Wladyslaw Jerzy Otorowski

passed away on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at The Wyatt House on Bainbridge Island, Washington. He was born on July 30, 1917 and was 90 years of age. An architect by profession, "Oto" was known as an excellent pianist with a love of the classics and especially Chopin, as well as a fine arts painter working in oils andacrylics. In his long and exciting life he offered much encouragement and new ideas to so many. Born in Poland, he fell in love with skiing in the early days of wooden skis and cable bindings and before there were ski lifts. With his school chums he climbed and skied the mountains high above Cracow.After completing his engineering studies at Warsaw Polytechnic, he was working in France in 1940 when the German army invaded Poland. After a wild and hazardous motorcycle ride across France to Le Havre, he escaped by ship to England, there becoming part of the Polish Air Forces attached to the Royal Air Force. He became a Signals Officer and Squadron Leader in the Command of RAF Squadron 302 which flew Spitfires and Mosquitos. In March of 1945 he was flown to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas to attend the Command and General Staff School, a special air-training course. Upongraduation he returned to England and then was an integral part of D-Day communications for air cover. Ironically, Oto's last day of life came on the 63d anniversary of Victory in Europe. Because of the War and the following communist rule in Poland, he never had the opportunity to see his family in Poland again.With the end of WW II he began his architectural career working for John Conrad in England (the son of author Joseph Conrad). He loved England and her people but decided in 1948 to seek new places and a new life. He traveled to America by freighter and soon to New York City, taking a position with O'Connor & Delaney (coincidentally O'Connor's grandson Peter O'Connor currently resides and works on Bainbridge Island as an architect). Resuming his love for skiing, Oto found many avid skiers in the Ski Club of New Jersey, and also met his wife to be, Betty Robbins, to share his life and seek new adventures. They married in 1951 and had two children, Chris and Julie.After working for various architectural firms in the East he became a naturalized citizen of the USA and earned an architectural degree, passing exams, based not on his schooling but his experience and practical knowledge.Moving to Colorado with his new family, he gained more architectural experience and also worked for the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1958, it was on to Aspen for skiing and for architectural opportunities in the fledgling ski resort town.In 1960 the family moved to Connecticut to be near Betty's family and he established his own practice. In 1966 he won first prize in an American Institute of Architects NationalCompetition Design for a Community Center Fallout Shelter for the U.S. Department of Defense. Oto involved his children in many activities including photography, scouting, sailing, motorcycle riding, camping and art, along with lots of skiing at dozens of ski areas throughout the United States.Some years later he also developed a practice in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. In 1984 he and Betty moved to Bainbridge Island in Washington seeking new adventures, working in Silverdale, and founding the professional association "Architects, Planners andEngineers", which also pioneered the use of computers by architects, giving much assistance to Silverdale in its growth years in the 1980s. Oto worked with computer aided design in his architectural pursuits into his eighties keeping his mind sharp.Oto took great pride in his family and was loved by all who methim. Oto's own words as he wrote in his extensive memoirs perhapsbest express his feelings about his life: My conscience is clear as to my past; I am at peace to feel that I did not wrong anyone. I had life relatively full and interesting, though not too adventurous. In my married life I was blessed with understanding and free of conflict with my mate. I love my wife who gave births to our beautiful children; this gave me a fulfillment of one's role in this world, which is to continue life cycle. I feel no malice to others, whatever race, creed, upbringing, environment or business they may have their roots. I thank God for well being and good health of all my family members. I thank God for giving me many talents, most of which could have been more fully used if opportunities came about. I thank my parents, my wife's parents and events in my life that provided me with sense of being humble and respectful to others and to life itself.We will all miss Oto greatly but his gifts of generosity, kindness and respect for those around us will remain always.In addition to Betty, his wife of 57 years, Oto leaves his son Christopher Otorowski, an attorney living and working on Bainbridge Island, WA, his daughter, Julie Hohmeister, an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner in Bethlehem, New Hampshire specializing in obstetrics, and four grandchildren: Mai-Lis Hohmeister, a graphic artist in New Bedford, Massachusetts; Kirsten Otorowski, an aspiring law student in California, Ian Hohmeister; a student at the University of Massachusetts; and Hilary Otorowski, a biology major graduating this year at the University of California San Diego.A Celebration of Oto's life, including a slide presentation of Oto's interesting life experiences, will be held at the St. Cecilia's parish hall at Madison and High School Road on Bainbridge Island on Tuesday, May 27th at 6pm.Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Interfaith Volunteer Caregiving of Bainbridge Island 206-842-4441.Arrangements are pending through Cook Family Funeral Home.