Everywhere he went, he brought a little magic with him.
That’s how family members remember Edward Barszcz, a longtime math teacher, magician, traveler and adventurer who died of Covid-19 earlier this year at the St. Joseph campus of Sisters of Charity Hospital. He was 74.
The East Aurora man performed magic tricks in the classroom to get the attention of his middle school students in the Iroquois Central School District. He put together a team of magicians who performed at charity fundraisers for the Hydrocephalus Association. He was a former local president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
“If we were at some family event, and the conversation lagged for even a few seconds, Ed would pull out a deck of cards and do a trick,” recalled his sister-in-law, Louise Mruk.
Barszcz was also an expert card player who taught a class on casino gaming statistics at Buffalo State College. And he was an adventurer who engaged in skydiving and flying a glider.
He was delighted and fascinated by animals, including wolves, and would sometimes bring to school assemblies wolves from a sanctuary run by one of his friends.
“He was one of those people who is full of energy from the moment they wake up in the morning," said his wife, the former Christine Kostrzewski. "He had friends everywhere we went. He was the anchor of this family, and it's going to be so difficult getting through these holidays without him. My first Thanksgiving in 42 years without this man at my side."
"He was such a special person ... it's so sad that we have lost people like him to Covid-19," said Jennifer Barszcz, one of his three daughters. "People need to take this virus seriously. Those who haven't been touched by it are lucky that they didn't have to lose someone the way we lost our father."
His family said Barszcz suffered in the hospital for almost a month – spending most of that time on a ventilator – after he was diagnosed with Covid-19. He died on April 29. Family members recently contacted The Buffalo News to talk about his life, the painful way it ended and the importance of masking and social distancing.
At the end, her father was unable to speak to loved ones, who were not allowed to visit with him but could look in on him during FaceTime visits set up by a kind nurse at the hospital, Jennifer Barszcz said.
"Not being able to talk with my dad, that was the most painful thing I've ever been through in my life," she said.
Born in Niagara Falls on Oct. 22, 1945, Barszcz graduated from Niagara Falls High School. He spent most of his life in East Aurora. He began teaching in the Iroquois district in 1968, after earning master’s degrees in math and science from Buffalo State and the University of Virginia.
After retiring in 2006, he taught classes at Hilbert College and Buffalo State.
In addition to his wife of 39 years and daughter Jennifer, he is survived by two more daughters, Aleta Watkins and Jennessa Barszcz; a sister, Barbara Gardner; and one grandson.
"In Ed's casket, he wore his full tuxedo, including cummerbund and dress shoes," his wife said. "In his hand, he had a poker hand of cards. A royal flush."
