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Tony Ryszewski can be found most afternoons relaxing at the Paola Senior Center.
With a cup of coffee in hand, the quiet senior typically sits at one of the back tables, enjoying some quiet time or playing a game of pinochle. But anyone willing to strike up a conversation with the East Coast native soon will discover that quiet relaxation hasn’t been the norm throughout his life’s adventures.
Ryszewski was born in Brooklyn, and he still speaks with a thick New York accent. As a young man, he took a job doing assembly work for General Motors in New Jersey.
“I was hired in 1937 for 65 cents an hour,” Ryszewski said.
The job lasted more than 30 years before Ryszewski retired in the early 1970s at age 55. His life’s adventures, though, were just beginning.
Ryszewski and his wife, Netti, decided they wanted to travel throughout North America, and they didn’t waste any time.
“We sold our house, summer home, boats, everything, and got a motor home,” Ryszewski said. “The only thing I said is I didn’t want to go to Europe. My mother and father were from Poland, and I had no desire to go to Europe.”
Over the next several years, the couple traveled all across the country.
“I’ve been to every state in the United States and every capital city,” he said.
But their travel plans didn’t stop at the U.S. border.
“I’ve seen everything in Canada, and I’ve been to Alaska three times,” he said. “I’ve driven all through Mexico, including down to the Panama Canal and back.”
Ryszewski said he’s gone through eight to 10 mobile homes during his travels, including small and big sizes, but his favorite is a 30-footer.
Even after his wife passed away, Ryszewski continued to pursue his passion for traveling.
“Wherever there was a road, I went,” he said.
He met countless new people and did all kinds of activities during his travels, but some of his favorites include hunting in Montana and fishing in Alaska. He also said he enjoyed traveling in motor homes.
“You hook a car up in back and go. You park in hotels or where ever you can. You don’t have to make reservations, you just pull into campgrounds,” he said. “It could go anywhere, sometimes I’d have to put it on a ferry.”
About six years ago, Ryszewski’s age finally caught up with him, and he had to put an end to his travels. A couple years ago he moved to Paola to be closer to his son.
Now, he jumps at any opportunity to share a little of his life’s wisdom with anyone willing to spend a few minutes listening at the Paola Senior Center. He thinks everyone should travel when they can.
“You can’t see everything,” he said. “You try to see everything, but you just can’t.”
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