A Holocaust survivor who lived in Sparks for many years passed away last month. The community celebrated his life and legacy at the Atlantis Resort on Sunday afternoon.
"He was my hero and taught me everything I know," said Michael Kalinski, Mitka's grandson.
Matt Marquez, a family friend, also said, "The man was a survivor. It was amazing.”
Mitka Kalinski was forced into multiple concentration camps in Germany during the Holocaust. He spent over 50 years living in Sparks before his passing.
His grandson, Michael, said the two formed many memories on the road.
"[The family] had a motorhome and traveled around the country with him," Michael said, "going to New York, the South, the Northwest, fishing, crabbing, clamming, all of it."
While Mitka was positive most of the time, he could be stubborn. Marquez said one day, he saw a fire truck and an ambulance outside of Kalinski's home. Marquez went to check on Kalinski, who was arguing with the paramedics. It took some convincing, but Marquez got him to go to the hospital.
"I said, 'Mitka, if the nazis didn't kill you, vertigo isn't either. Get in the ambulance,'" Marquez said, "and he looked at me and I said, 'okay, Marquez, I'll go.'"
Kalinski also formed a friendship with Sparks councilman Donald Abbott in 2020 after he received mail from Abbott's campaign.
"He called me and said, 'Who the heck are you?'" Abbot says, "and I was like 'I'm Donald.' He said, 'Well, you need to come over to my house. We need to meet.'"
Abbott says he went to Kalinski's house and the two chatted for about two hours.
When Kalinski noticed an issue with the sidewalk in his neighborhood, Abbott said he made it a point to do something about it.
"There was no sidewalk in front of his house or his neighbors' for kids to get to Robert Mitchell [Elementary School]," Abbott said. "So, he convinced all of his neighbors to give up a few feet ... and they put a sidewalk in."
This wasn't the end of his passion for fixing problems in the community.
"He was going to run for mayor," Abbott said. "He's like, 'If I don't get what I want, I'm gonna just run for office and I'll fix it all.'"
In 2023, Honor Flight Nevada made one of Kalinski's dreams come true.
"One of his desires was to go see the Holocaust Museum in D.C., see the boxcar that they were transported in," said John Yuspa with Honor Flight Nevada. "So that was a must-do."
Marquez said Kalinski didn't let old age get in the way of having fun.
"He'd stop by at Christmas, and he's in his late 70s, 80s," Marquez said, "and he'd want to do schnapps shots."
Despite the tragedies he went through as a young boy, Kalinski always filled every day with joy.
"He would tell you if you weren't happy and you weren't enjoying life, then the nazis won," Yuspa said.
"He was just an amazing human being, a loving grandfather, great-grandfather, and dad," Abbott said.
