RICHARD H. KAMINSKI

     Richard Henry “Dick” Kaminski of Hubbardston, MA and Port Charlotte, FL passed from this life on Sunday, April 15, 2018. He was born on July 11, 1944 in Worcester, Massachusetts to Henry S. and Josephine (Prusaczyk) Kaminski.

Richard attended St. Mary’s elementary and high school in Worcester, MA. In high school, where he was affectionately known as “Moose”, he distinguished himself on the basketball court. In 2016, he was inducted into the St. Mary’s Hall of Fame as a member of the undefeated basketball team of 1959-1960. Following high school, he attended one year at Rocky Mountain State College in Billings, MT before transferring to the University of Iowa. After graduating with a degree in English he taught high school for four years in and around the Buffalo, NY area. Returning to Massachusetts, he secured a position with the State Division of Child Guardianship as a social worker for battered children and their families. Eventually, he transferred to the MA State Department of Revenue where he tracked down “dead beat dads”, bringing them to court to pay support for their children. Since retirement, Dick and his wife have become “snowbirds” in Port Charlotte, FL where they have a second home.

Dick was an avid sportsman. He was the happiest when “wetting a fly line” in a Vermont pond or stream in search of a rainbow or brook trout; or down on Cape Cod when the “stripers” and blue fish were running. He also spent a couple of memorable trips on Ambergris Cay in Belize to tackle the fighting bone fish, tarpon and permit. In the fall, he and his hunting buddy, Cal McDaniel, could be found in the woods of Vermont or Pennsylvania tracking the elusive white-tailed deer. He also had fond memories of autumn days in the woods with his various hunting dogs searching for pheasant and grouse. Dick and his wife traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and cruised to the Caribbean, South Pacific and the Panama Canal.

Dick was a member of the New England Fly Tyers Association, where he learned to build his own fly rods and tie flies that would “match the hatch” for excellent fishing. He also belonged to the Gardner Fish & Gun Club, Leominster Sportsman’s Club, the Pope John Council of the Knights of Columbus, and the Massachusetts State Retirees Association.

Dick leaves his wife of 43 years, Jacqueline B. (Frayer) Kaminski and his sister, Diane (Leon) Cremonini of Sagamore, MA; a niece, Phyllis Cremonini of Bellevue, NE; and three nephews, Louis of Cape Cod, Michael of Tennessee and Thomas Cremonini of Montana; cousins Donald (Linda) and Daniel (Janice) Kaminski, Marcia (Robert) Ryan, Bernard (Blair) Prusaczyk, Susan (Alex) Prout, and Paul Yachimski. Two cousins, Edward Kaminski and Stephen Yachimski predeceased him. A Mass will be held at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church, 34 Ward Street, Worcester, MA, on Friday, June 22, 2018 at 11:00 a.m., followed by interment of his ashes at Worcester County Memorial Park in Paxton, MA. In lieu of flowers, donations in his name may be made to the reader’s favorite charity.