Hands of Change: Joe Dzielak Remembered

[Dept of PMM Castle Life]

In Loving Memory of Our Dear Brother Joe Dzielak

On Thursday, March 18, 2004 at approximately 11:30am our dear brother, Joe Dzielak, surrounded by friends and family, slipped beyond the veil
into the Summerland.

And we will tell your stories,

and we will sing your songs,

and we will still remember you long after you are gone.

For we have been together as now we are apart,

and you are with me always since I keep you in my heart.¹

---

On March 18th at about 11:30AM Joe Dzielak surrounded by his loved ones passed beyond the veil and the Pagan Community of New Jersey is short a pair of really large hands.

Have you ever noticed online, how you can always tell when someone important to people passes? Their messages get shorter. On the Jersey lists today the messages are very short.

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, Joe Dzielak was the quiet guy who looked like a welder, probably because he was a welder and the fact that he was too busy doing what needed done to
stop and talk. When I think back I still remember seeing his eyes light
up when he talked about what he could do with metal. Joe liked the fact
that he could rely on metal, it was strong, we liked the fact that we
could rely on him he was, "of metal".

Joe was a volunteer at most of the events in New Jersey and if you were ever in need of help, a shadow would pass over you and stuff moved
around, got set up, got taken down, often without words. When I think
back it's kind of funny, if it was anyone else you may have felt
threatened but Joe was a good and selfless man and you just knew you
were in safe hands.

Joe and Charlene were some of the first friends who crawled "out of the woodwork" back in the mid-late 90's when the New Jersey community started to come out in the open and gather together. I
was struck with the old "these are nice people" and "they're serious
too" feelings when I talked to them and as it turned out we all have
become fixtures in the future of New Jersey Paganism and familiar to
each other.

Joe and Charlene were some of the "hands" that helped build what has become one of the strongest communities in the country and anyone who ever
enjoys a gathering in the state should look back a moment to thank the
people who made it happen.

I know that I will see Joe in the future, he has probably run ahead to get things set up for us when we get there, after all there's important work to be done there too. I also know that for right
now it doesn't help, as we miss a man who was a pillar of our community.

The next time we meet Joe, he may look a little different but I know I'll recognize the hands.

Our hearts and the hearts of our Coven go out to Charlene, the family and Hands of Change, we will stand with you and offer our humble hands in his stead.

Blessed be,

Steven E. Repko

NatureWise Coven

Reprinted from the Witches' Voice

http://www.handsofchange.org/BrotherJoe.htm