WESTFIELD – The garden harvested, the beehive calm, the apple trees almost dormant: Henry Warchol, 99 (1926-2025), of Westfield, MA, has passed away. Born in 1926 to the late Andrew and Regina (Jucha) Warchol who both emigrated from Poland, Henry lived most of his life on “the Hill” in the house in which he was born. But don’t let that fool you – his life was an adventure. After graduating from the Westfield Trade School in 1945, Henry crafted his decades-long career as a toolmaker at Whip City Tool & Die. He served in the Air National Guard for seven years, starting in 1948.
Henry was a longtime member of the Massachusetts Freemasons, Mount Moriah Lodge chapter. A true honor for him was his thirty-plus years on the Westfield Flood Commission, and a lifetime of conservation efforts. Henry’s love for the outdoors was life-defining. A proud member of the Appalachian Mountain Club (and frequent hike leader), we know the immediate surrounding woods and the Westfield River were an incubator for his awe of and respect for mother nature. His entire life, from atop vast vistas of the world’s mountain ranges to studying the minuscule, engineering ants near his grapevines, Henry’s curiosity drove him to ask questions – observation, the library, and travel had the answers. His travel bug began as a young man when he skied the classic New England slopes, ventured North to Canada, over to Europe’s French Alps and west to Sun Valley. Decades after hanging up his skis, he astonished his family while in the Rockies – getting off the chairlift and carving the snow, the smoothest vintage skier you could ever imagine. Henry Warchol was a trailblazer. Literally. Along with his friend John Murphy, together they blazed Unkamit’s Path – a connecting link between the Appalachian Trail and the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail following the route of an old Native American footpath. (Thank you, Hilltown Hikers, for your current work and attention.) Uncannily, both these gentlemen passed away within days of each other last week. We’re all certain they’d have chuckled about that, and raised a glass at the end of this very long hike called life. Someone once said of Henry’s activism, “He can be very persistent in getting his point across,” which was a much nicer way of saying how he himself described it, “I can be a pain in the butt.” Nature had him in her corner for nearly nine decades, and we are better off for it. With his signature cap on his head, our Uncle Hank always cut a classic figure, his old paper receipts from Eaton’s Clothing on Elm St. prove it. Beneath that cap, Henry’s mind was very analytical and mechanical. He questioned everything in order to figure out how things work. You can glean a lot about a person from the range of topics existing in their file cabinets – Henry’s was as wide as this world. Folders on Westfield-Seek-No-Further apple trees (visit Stanley Park to see the ones he planted), beekeeping, making chokecherry wine and the Fish Ladder, to invasives, Macchu Piccu archaeology or photography, Henry was fascinated by it all.
Henry is survived by his sister Claire (Warchol) Ashe and her children Sandy Johnson, Susan O’Hearn, Timothy Ashe, and Christine Ashe; sister-in-law Marilyn Warchol and her children Michele (Warchol) Robert, and Michael Warchol, grand-nieces and nephews, and his extended family in the Pettengill/Mayhew clan. Henry was predeceased by siblings Matthew (Joe) Warchol and Mary Blicharz, his brothers-in-law, Edward Blicharz and John Ashe, and a trove of old hiker friends who left this trail long ago. Calling hours will be held on Thursday, October 23 from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM at Firtion Adams, 76 Broad St. Westfield. Private burial in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Southampton Rd, Westfield at a later date.
If Henry were writing this (and oh did he write a lot of letters to politicians and newspapers over the years) he’d encourage you to spend time in nature, protect our aquifer, riverways, and woodlands, go to the library, make a difference for our environment through civic engagement – become involved and informed citizens! In lieu of flowers, donations in Henry’s memory may be made to Westfield River Watershed Association PO Box 1764, Westfield, MA 01086 or Shriner’s Children’s New England, 516 Carew St. Springfield, MA 01104. The family extends its heartfelt gratitude to: our Armbrook Village & Compass family – we didn’t know how to navigate these recent years, but you all did, providing such care and dignity for Henry; longtime doctors Dr. Kuppaswamy and Dr. Glazer for their guidance; nurse Kristen; and the compassionate staff of Agawam East Rehab. To the folks at the Westfield Athenaeum and old Leo’s Deli – regular stops on Henry’s well-worn hometown routine, we thank you. PS: Getting to 100 was never a goal for Henry but still we sing “Sto Lat! Sto Lat! Niech zy-je, zy-je nam” (Good Luck! Good Cheer! May you live a Hundred years!). We will miss you, Uncle Hank. See ya later, alligator.
