24 Vol. LIX, No. 1 Magnificat On January 5, 2021, our Creator called to Himself the beautiful soul whose memory we evoke. The father of six children, all of them religious in our Community, his life was entirely dedicated to the Work of the Magnificat from 1967 onwards. Harry John Bugajski was born on January 16, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan, to parents of Polish origin. His father, Adam Bugajski, a butcher by trade, also owned a grocery store. His mother, Maryjanna Dobija, a woman of uncommon strength, assisted her husband stoutly when her duty did not keep her near her children. The parents worked hard to provide for their family. To ensure that nothing went to waste, these model Christians filled a large basket of provisions every Saturday for the needy. Harry was the youngest of four siblings. His first name was an English derivative of Jerome, or Hieronim in Polish. A quiet, docile child, he could remember disobeying his parents only once. Sneaking away without their permission to go for a ride on his bicycle, he crashed into a parked car. He would remember this hard-learned lesson for the rest of his life. Around the same age, as he was lifting a car battery, it slipped and shattered his upper teeth. Repaired with a gold bypass – which he modestly hid when being photographed – he nevertheless suffered from it for the rest of his life. After the accident, he could not play the trumpet with his musician friends, so he took up the guitar and the accordion. Meditating in his heart on divine blessings, following the example of the Virgin Mary whom he cherished, he remained deeply marked by a holy picture he had received on the occasion of his confirmation. On the back of this picture of Jesus King of Peace was a long prayer that he frequently recited which concluded for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff. At the age of thirteen, the clever boy cobbled together a radio system to communicate with a neighbor friend. A brilliant student, highly gifted in the sciences, he was nevertheless forced to drop out of high school, as he was unable to combine work and study. By the age of sixteen he was already running a shop In Memoriam Harry Bugajski Disciple of the Order of the Mother of God 1932-2021
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