The heroic life of Chippawa son George Bukator
NIAGARA NOTES
The recent and welcome announcement that Niagara Square is soon to be redeveloped triggered for me memories of George Bukator who was mayor of Niagara Falls at the time the shopping centre opened 40 years ago this coming summer. George had fought long and hard to bring a major mall development to Niagara Falls.
As we continue this year to profile some of our city’s prominent citizens from the past, a look back at the life of George Bukator would seem to be in order.
*** As a young man, George’s cheerful whistle prompted his many friends to nickname him “Canary” – a handle that stayed with him the rest of his life. Along with his outgoing personality, he is remembered for his remarkable career in public service and the role he played in two dramatic rescues.
Born in Lachine, Quebec, in 1913, George’s family moved to Chippawa when he was two years old. His father, Alexander, worked at the Norton Company.
While a student at King George V School, George spent his free time exploring Chippawa, a community he loved. Summers were spent on Chippawa Creek swimming and fishing. Entering adulthood, George established not one but two businesses. He operated a barbershop and a taxi service, both located in Chippawa. In 1933 he married Berniece Scott. The couple had three daughters.
George first achieved wide public attention and acclaim on May 24, 1938. On that day he was involved with the rescue of two little boys who had fallen into Chippawa Creek, close to where the Weightman Bridge is now. One of the boys had decided to catch minnows in a tin can. As he leaned over the edge of the bank, he lost his footing and fell into the creek. His friend reached out to help him but was accidentally pulled in by his comrade in the water. Nonswimmers, both were in danger of drowning.
Another boy who had been a witness to the accident ran to a nearby business for help.
Conrad (Connie) Willick responded. He ran over to the creek and swam out to the boys. In the meantime, George and Niagara Falls firefighter Harold Dawson, who were fishing from a rowboat a short distance upstream, noticed what was happening and quickly rowed over to help save the youngsters.
Six years later George was involved in an even more spectacular rescue. On May 19, 1944, three teenage boys from Niagara Falls, New York, boarded their homemade raft on the north side of Grand Island with the intention of paddling it around to the east shore of the island. Shortly after they pushed off, however, the raft was caught in the Niagara River’s strong current and was soon out in mid-stream speeding downriver towards the Horseshoe Falls.
As one of the boys later told The Review, “We yelled and yelled for help all together and then we prayed.” A number of people along the Canadian bank heard and saw the boys. Among them was George who happened to be with Alton Sedore, a 25-year-old veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy. Commandeering a rowboat, the two men rushed to the water’s edge a short distance above the Canadian rapids. Launching their boat, they rowed furiously out to the middle of the river. Intercepting the raft about a mile above the falls, George and Alton managed to pull the boys aboard their rowboat. During the return trip, the powerful current almost sucked the little craft into the nearby rapids several times. Nevertheless, drawing on their considerable determination, skill and strength, the men managed to make it back, reaching a dock near Chippawa just as dusk had fallen. It had been a very close call. George was later awarded the Carnegie Bronze Medal for Bravery.
In 1947 George entered public service when he was elected as a Chippawa Village Counsellor. Two years later he became Reeve of Chippawa, a position he held for the next decade. During this time he also served as a Niagara Parks Commissioner (1951- 1957) and as Warden of Welland County in 1951 (The county was the southern half of what is now the Regional Municipality of Niagara). In addition, he was vice president of the Ontario Municipal Association in 1958.
From 1959-1971 George was the MPP for the Niagara Falls Riding. Among his accomplishments during those years was helping to establish the Consumer Protection Bureau. As a cap to his career in public life, he served as Mayor of Niagara Falls from 1971-1978 (Chippawa had become part of Niagara Falls in 1970). George, who was recognized as a master politician, lent his support to a great many local projects and organizations such as the Chair-a-Van program, the YMCA, the Coronation Centre, the Boys and Girls Club as well as the construction of Buckley Towers and the Victoria Ave. Library. And, as noted earlier, he worked hard to get a regional shopping centre for Niagara Falls, an effort that resulted in the opening of Niagara Square in 1977.
At a tribute dinner held at the Brock Hotel (now the Crowne Plaza) in 1984 to honour George’s 31 years in public service, it was noted how he was “an energetic, inspired and concerned man consumed by a relentless desire to be of service.” As George himself put it, “It makes me feel good to make you feel good.”
He died on May 2, 1987 at the age of 74 and is buried in Holy Trinity Anglican Church Cemetery.