The Morrisseau Legacy missing links (Part I)

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John Zabloski (1925-1999)
~ the guard at Kenora (Ontario) Jail who had provided the art materials Norval Morrisseau used to do the paintings while incarcerated...
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"Untitled", 21"x27", © 1971 Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/
> For the 'sister pieces' click HERE & HERE <
~ Painted by Norval Morrisseau while in the Kenora Jail
--/Click on image to Enlarge/
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Okay so I am working my way up the hill. Being a Zabloski you are used to being last, or at the end of the line or the bottom of the hill, you get what I mean.
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So what to say, where to start on my Dad? This is harder then I thought it would be.
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I think the first thing that comes to mind is the importance of family that my dad brought to us every day. From his friendly tug on your ear as he pulled you out of his chair, to the occasional swat on the butt when you stepped out of line. Sometimes it was just the HEY! Other times it would be the snoring coming from under the newspaper he was reading in his chair. Other times it was the burnt match smell eminating from the bathroom after his 3 or 4 time daily visit to the THRONE! We only had the one washroom so there was no escaping the burnt match smell if you were next.
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My Dad was always visiting up and down the hill with his brothers or sister-in-laws, if they weren't home. Doing the rounds he would call it. He was simply being the big brother making sure all was quiet on the hill and all were well! We always knew when he would be going to Baba's because he would bring a pot with him. Most times it was to bring home a pot of borscht that we would all get a laddle of if we were lucky. Other times he was simply getting potatoes from the bin in Baba's basement.
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Dad worked for the CPR for 25 years. He worked in the round house for the most of those years until they shut it down. He always worked shift work with them. Mom would get up around 6:00 to make him his lunch, breakfast, get him out the door and put the porridge on for us when we got up and were getting ready to head out the door for school. For those early years I think my Mom was probably pregnant every year or at least every other year. I would have to look at the birthday schedule we keep handy to be sure. This again proved the FAMILY MAN life my Dad led.
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Dad and Mom were married June 17, 1950 and had 8 kids Donnie, Ricky, Sherri, Judy, Mikey, Tommy, Teresa and Cindy in the first 10 years then Chris came along in 1966. I'm pretty sure Mom lost a baby if not two along the way, but they moved on and here we are one big happy family! Well for the most part, NO, we are a big happy family!! :>),:),:.,:>,:<),{:>,(:>),{:},<:>)!!!!!!!!!
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Okay back to Dad! When they shut down the round house my Dad became a car knocker (what ever that is)and he would stand at the train station watching for fires or hot boxes they would call them. This one winter he had to stop the train as there was a native frozen on the ladder of a box car. They figure he had jumped on in Keewatin or Norman for a ride into town. Having no gloves or mitts his hands froze to the ladder. Now the story goes that when he had to pull the guy off the ladder one of his hands snapped off left on the ladder! True or False don't know but it does make a good story. The fellow was dead, frozen to death, unfortunately this still happens to this day.
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A time came when the CPR wanted Dad to take a transfer to Winnipeg to work in the round house there. He refused the transfer as he just could not see moving 9 kids to Winnipeg, plus he was a terrible city driver having gone the wrong way on one way streets numerous times or drove in the middle of two lanes going down Portage Ave saying "take mercy on a small town boy"!
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Dad joined Correctional Services at the Kenora jail and I believe he worked there 20yrs but I could be mistaken. Most of the inmates were unfortunate natives placed there to get cleaned up, sobered up, dressed up and sent out back to their life of poverty and drunkenness only to show up a few days later to go through the system again and again. Dad would come home some days and mention having to delice a number of these individuals and seeing the sores, cuts, infections, it really got to him. He treated them all as equals and expected the same from them and he got it. The criminal population respected my Dad for his fairness to all.
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I think I mentioned this story once before but it deserves mention again. It was in my Dad's earlier years with the jail. He had to take a 16yr old runaway to be put on the train. They were having breakfast at the Kenwood just down the street. The kid was having trouble eating so Dad said he would take the cuffs off as long as he promised not to try to run off on him. The cuffs came off and the kid JACKRABBITTED off on him quick as a wink! Now Dad, the smoker since he was 10 or 12 gave chase for the first 20 yards then had to give up. (he didn't chase us either just waited until we got within reach, then GOT YUH!) The police picked the kid up in Keewatin as the train came through, got him back to Kenora in time for Dad to turn him over for his ride to Winnipeg.
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Dad met Norval Morrisseau while he was incarcerated and had a good relationship with him. Morrisseau was given a separate cell where he could create his paintings of "Mother Earth and her creatures". Dad would make sure he had paper, paint, pencils for his creative talents to put to use. Dad was rewarded by Morrisseau by giving him a painting completed on particle board. He glued toilet paper to the board to give it texture and we hold this prized possession in our home to this day.
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Dad was enlisted in the BIG ONE WWII as a prisoner of war guard. They looked after captured German soldiers who were shipped to Canada for their detainment. Dad made friends with these soldiers and again was rewarded by one of the soldiers who carved a Canadian soldier doll which Mom has sitting in her China cabinet at home.
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Dad picked up some German and we had the chance to see him put it into use in Quebec City. We were on our way home from the drinking driving tour of the Maritimes, stopped at a St Hubert for chicken supper. There were 4 people at a table next to us speaking German, Dad picked up on this and used his 2 words of German to get their attention to the embarrassment of the rest of us. But Dad was just being friendly trying to make new friends.
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Mom was presented with Dad's 50 year membership with the Legion plaque after he passed in 1999. Dad did the hospital visits for the Legion. Every Saturday he would head down to the Legion to pickup the gift pack and make the rounds of the hospital visiting sick Legionnaire's. He did the same for the Knights of Columbus another organization he was very proud to belong to. Dad was a 3rd then 4th degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He was involved with all of their fund raising efforts for years. He held all council positions and was District Deputy for the Kenora region. Mom and Dad attended numerous KofC conventions over the years and had friends across the country.
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On our infamous trip to Montana to visit my Mom's Aunt Gert Gariepy we had just crossed over into the USA I think when we broke down with a flat tire. We had just started to unload old Betsy the wagon when this car pulled over and some young guys jumped out. It turned out they had just completed their 3rd degree joining the Knights of Columbus, spotted the decal on the car window and stopped to see if they could help. They jacked the car up put on the spare, refused compensation saying that is what "Brother Knights do, help each other in times of need" and headed off down the road.
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I have more to say about Dad but will stop for now so you can take in what a great family man, leader, helpful, caring man our Dad was until his dieing days.
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Actually that just reminded me of one more quick story. Dad was in the Kenora hospital near the end but was feeling pretty good this one day. He told my sister Cindy to go pick up some chocolate bars from the canteen and get him into a wheel chair so he could do his hospital visits. Cindy refused saying Dad You are Sick! He simply said he would go and get them himself if she wasn't going to help. So she went got the candy he wanted and took him around for his hospital rounds. That was our Dad!
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Rick Zabloski
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~ The story originally published on April 20th, 2009 (Click HERE)
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Source: Kenora Ontario Zabloski's Blog
-----------~ Used with permission
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BLOG MASTER'S COMMENT: As per conversation with Mr. Rick Zabloski and addittional communication with Mr. Robert Lavack in connection to the information presented in the below listed posts it had been concluded that the missing link was John Zabloski (1925-1999) - the guard at Kenora Jail who had provided the art materials Norval Morrisseau used to do the paintings which were furnished to him by Mr. Robert Lavack (at that time a consultant with the Ontario Department of Education and who has recently co-authored the book “The Morrisseau Papers”).
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As stated above Norval Morrisseau was given a separate cell where he could create his paintings of "Mother Earth and her creatures". The same story was coveyed to Mr. Mike Aiken by Art historian Elizabeth McLuhan* who recalled Norval Morrisseau's famous stay as a guest of the province, at the Kenora Jail, where he had one cell set up as his studio and another for sleeping quarters (click HERE).
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* - member of the NORVAL MORRISSEAU HERITAGE SOCIETY (NMHS).
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>>> Reference posts:
- Collectors' Corner III,
- Collectors' Corner VI,
- Collectors' Corner VIII,
- McLuhan shares memories of artist Norval Morrisseau,
- Elizabeth McLuhan about Norval Morrisseau,
- THE MORRISSEAU PAPERS (Part I),
- THE MORRISSEAU PAPERS (Part II) /Ref. Robert's Story/
- Friends of Norval Morrisseau (Part III) /Ref. Mr. Robert Lavack/,
- Mr. Robert Lavack's Open Letter to Spirit Walker,
- Correspondence between Norval Morrisseau and Mr. Robert Lavack (Part I) &
- NO! NO! MORRISSEAU - Review of 'Christmas Letter to Norval Morrisseau' by Mr. Robert Lavack.
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~ Blog Master is thanking a collector for the submission of an image of the original painting by Norval Morrisseau and respects his/her decision to remain anonymous: "Untitled", 21"x27", © 1971 Norval Morrisseau