Our world feels a little less bright as Felix Marc Belczyk passed away April 27, 2014. Felix Sr. was a loving Husband, Dad and Grandpa. He was predeceased by his mother Valerie and he will be missed by his wife Renate, children: Felix (Tulene), Sandy (Andrew) and Andrea (Tony) and grandchildren: Rebecca, Ben, Zach, Zoe, Gabby, Skylar, Luke and Teya.
Felix was born in Krakow, Poland on October 10,1925. The son of Valerie Belczyk, he divided his schooling between Austria and Poland. An Austrian aunt gave him refuge during WWII which allowed him to escape being trapped behind the iron curtain. After a stint with the French Foreign Legion a Canadian recruiter gave him and his mother passage to Canada. He arrived by ship to Halifax in 1948, but his desire for the mountains kept him moving west. In 1950 he received a job at the Banff Springs Hotel and started an apprenticeship as an electrician. Due to his passion for the mountains Banff was his dream home and he became an accomplished climber, summiting many Rocky Mountain peaks including Mt. Robson and Mt. Assiniboine. In 1960 at Twin Falls, Yoho National Park in a back country lodge, he met his love Renate. A week later on the Summit of Mt. Assiniboine he proposed and two weeks later they were married in a small church in Field, BC. They moved to Castlegar, BC in 1963 where he worked as an electrician and raised his three children with his loving wife. He built his home and resided in Castlegar ever since. His joy of skiing and mountain climbing was only exceeded by his love for his family.
He will be missed.