By Rob Buchanan
Uncle Walter, as he was fondly known to many in Revelstoke’s forest industry, was a true local and an example of the colourful characters that make up our community.
Born in 1922 in a log cabin 12 miles south of town, Walter Kozek worked as a farmer, a railroader, and a logger. At 88, he still worked for his nephew’s sawmill as the oldest active log-scaler in British Columbia. Always curious, he never turned down an opportunity to learn something new. Just shy of his 89th birthday, he finally solved the Rubik’s Cube.
It is people like Walter that give our valley its warm glow. Good people are infectious, and Walter passed on that magic to any one with whom he came in contact. Walter – always the joker – after attending a busy community function, once remarked, “Boy, if we had that many people come out to Senior’s Square-dance, we wouldn’t have to dance in triangles.”
Here is a selection of photos of Walter that were taken over the last few years:
![online-A_walter in front of his parents old house that he saved from the flood](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/10/online-A_walter-in-front-of-his-parents-old-house-that-he-saved-from-the-flood.jpg)
![online-B_walter thru an old tractor seat in his backyard treasures](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/10/online-B_walter-thru-an-old-tractor-seat-in-his-backyard-treasures.jpg)
![online-C_At age 88 Walter tackles the Rubiks Cube](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/10/online-C_At-age-88-Walter-tackles-the-Rubiks-Cube.jpg)
![online-D_At age 88 Walter solves the Rubiks Cube](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/10/online-D_At-age-88-Walter-solves-the-Rubiks-Cube.jpg)
![online-E_Walter Kozek in front of his parents farmhouse](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/10/online-E_Walter-Kozek-in-front-of-his-parents-farmhouse.jpg)
![online-F_Walter Kozek with Kozek Truck used by him and his brother Steve](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/10/online-F_Walter-Kozek-with-Kozek-Truck-used-by-him-and-his-brother-Steve.jpg)
![online-G_Walter Kozek and Pete Ozero trading memories on the Flats](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/10/online-G_Walter-Kozek-and-Pete-Ozero-trading-memories-on-the-Flats.jpg)
![online-H_Walter Kozek entertaining Aislin and McKinley](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/10/online-H_Walter-Kozek-entertaining-Aislin-and-McKinley.jpg)
![online-I_Walter Kozek with fiddle](https://legacy.revelstokecurrent.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/10/online-I_Walter-Kozek-with-fiddle.jpg)