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KAMLOOPS, B.C. — As her son's 40 years played out before her in photos and song, Zofia Cisowski told mourners the story of Robert Dziekanski's life at his funeral Saturday.
"This is at home . . . This is my brother's wife . . . Robert was a godfather," she explained in a strong, but tear-choked voice.
Friends had worried the grief-stricken mother wouldn't be able to attend the funeral, but she sat in the front row, flanked and supported by friends and family.
Dziekanski died after he was tasered and restrained by four RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport Oct. 14.
Speakers shared stories about his life and expressed their frustration, anger and outrage over how he died.
Dziekanski was born an only child in Bielawa, a small town of 30,000 in southwest Poland near the Czech border.
His voyage to Kamloops to live with his mother was the first time Dziekanski had left his country.
He arrived in Canada with only three suitcases. In one, he packed clothing and gifts. The other two were filled with geography books, atlases and Polish geography magazines.
"I have it on good authority that he knew more about Canada than most of us that live here," said Father Nicholas Forde.
Dziekanski read voraciously, and North America and Canada were his favourite subjects.
Cisowski's friend Jurek Baltakis said Dziekanski spent over nine hours at the airport before his death, "lost, confused, thirsty and hungry, and ignored by all."
Baltakis' disbelief and anger were echoed by other speakers.
"We all share similar sentiments regarding the manner in which his life came to a catastrophic and abrupt end. After seven years of waiting, (Dziekanski) arrived to his utopia, Vancouver. Ten hours later, he was dead.," said the Polish consul-general, Maciej Krych.
"We support (institutions), we defend them, but they are not always just. They failed Robert," Father Waldemar Karciarz told the mourners.
"What happened the other day to that lovely son of yours was brought about by a whole slew of misunderstandings, ordinances that added up to nothing, that read well on a piece of paper but put into practice were just foolish," Father Forde echoed.
Ludwik Tokarczuk, president of the Polish-Canadian Kongres of B.C., promised that the people responsible for Dziekanski's death will be brought to justice.
His wife, Danuta, called the airport, customs officials' and RCMP's actions inexcusable.
"I'm appalled that such a simple procedure . . . would end up in such a tragic way," she said. "Somebody died and it shouldn't happen. I'm angry.
"The Polish community and the community at large are expecting some answers and demanding that the agencies involved will admit that what happened was wrong, and also to make sure that this will not occur in the future."
Trudy Dirk, formerly of the Kamloops Immigrant Society, said she was sad that Canada let down a woman who was so devoted to her adopted country.
"Robert was her shining light," she said. "A day that should have been one of the happiest of her life turned into a terrible, heartbreaking tragedy.
"I'm appalled by the events that led to Robert's death."
Ricki Bagnall, also spoke at the memorial service. His son Robert died after being tasered by police in a Vancouver hotel room in 2004.
"The deaths of our sons has become a focal point in an international anti-Taser campaign. People all over the world are taking note of the brutal side effects of this supposedly less-than-lethal form of subjugation," Bagnall said.
After the service, a red-eyed and unsteady Cisowski spoke briefly to the media.
"I just like to thank you all who came today to Robert's ceremony. I hope that everyone will remember my son Robert as a good, loving boy, a good, loving human being. My family loved him so much they cry all the time.
"I love him so much."
Half of Dziekanski's ashes will be laid to rest in Kamloops. His mother will take the other half to be buried in Poland.
Tags: Robert Dziekanski Memorial Vancouver Police Airport Taser Victim
