Liz Hercun-Grigull
Liz Grigull is a very lively, capable lady with a strong flair for independence and a good sense of humour that both help her navigate her connections to the workplace, and to her friendships. She lives in the Gore Bay area, with her husband Rupert and two loveable canine pets, Reuger and Hickory. She has expertise in the details of running a sophisticated butchery, a pharmacy and a health food store. Liz began her life in Poland at eight pounds and ten ounces, on July 28, 1961. “In my first year I developed a tenacious case of meningitis. My grandparents in Canada sent the medication I needed and saved my life. They also sponsored us to come to Canada and having had the meningitis helped with that exodus.” In 1963, Liz, at 18 months, and her family flew to Canada.
Liz has few distinct memories of her homeland, but she recalls her paternal connections. “My paternal Grandfather Joseph Hercun from Poland worked for Dempster’s Bakery in Toronto. He and Grandmother Tekla had come to Canada to escape the communistic governments that were taking over in Poland. Mother’s three sisters and two brothers stayed behind in the old country.”
“We settled on Bellwoods Avenue, near Queen and Bathurst Streets, in downtown Toronto. My dad, Michael (Mihal) a kind gentle man, started working for Inglis, later General Electric. My mother Jenny, (Eugenia) found work in the food services department of the University of Toronto. I started school at Charles G. Fraser, at Bathurst and Queen Streets. I recall the teacher telling me I was reading too quickly in front of the class. I guess I didn’t slow down enough because, after a while, I was asked not to read aloud to the students at all, as neither the students nor the teacher were able to keep up. My favourite teacher was Mrs. Smith. She was kind to me and each year she bought me tickets to the amazing Nutcracker Ballet.”
“Grades seven and eight were at the Givens Public School and high school was at Parkdale Collegiate. I found the courses to be interesting and I was able to do well. I managed to get all my credits six months early in Grade 12, my last year, so I left early. However, I did return for the graduation ceremonies. Shaw Business College, was next. I registered for a program but changed courses mid-stream. We were given the challenging task of working with an international student didn’t speak English. I found that too difficult, so I switched my focus to Business Administration, which didn’t include this requirement.”
“Later, our family moved to a house with a back yard in Etobicoke. I stayed there until my first marriage in 1984. Unfortunately, this partnership only lasted one year due to irreconcilable differences.” Liz began to work as a recruiter for the Keith Bagg Association. It was a company that enrolled employees for other major organizations. After five years, a fellow employee, Meva Yee, left to start her own company and several employees, including Liz, joined her in the new ‘recruiting’ enterprise.
“About this time, I met Rupert. It was 1990 and I was still in the process of getting divorced. My younger sister Helen and her husband took me out for dinner one night. A Spanish guy in the restaurant was annoying me when this nice man, Rupert, stopped by, and I asked him to discourage the Spaniard. At first, Rupert thought I was referring to my sister’s husband and we had to redirect that target to the Spaniard, whose advances were finally dissuaded. That was how I met Rupert.”
“After that, Rupert and I started to date. He was a gentleman. A genuinely nice person, intelligent, with a great sense of humour. We decided to move in together and buy the ‘Village Butcher,’ a gourmet butcher shop in the heart of the Lakeshore area of Toronto. We had many clients and enjoyed 25 years of successful business in Toronto. After that quarter of a century, we decided it was time to elope.”
“After Jim Carey’s sister worked at a radio station in St. Catharines. The radio station advertised 12 couples could be wed at the Hernder Wine Estates as part of a celebration they were hosting. Each couple would pay $600 to cover all costs: ceremony, pastor, photos, flowers, lunch, and dancing. It was a wonderful celebration, and we became husband and wife, officially. We still stay in touch with one man who wore his hunter camouflage for his renewal of vows. He became a friend and a client at our butcher shop. My first wedding had set us back $30,000 and this one just $600. On our way home we stopped at the liquor store and got a surprise congratulatory bottle of champagne from the owner.”
“When Rupert’s son James, from his first marriage, was nine, he moved in with us. We were living in a condominium at the time. It was almost Hallowe’en and after James had been trick and treating he spilled his bounty on the floor. Liz helped him organize it. In doing so, she managed to abscond with all the Mars bars. When James complained to his dad that Liz had taken all the Mars bars Rupert claimed that Liz “would not do that.” However, she had indeed taken them, so they came to a mutual agreement about the future ownership of the Mars bars.”
“We ran that successful butcher store until 2009, when health issues arose for Rupert. We sold the business that year, just before Christmas, and opened a farm store on a recently purchased farm in Cayuga, about 100 km from Toronto. We ran that successfully until we moved to Manitoulin in 2015. Rupert already had some history on the Island. He had worked here with his father at Island Ford in Gore Bay, and he had owned a grocery store in Little Current. Our original plan was to live on the island in the summer and return to the farm for the rest of the year. We did that the first year, staying at the farm from September to April but then we decided to sell the farm in 2015.”
“We moved to the Island and built a house at Lucar Point Road on Lake Manitou, in Rockville. It was a one-story retirement home with three bedrooms. Rupert’s old cottage in Rockville had been taken over by his brothers and sold. I found work running the garden center for Foodland and later I became assistant librarian for the Mindemoya Library for six years.”
“On a more personal note, I recall losing my diamond wedding ring in Lake Manitou. It had fallen off while I was in the water. Thankfully, I spied it shining in the water, on top of the sand. It was about ten feet down, so I got my snorkel gear and dove down to retrieve it. Another event was the loss of my bracelet, which had set Rupert back several thousand dollars after we had sold our business. I remember trying it on in the jewelry store. After spending some time admiring it, I couldn’t get it off. Finally, we did get it off my wrist and drove home. Rupert went back later and bought this beautiful 8.5 karat bracelet for me.”
“One day I was walking the dog on a lead. He yanked me into a bushy area and the clasp came undone, tossing the bracelet into the bush. We stayed put until we found it again. We decided to pay a young person to clean the yard for $200 and he did an excellent job. It would be easier to find the bracelet now if I happened to lose it again. Nevertheless, I only wear the bracelet for special occasions, and it is kept safely in a bank’s storage box. I recall Mike Erskine did a story about the loss of the bracelet for the Expositor at the time.”
“In 2019 we sold our Lake Manitou house and moved to the Gore Bay area. The 400 acres we live on now were purchased with another owner. Today, we are arranging to break off 100 acres and own them outright We are also planning to build a new house on our land. I found work at Kidane and Almaz’ s health food store and pharmacy in Gore Bay. I stayed for two years.”
“I love morels. One day, in 2007, we decided to pick these mushrooms for Mother’s Day. We wanted to surprise Rupert’s mother. In addition, we had just been at a funeral and needed to change the mood. We spent two hours looking for the tasty mushrooms and were overwhelmed with black flies the whole time. The back of my neck was bloody. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any morels. The same thing happened when we were trying to sell a hunting property at Maple Point. The truck filled with black flies and again, I was badly bitten while driving home.”
“In 2021, I took one year off to be home with Rupert and help him with his health issues. He’s had several brain tumors that have been successfully removed. I lost my parents four years ago. My mother had developed Alzheimer’s for several years. I still have my sister Helen in Toronto. These days I have been doing some work at the Valu Mart in Little Current, for their new owner.”
Were you named after anyone? “No.” Any specific responsibilities that you had as a child? “My parents spoke no English after we first moved here. I soon became their translator. I was only nine years old, but I helped them with all their tasks, including their financial transactions.” Favourite family outing? “Going to Allison Park, north of Toronto, with my parents.” Favourite television shows? “Tiny Talent Time every Sunday afternoon, when I was younger. They had kids dancing, singing, and displaying many other talents. To watch television, we always had to get permission from dad. That was an unspoken rule.”
Favourite sport? “In high school it was basketball, despite my five-foot two-inch height. We won a lot of tournaments. Also, I have always enjoyed fishing for bass, trout and pickerel, with good success.” First hourly wage? “The Concession stands for the Blue Jays team for two years. I made $15 an hour serving food and cleaning up after the game. Later, I worked in the kitchen at the University of Toronto for three years. That job was fine, until another employee put live mice into the hoodie I was wearing. I freaked out.”
What is your most memorable event? “The day I met Rupert was a special day and that day will always be etched in my mind.” Any other memories that stick in your mind? “I recall fishing on Bass Lake. We had a successful trip but coming back to shore was eventful in a unique way. I had to go into another boat to get to shore. As I jumped in the boat began to sink. Also, to get back to shore, I had to extricate myself from the mud I wound up in. It was not a good ending to our happy fishing excursion.”
First home as a couple? “A condominium in Toronto for Rupert and me, then the farm with the store, the Lake Manitou home and lastly, the Kagawong property.” What are you most proud of? My two puppy dogs.” What are you most afraid of? “Nothing in particular. I tend to accept life as it comes.” If you could go back in time, is there anything you would change? “No. So far, I have lived my life as I wished. I tend to roll with the punches, get up after a fall and keep going. You need to play the cards you are dealt.” If you could keep only three things from your current life, what would they be? “In addition to Rupert, my dogs, jewelry, and my cell phone.”
What is your favourite time of the year? “Fall, I love the colours of the leaves and the coolness of the weather.” “What are your strengths? I like management, having a good sense of humour: being positive, and taking care of our dogs. They always get excited when they see our truck approaching. Recently I bought five kg of dog treats in a store, and when the lady said, ‘You must have a lot of dogs’ I smiled and responded, ‘these are dessert for my husband.”
Any role models you would like to mention? “My dad was a good man. I learned a lot from him. When we bought the farm, we had the $1000 deposit, but we needed his help. He took back the mortgage and asked us to pay what we could each month.”
Associations you were involved with? “As a recruiter, I belonged to the Human Resources Professionals Association. I was also a volunteer for the Business Improvement Association ‘BIA.’ I was Treasurer, Events Coordinator and President for two years. On Manitoulin I was part of the library board while I was the assistant librarian.” What problems are still likely to be around 100 years from now? “Welfare and the Liberals.” Greatest hope for the future? “World Peace.” Your personal recipe for happiness? “Having a peaceful world and tasty food to eat.”
Is there something you would like to accomplish that has evaded you in the past? “Win big in the lottery. I did win $1000 in an instant pick once.” Is there anyone in your past that inspired you? “My grade three teacher, Mrs. Smith who also bought the ballet tickets.” Is there something you dreamed as a child that you wanted to be as an adult? “I wanted to be a teacher and although that specific training has not occurred from academia, I find myself teaching others every day.” Is there anything you would like to say to the youth of today? “Get a job and do it right.”
“The people of Manitoulin are phenomenal. The lakes are pristine and the ‘peace and quiet’ are real draws to the island. I can imagine this is true for many visitors. The seasons are uniquely different here too, tempered perhaps by the surrounding water. The weather can change so quickly. The fall colours are a treat and I love this environment here. We intend to stay here. We haven’t been to Toronto for at least three years. The last time we were there to trade in our truck, we were close to a nearby shooting. We quickly traded our truck and headed back to Manitoulin. Here, we live more securely and happily, with dogs Hickory and Reuger. We intend to spend the rest of our lives in this beautiful place.”
by Liz Hercun-Grigull
