THE Bathurst community will farewell one of its favourite sons today.
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Karl Matiszik’s sudden death on May 29 while on a holiday in Greece with his wife Eva shocked everyone who knew him.
He was 83-years-old.
A well-known local builder for more than 60 years, Mr Matiszik’s funeral will be held this morning at St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church on the corner of George and Howick Streets, starting at 11am.
It was only last January that the Western Advocate featured a front page Australia Day story about Mr Matiszik and his good mate Karl Boremann, who both arrived in Fremantle on January 26, 1952.
Their passage to Australia was on board the MV Australia, which was carrying a group of more than 100 tradesmen from Germany.
They had come to this country to build 600 pre-fabricated homes for the Housing Commission, starting their building work at Lithgow and Wallerawang before deciding to come and work in Bathurst where they have lived ever since.
“I fitted in right away, which made it easy. I was interested in everything, so for me coming to live in Australia was a pleasure,” Mr Matiszik said.
His wife Eva came to Bathurst through the migrant camp. They met when he built a home for her mother.
“Bathurst is a beautiful place to raise children, you couldn’t wish for more,” he said.”
The Matisziks raised two daughters, Sandra and Eva-Marie, and two sons, Karl and Markus.