Jan Ryszard and Gabriela Kowalski

At the age of 27 and 23 respectively Jan-Ryszard Kowalski and Gabriela Olszewska-Kowalski came to Canada from Poland via Germany. After a 9-day journey in cold, stormy weather & rough seas, they arrived at Pier 21 on December 22, 1949 on the American army ship SS. Gen. Ballu. Other members of the family included their son Krzysztof (1945) and daughters Janina (1946) and Grazyna (1948). Gabriela and the children roomed in the upstairs cabins while Ryszard stayed in the ship's hull in the army bunks.

They had followed Gabriela's mother, Jozefa Olszewska, sister & brother-in-law Halinka & Czeslaw Kubis who had arrived in the fall of 1948. The Kubis family settled in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The Kowalski family & grandmother Jozefa lived briefly in Sault Ste. Marie and later settled in Montreal, Quebec in 1950.

Three sons were born in Montreal - Tomasz (1951), Andrzej (1953) & John Richard (1955).