William S. Vojnar

William S. Vojnar

GUILDERLAND — William S. Vojnar never took vacations, his daughter said; his work was his life.

He was born on a farm in Rotterdam and, at the young age of 17, bought a stock farm in Guilderland. He died on that farm, after suffering a stroke earlier in the year, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015, with his family surrounding him. He was 93.

Once, when his daughter asked him about his commitment to farming, he said, “That’s all I know.” She went on, “When he bought the farm, there was nothing. He built it up.”

Mr. Vojnar was born on May 15, 1922 at the Vojnar family home in Rotterdam where his parents, the late William Vincent Vojnar and Sadie Pallack Vojnar, lived and raised their family. He attended Draper High School.

“His parents were farmers,” said Doris Vojnar, his daughter.

Before serving in the United States Army during World War II, from 1942 to 1944, Mr. Vojnar arranged to buy 33 acres in western Guilderland on Posson Road. “His father put up some money,” said Ms. Vojnar. “Mr. Posson said, ‘We’ll hold it until you come home from the service.’

He was a meat-cutter and a cook, Ms. Vojnar said of her father’s duties in the service.

When he came home, Mr. Vojnar worked several years for Pleasant Valley Meat Packing Company, and then started Vojnar Stock Farm where he raised and slaughtered stock, and did custom meat cutting for most of his life. The farm was originally stocked with pigs from his parents’ farm.

He and his wife, Doris, raised nine children in a home he built on the farm.

“He was a great dad,” said Ms. Vojnar. “We didn’t go on vacations; he enjoyed the farm. He was a provider. We didn’t have much but he was my best friend.

“The way he raised us was not like today’s kids,” she said. “We worked. Everyone helped....We helped in the slaughterhouse, cleaning the cutting room before we went to school.”

She went on, “We never ate any of our own animals; we’d sell them.”

Mr. Vojnar loved to cook for his family, especially on holidays — great feasts featuring ham or turkey. His wife and children did the cleaning up after the meal, said Ms. Vojnar.

The farm had as many as 200 pigs at one time. “He would butcher them,” said his daughter. “In the winter, everyone would bring their deer to him to butcher.”

She also said, “His property was his home.” Mr. Vojnar liked to fish and hunt on his land. His father would often join him. They would also pick mushrooms.

Mr. Vojnar worked, too, for the town of Guilderland as a backhoe operator at the landfill. “He did that until he got hurt,” said Ms. Vojnar. “He fell off the dozer and broke his back. They said, ‘Don’t worry, Bill. You’ve got a job for life.’  But he didn’t.”

When suburbia encroached on his farmland in western Guilderland, some neighbors in housing developments complained about stray animals, mess, and smell.

“When you wrote in your paper that the town was going to shut him down,” said Ms. Vojnar, “everybody helped out. We cleaned it up and it was like in the old days, with everybody helping.”

She said of her father, “He was a good man. Most of the time, he was a happy guy. He was a bad businessman. If somebody needed meat, he’d give it to them, and say, ‘When you get the money, give it to me.’ He did that even up to 90 years old. He didn’t like arguing. My father would be the richest man in the world if everybody paid him, but he didn’t care.”

Ms. Vojnar sighed, and said, “Everybody back then worked together.”

She recalled how a Sate Trooper once called Mr. Vojnar because of a complaint that one of his animals had gotten out. Mr. Vojnar said, “I can’t chase it on my one leg. If you catch it; it’s yours. Have a nice dinner.” She concluded, “Apparently, that’s what the Trooper did.”

Describing her father’s personality, Ms. Vojnar said, “He was just a very compassionate man. He liked telling stories. He liked helping people.”

These sentiments were echoed in a tribute his family wrote: “He loved helping people, talking of old times with friends and his cat, Big Foot. Bill enjoyed hunting, fishing, board games, and horseshoes during better times. He was a great conversationalist, always with an interesting story to tell,” they wrote.

They also wrote, “He was an honest and caring man. He always had a smile on his face, a positive attitude, never complained about anything. He was also an extremely generous man, funny and witty. He would truly give you the shirt from his back and his very last dollar. He enjoyed helping everyone. Whenever you had a conversation with him, you felt the warmth and friendship. He will be greatly missed.”

Ms. Vojnar said she learned about respect and hard work from her father. “He taught me, it isn’t all about the dollar. It’s about concern for other people.

“If I can help you, I will help you,” she said, summing up her father’s approach to life. “That’s what he did and that’s what I do.’

“He never used the word ‘love,’” Ms. Vojnar said. “He wouldn’t sign his cards with that four-letter word. He’d sign his cards ‘Best wishes.’ If I said, ‘I love you,’ he’d say, ‘I care.’ ‘I care’ was his byword.”

****

William S. Vojnar is survived by his children, William W. Vojnar and his wife, Dottie, of Esperence; Doris “Dorie” Vojnar, of Cohoes; Kathleen “Katy” Watford and her husband, Don, of Garden City Beach, South Carolina; Randy Vojnar; Dan Vojnar and his wife, Lonya, of Guilderland; Audrey Kearns and her husband, Ron, of Guilderland; Shawn Vojnar and his wife, Michelle, of Albany; and Bobby Vojnar and his wife, Sara, of Rexford.

He is also survived by his eight cherished grandchildren; his six great-grandchildren; his brothers, Rudy Vojnar and his wife, Grace, of Schenectady, and Robert Vojnar of Florida; his sister, Elizabeth Vojnar, of Schenectady; and several nieces nephews and great nieces.

His wife, Doris E. Vojnar, died before him, as did his son, Jack Scott Vojnar, and his sister, Emma Vojnar.

Special thanks to Audrey Kearns, and Dorie and Shawn Vojnar for their tireless efforts. And thanks also go to the exceptional care given by Ann Shave, Brenda Anselment, Theresa Rushford, and the late Dr. Roberta Flesh and the Silver Team at Albany Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Calling hours will be held at New Comer Funeral Home, 343 New Karner Road in Albany, on Thursday, Nov. 5, from 4 to 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian burial will take place at St. Madeleine Sophie Church, 3500 Carman Rd. in Guilderland, on Friday, Nov. 6, at 11:30 a.m. Burial will take place at the Vojnar Family Cemetery, 6470 Posson Road in Guilderland immediately following the service.
— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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