Antoni Janusz

Janusz, Antoni, 90 of Newburyport, formerly of Boxford, Milton, Quincy and Boston on March 15, 2021. Tony was born on August 2, 1930 and raised in Toronto and Georgian Bay in Ontario Canada. The son of immigrants, Mary Reszypnik from Kiev, Ukraine and Walter Janusz of Poland, Tony’s youth was spent embedded in the cultural world of art, music and theatre in Toronto and the wondrous freedoms of boyhood on Georgian Bay. However, at a young age he took up the violin and never looked back. A prodigy on the violin, Tony was recognized by the most prestigious music centers in Toronto and soon became a celebrity throughout Europe as well as North America. He played with such illustrious masters as Horowitz and Toscanini. Glenn Gould was a fellow student. So accomplished by the age of 16, Tony came to New York City at the invitation of Leopold Stokowski where he pursued his art, beginning at Carnegie Hall. Once he became of age however, he enlisted in the Army. His tenure there was brief. When the commander of his unit found out who he was, he affirmatively discharged Tony honorably, telling him that his talent was more valuable if it were to invigorate and inspire an appreciative audience. Over time, Tony found himself drawn more to another arena of the creative aspects of music and thus became one of the Founding Member of the Composers Club in New York. True to his inquisitive nature Tony became intrigued with another art form, photography, and followed his curiosity into that world. Guided in technology by his dearest friend, Dr. Leonard Ravich, Tony used photography to fulfill another facet of his creative genius. He pushed the analog technology to the vanguard and became regarded as a virtuoso as well. Actually as a master, as the true distinction between the virtuoso and master is the ability to teach others in ways that furthered or transformed the art. And so Tony did, in the Photography Department at the Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston. These were Tony’s careers. Yet his passions and interests were ever growing. Among Tony’s friends and cohorts, his knowledge was a gold mine. He was a continuous learner, ever curious, ever quick to understand, always willing to provoke and inspire…and sometimes frustrate because, seemingly, he was always right! Whether engaged in art, music, theatre, history, politics or even medicine, Tony was amazingly knowledgeable and of course, endlessly curious. His friendships however, were what sourced and engaged him. No one cared more, worried more and was willing to guide more than Tony. He was a rigorous friend but did not require the same of others. That was his gift to those who had the opportunity to be in his life. He was a penetrating and astute observer, a willing advisor and the best story teller ever. Those of us he called family, Jeff and Christine Tomlinson and their children Aidan and Lydia; John and Patsy Sullivan and their children Maggie Rose and Michael, Pat and Tom Leahy, Kathy Rourke, Steve and Debbie Margarite as well as a host of friends, will never forget this remarkable and beloved mensch! Tony also leaves a brother, Edward Janus, a niece Andrea Janus both in Toronto, and a nephew Kevin Janus and his wife Kelly Campbell Janus and their children Jack and Zoe in New York City.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Antoni Janusz, please visit our floral store.