UPDATE: Tracking someone who was last seen in a homeless shelter in Ontario 1974 but died in 1999

Research Assistance

Hello all! I am posting this because some people got really invested in this little mystery.

Earlier post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Genealogy/comments/1sobmkj/tracking_someone_who_was_last_seen_in_a_homeless/

First post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Genealogy/comments/1s5hjw1/ontario_trying_to_find_information_about_someone/

I was able to find the date of death and the death certificate finally arrived!

What I know:

-Bronislaw "Bruno" Paluch, who was born 8 March 1916 in Liski, Poland

-Emigrated to Toronto in 1948 via Fallingbostel DP camp

-Seems to be on a voter registry in 1953, implying naturalisation as a Canadian citizen

-Alcoholism and abuse of family, ends up divorced, loses his house on Plymouth Avenue in Toronto because it gets condemned due to lack of heat, and ends up in Seaton House homeless shelter, where he is last seen in 1974

NEW INFORMATION:

-Somehow ends up living at 653 Birch Street in Pembroke, Ontario in 1999

-His birthdate on the death certificate is listed as 10 March 1916 for some reason, despite his social insurance number being known and on the form

- Is listed as a single labourer

- Dies in Pembroke General Hospital on Mackay Street at age 83 of diabetic ketoacidosis, diabetes mellitus, gangrene left leg, diabetic neuropathy

- The "informant" on the death certificate (despite him dying in a hospital) is listed as a B Schoeder living at 615 Birch Street (down the road) but lists the relationship between them as "none"

- Cremated at Rideau Memorial Crematorium in Hull, Quebec

- The funeral in charge of the remains was EF Murphy in Pembroke

So now the mystery is wtf happened between 1974 and 1999, how he ended up living in Pembroke considering he may or may not have ever learned English, whether he owned 653 Birch or what happened, who B Schoeder is, etc etc etc.

I am going to email the hospital, funeral home, etc etc if anyone has any ideas of what to do next please tell me, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Posted Jun 12, 2026, 11:46 PM UTC

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