A prominent Belleville businessman and sportsman has passed away.
Frank Zielski, founder and president of Zielski and Associates Bankruptcy Trustees, died late Tuesday night after suffering briefly from cancer.
Zielski had just turned 80 on March 1.
Frank Zielski was born in the St. Catharines area and retired from the RCMP over 40 years ago. While serving with the RCMP he specialized in corporate crime and fraud investigations.
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After a Following a move to Belleville to be closer to his late wife Vivian’s family, Zielski started his business which remains today on Coleman Street.
Son Jason tells Quinte News that his father competed in the 1960 Rome Olympics on Canada’s Men’s Four rowing team, an Olympics that featured legendary heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali, who was then known as Cassius Clay.
The Men’s Four finished 9th in the competition after all four members fell ill upon arriving in Rome.
However the next year the team won the U.S. National Championships.
Frank Zielski will be remembered by many as one of the founding members of the Quinte Rowing Club. The indoor rowing facility at the QRC clubhouse is named after him.
He was inducted into the Belleville Sports Hall of Fame several years ago.
Zielski was also a lover and collector of antique vehicles and as recently as March 1 had been working to install a new engine in a 1931 Model A Ford.
Zielski is survived by two children (one daughter passed away three years ago), six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Funeral details are not known at this time.