Obituary of Janusz "John" Brzozowski

On Thursday, October 24, 2019, Dr. Janusz (John) A. Brzozowski passed away peacefully at the age of 84 at Lisaard House after a long battle with cancer. 

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Grazyna Maria, children Michael (Janet) and Teresa (Josef) and grandchildren Sophie, Olivia and Max and step-grandchildren Kate (Bob) and John.  He will also be sadly missed by his sister Halina (Jurek) and extended family.

Janusz was born on May 10, 1935 in Warsaw, Poland.  In 1939, his father, Wieńczysław, a captain in the Polish army, was captured and killed in Russia during the war.   In April 1940, Janusz, his mother Maria, and sister Halina were deported to Kazakhstan. In 1942, they escaped with the army of General Anders to Persia.  They were refugees in Teheran and later, Lebanon, until 1949 when they immigrated to Canada. While in refugee camps, Janusz was educated by other Polish refugees.

Janusz graduated from St. Michael’s College School in Toronto in 1953.  He received the B.A.Sc. (1957) and M.A.Sc. (1959) degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University in 1962.

In 1962, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Ottawa.   From 1967 to 1996, he was Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo where he also served two terms as chair of the Department.  He “retired” in 1996 and received the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus. During his career, Janusz held visiting appointments at universities in Berkeley, Rome, Paris, Sao Paulo, Kyoto, and Eindhoven.

Janusz was one of the earliest pioneers in theoretical computer science and made significant contributions to define and shape the field.  He published almost 200 papers and co-authored two books in his area of expertise.  Even in “retirement” he continued to mentor students and his last Ph.D candidate successfully defended her thesis in September 2019.

In 2015, a one-day international conference was held at the University of Waterloo in honour of his 80th birthday and his distinguished career.  In 2016, Janusz received the Canadian Lifetime Achievement Award in Computer Science.

In addition to his many professional accomplishments, he loved music, guitar and composed songs for the Polish scouts in Ontario.  He loved biking, tennis and squash, cryptic crossword puzzles, exploring the world and most of all, his family.

A funeral mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes RC Church, 173 Lourdes Street, Waterloo on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 12:30pm.

In lieu of flowers, condolences to the family and donations to Lisaard House may be arranged through Erb and Good Family Funeral Home at 519-745-8445.