Roy Kostuk, My Friend

I would like to share some anecdotes about one of my best friends, Roy Kostuk. He was born and raised in Toronto’s Parkdale neeighbourhood  was an only child. His mom was a sample maker at Eclipse Uniform, which is the most important person in a sewing plant. Her skill was so great that she was given the task of sewing the perfect dresses for the famous Dionne Quintuplets. His dad was a fine cabinet maker, apprenticing in Ukraine, but honed his craft in the finest furniture stores in Toronto. Roy attended Parkdale Collegiate, where he loved to play football, then University of Toronto, where he graduated in Law in 1960. He married Irene Snihura, a pharmacist, musician and mother of their two lovely children, Mary Ann and Roy, Jr. I always admired him when he spoke to his children. Even though he was born in Canada, he only spoke to his kids in Ukrainian. At the time, this was not in vogue, as it is today, Roy was extremely practical, and a very funny man. My wife Anne and I would often spend evenings together with him and his wife Irene, at our respective chalets at Beaver Valley Ski Club, laughing until the wee hours of the morning. Roy was a born entertainer, with a very dry sense of humour.

These are some story’s that come to mind when I think of my friend.

Roy was the first baby to be born in 1932, and always felt the great city of Toronto should give him some special status, which they did. He would always remind anyone who would listen, with his great wit, “I was the first kid to be born in Toronto [in that year], and all I got was a slap on the rear.”

When I started my business, I bought an old truck, but within a few years I purchased a brand new white one, with my new Topper logo painted all over it. At the time, this purchase was costly for a small businessman. I was proud of my new truck. I was out making deliveries one day, and was hit in the rear by a taxi. I was very upset, but the taxi driver was an Eastern European immigrant who begged me not to call police, and said he would pay out of his pocket. I felt sorry for this new immigrant to Canada, and agreed   He didn’t pay as agreed. I had a smashed truck and wanted it fixed. That’s when I met Roy at my friend Sam’s restaurant when I was making a delivery one day. Sam introduced us and said Roy is a lawyer. I sat down immediately, and asked Roy for his help to pursue this taxi company for my money. Roy agreed. We immediately drove to the office of the taxi company, and Roy threatened and screamed, reciting some law and precedent, claiming that we would begin proceedings to sue immediately. The taxi company wanted the two of us out of their office and quickly gave me a cheque. Then Roy and I left promptly. Back in my truck, Roy nervously lights a cigarette and says, “wow that was a close one.” I said “close what?” He blurted out “I am not a lawyer yet. I have not written my final bar exams.” I was flabbergasted at the conviction and confidence he had, but I had my money. We laughed all the way back to Sam’s restaurant. I was his first client, and we became life-long friends.

Another time, our restaurant-owner friend Sam, a Western Canada Ukrainian from Manitoba, would take a group of “the boys” duck hunting every fall. Sam’s wife had a deserted family farm near Kaladar, Ontario, with lots of swamps, which is good for ducks. We went for many years there together. As the area we hunted was huge, it was very easy to get confused, or even lost. After a hunt one morning, we returned back to the farm house, and Roy said to me he had stood exactly where I had hunted last year. Both Sam and I laughed our heads off saying that was impossible. The swamp is huge, changes every year, and dense with scrub bush. Roy immediately put on his lawyer’s cape, and defended himself, saying he could prove it without a doubt. The “boys” where standing around drinking coffee, laughing all the way, because the entertainment was about to begin. Roy asked me what my occupation was. I explained I owned a linen supply/laundry service, which he damn well knew. He then asked me whether I use any old towels or napkins for anything other than for their intended use. Well, I new immediately that he had me. I always carried a few white rags in my pocket while hunting, just in case my morning constitution called, and I couldn’t wait. Roy went to his spot in the marsh, and when the sun rose, he noticed a white “shmata” on the ground. Obviously, that is exactly what happened last hunting season. I had used my rag, and left it there. Roy had me again because, remember, he was a lawyer, and would take notice of some “bum wiping shmata” on the ground. That was his job. He was an expert and well-trained.

There was a serious side to Roy as well. He was very proud of his Ukrainian roots, “his” people, and the hardships we as a nation have endured. As a lawyer, he often assisted new Ukrainians to Canada who couldn’t speak the language, but most importantly, were not able to afford a lawyer and scared of the system. Communism was like a cancer to Roy. He hated it more than the people who were born into it. These are the individuals he opened his heart to, always providing words of wisdom, legal expertise, or even financial assistance. His passion for Ukrainian music led him to produce many records of great Ukrainian artists. These he believed were ageless and would endure the test of time. The Ukrainian National Federation of Canada benefited greatly from his legal expertise while he was on the Toronto Executive, as Board Director, then as first Canadian-born National President. He incorporated all the new by-laws for Beaver Valley Ski Club in its infancy in 1966. It was a new ski club, started by Ukrainians, and he wanted more of his own people to enjoy this great winter wonderland.

Roy was my friend, but he had many friends too! He kept us in laughter, thinking of legal consequences, and kept all of us Ukrainian together.

I will miss him.

Edward Topornicki,

Toronto

NP – Roy Michael Kostuk, QC, peacefully passed away on February 1, 2011, at the Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre in Toronto.