and Tania often cut photos from those editions to adorn school projects, much to his chagrin.) He filled albums with newspaper clippings of German news and historically significant events. The scrapbooks multiplied and came to be a great source of comfort in his later years.
Truly, John could not stay idle. He maintained his family’s house with unending fastidiousness — clearing gutters, constantly skimming and vacuuming the pool, and ensuring the lawn was perfectly manicured. The only interruptions to his busy routine would be for hosting friends and family or taking in the Saturday night Leafs game with his kids. John was one of the few Torontonians around when the Leafs were genuinely good and he optimistically hoped he would see another Stanley Cup in his lifetime. Occasionally, he would get tickets to a game—well! What a treat for the kids to go downtown with him to the Gardens, hotdogs topped with a simple line of mustard. Personal time out of the house was also family-focused and active with pond skating in Winter, hikes and bikes in Summer, and trips to family or the Pollock’s cottage home.
This deep abiding love of family easily extended to his cousin John’s family including wife Gail and kids Adriana (Stuart), Cassandra (Jon), Lexy (Tom), and Billy (Christena) as well as across the ocean to his relatives in Germany: his brothers Gerhard (Maria) and Rainer (Christa) and sister Ingrid (Reinhold) and numerous beloved nieces and nephews. John held family up through the joys and hardships of life. He had light in his eyes, smiles for miles, and a bear hug for the kids on special occasions and holidays.
John had a signature BLT sandwich, the “Super Duper”, which was a Sunday morning ritual, rarely served without freshly squeezed OJ. Once every few months he would excitedly make grünkohl, a notoriously tangy stew of kale and sausage—so pungent that Grace had to leave the house when he made it. Luckily, Robert adored this ritual and ravenously consumed this bit of German culinary heritage.
No matter how long it had been since he left Germany, a sizable piece of his heart remained deeply connected to his homeland. He was always viewed by his relatives as genuinely German and it didn’t take much prompting for him to share this part of himself with curious Canadians. And, over the strenuous protests of his children, he would wake the family each Sunday morning by shaking the house with German folk music.
His love of Germany also precipitated a deal with Grace when the kids were born: Grace could baptise them and take them to church if she wanted, but he wanted them to learn German so they might communicate with family overseas. Well, the German lessons began but the church-going never really took hold, so Robert and Tania both ended up conversant enough in German to put that skill to some use in regular phone conversations with their Oma and during many family trips to Deutschland.
Sadly, John’s final years were marked by a long battle with dementia. Those who met him for the first time in those years never ceased to remark on his fundamental kindness, etiquette, easy banter, and quickness to humour—core character traits that even the disease could not shake. The family would like to thank the nursing staff at Cawthra Gardens Long Term Care Residence, who took wonderful care of John in his final months.
John leaves this world a little better than he found it, a little more tidy, a little more witty, a little more polka-filled. His effortless courage, magnanimity, and indomitable zest for life will be upheld by everyone whose life he touched. His legacy lives on in his family, his staff, the young people he mentored and nurtured, and in the thriving and vibrant local economies touched by his work. We are comforted that John will be himself again, as he takes in the majesty of whatever comes next.
Friends may call the Turner & Porter « Yorke Chapel », 2357 Bloor Street West, Toronto on Friday, October 29, 2021 from 1-3 and 5-7 p.m. Registration is required by clicking on the link below.
A private family service will be held.
In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer donations be made to the Alzheimer Society or the Bruce Trail Conservancy. We are comforted that John will be himself again, as he takes in the majesty of whatever comes next.
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20 septembre 1937
21 octobre 2021
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de John Wakulat 20 septembre 1937
21 octobre 2021..
turner & porter funeral directors
Décès pour la Ville:Etobicoke, Province: Ontario