St. Charles man celebrates 100th birthday

As a young man, Peter Borkowski enjoyed building things.

Unfortunately, some of the first structures he built were airplane hangars near Warsaw, Poland that were among the first targets of German bombers during the invasion of Poland in 1939.

“My dad could see the smoke rising from the bombings in the distance, and he knew he had to find my mom to make sure she was OK from other bombings, because she was working in an aircraft factory,” Nolan Borkowski of St. Charles said in retelling his parents’ story. “They were just friends at that time, but he found her and they spent the next four years of the war as refugees, moving around in Poland.”

It was the perfect time to look back on Peter Borkowski’s life Wednesday afternoon, as family and friends gathered at Brighton Gardens assisted living center in St. Charles to celebrate his 100th birthday.

“Dad found mom and they had to keep moving to stay away from the Germans and Russians,” Nolan Borkowski said. “Originally, the Germans pushed the Russians out of Poland, but when the Russians pushed back, they killed everyone in their path, so it wasn’t safe anywhere.”

Because he was the youngest child in his family, Peter Borkowski was aware he had a brother he had never known, some 20 years his elder, who had left Poland for the United States before the war.

His search to find that brother, Frank Borkowski, led him and his wife Maria and young daughter to St. Charles in 1945. Frank owned a bar on Main Street in St. Charles at the time, in the location that is now Pub 222.

“My dad lived in St. Charles the rest of his life and raised his family here,” Nolan Borkowski said. “It amazes me that he was here only two weeks when he hopped on the train in Geneva one day to go find work in Chicago.

“He couldn’t speak a word of English, but he looked for signs with German or Polish words, and he ended up finding a job with the railroad.”

Peter Borkowski worked as a civil engineer involved in constructing railroad bridges for the Rock Island and Northwestern railroads, and he built his own home at 915 Monroe Ave. in St. Charles.

As many as 30 family members and friends were expected to stop in to see Borkowski, who talked quietly with well-wishers who gathered around.

Daughter Elisa Campbell, who graduated from Mount St. Mary in St. Charles in 1959, made the trip from Minnesota to celebrate her father’s centennial. She mentioned that her father was up late the previous night, watching “Dancing with the Stars.”

“Dad and mom were good ballroom dancers, so he likes that show,” Campbell said. “Mom died when she was 69, so she’s been gone a long time, and Dad moved into Brighton Gardens about five years ago.”

Campbell pointed to the birthday cake to reveal the numbers “110” on the cake.

“He’s insisting that he’s 110 today,” Campbell laughed. “So we go along with it.”