Ontario Sikh community loses founding member

Ontario Sikh community loses founding member
By SSNews

To the province's Sikh community, he was a pioneer. Kuldeep Singh Chhatwal was the first Sikh to move his family into Ontario in the 1950s.

In the 1960s, the Kitchener resident was a founding member of the local Golden Triangle Sikh Association. In the 1970s, he helped establish the first Sikh temple in Toronto and in the 1980s, he did the same in Kitchener.

Chhatwal succumbed to cancer last week at 85 years old.

"By the time he died, he was considered the godfather of our community in Ontario," Kan, 58, said. "He was a very gentle man and a spiritual man."

Chhatwal came to Toronto ahead of his family in 1953, wearing his turban and a long beard.

At the time, people weren't used to seeing a man in a turban and they were reluctant to hire
him, Kan said.

It wasn't until Chhatwal shaved his beard and took off the turban that he found a job as an electrical engineer, Kan said.

"He never held a grudge," he said. "That was just part of life."

But the experience motivated Chhatwal to help other new Canadians adjust to their surroundings. Chhatwal's extensive community involvement included providing refugee services through the Kitchener Waterloo Multicultural Centre.

He was also a long-time member of the Liberal Party, the Kitchener Waterloo Kiwanis Club and the Waterloo Regional Police Citizen Advisory Board.

Police chief Larry Gravel described Chhatwal as "a community leader and visionary who devoted his life to helping others throughout Waterloo Region."

"He had a tremendous impact on our Police Service and community," Gravill said in an e-mail.

"Kuldeep's accomplishments will be a part of our community history forever, and his actions will serve as a model for all to follow."

Chhatwal also fostered religious understanding through his work for Interfaith Grand River.

Chattar Ahuja, president of the Golden Triangle Sikh Association, said Chhatwal's charm and respect for people of all faiths and races were some of his greatest strengths.

"He was a caring person," Ahuja said. "People respected him and looked up to him as a leader."
Chhatwal moved to Kitchener from Toronto in the early 1960s.

He was trained as an engineer but spent his career in sales, first for encyclopedia-giant
Britannica Foundation, and then for Pitney Bowes Canada, an office equipment company.

Kan Chhatwal said sales appealed to his father because it meant he was always meeting people.

"He was a very social person," he said. "He would establish an immediate and genuine connection."

When he working for the community or visiting friends and family, Chhatwal would focus on poetry. Kan said his father appreciated all kinds of poetry but it was verse in Urdu, an ancient language, that he liked the most.

Ahuja said that for all of Chhatwal's wisdom, he was funny and down to earth. His passing is a loss for the community, Ahuja said.

"It's a big loss for me," Ahuja said. "I always looked up to him for guidance and courage.
"He was my guiding light."

Anyone wishing to make a donation in Chhatwal's honour is asked to consider a contribution to the Golden Triangle Sikh Association or Lisaard House.

http://www.sikhsangat.org/publish/article_1049.shtml