Memorable Manitobans: Jozsef “Joe” Jozsa (1931-2017)

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Joe Jozsa
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Mason.

Born at Gyomro, Hungary on 21 September 1931, one of six children of Jozsef and Anna Jozsa, as a teen he worked on a farm to support his family. He later moved to Budapest where he helped to rebuild structures damaged during the Second World War. After a couple of years of service in the Russian Army, he returned to Budapest and apprenticed as a stonemason. He left Hungary in 1956 and, after a short stay in Holland, emigrated to Canada and settled at Brandon where he worked on curb and sidewalk repairs, later establishing the firm Joe’s Bricklaying in the mid-1960s.

He was involved in the construction of a new wing for the Brandon General Hospital and did stonework for the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium. Known for his fine craftsmanship, he used carefully selected field stone to create an entry portal wall at the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. He moved to Boissevain in the late 1970s where he was involved in restoration projects for St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and the Boissevain Civic Hall. His work can be seen throughout Manitoba, including at Our Lady of the Prairies Trappist Monastery at Holland and fireplaces and decorative stonework at Brandon, Flin Flon, Thompson, and The Pas.

He died at Carman on 25 April 2017.

Some of his masonry works in Manitoba included:

Project

Location

Year

Manitoba-Saskatchewan Entry Portal

Highway #1

?

Bison Observation Stand

Lake Audy, Riding Mountain National Park

1960s

Entry Fountain

Brandon General Hospital

1972

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Monument

558 Cook Street, Boissevain, Municipality of Boissevain-Morton

?

Entry portal and reflection pool

International Peace Garden

2000s

Kissick Family Monument

Municipality of Boissevain-Morton

1990s

Sources:

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 28 April 2017.

Obituary, Doyle’s Funeral Home.

This page was prepared by Elizabeth Dyck and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 26 May 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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