After Streamwood dad dies in a fall in Guatemala, son, 9, gets one final gift from him

Sebastian Kamysz shows the bracelet his dad Ralph Kamysz bought for him on the day the father, 40, died in a fall while hiking in Guatemala. | Provided photo

On the day that Rafal “Ralph” Kamysz fell to his death while hiking near a waterfall in Guatemala, he’d bought a special bracelet to take back for his 9-year-old son Sebastian.

His brother Jerry Kamysz flew to Guatemala to bring home the body of the 40-year-old Streamwood man, a frequent traveler who had journeyed to more than 30 countries.

Jerry Kamysz went because his parents couldn’t. “My dad’s got Stage 4 cancer, so my mom’s got to take care of him,” he said.

And he wanted to make sure Sebastian would get his dad’s last gift.

The bracelet depicts a volcano. It was hand-crafted by Guatemalans trying to earn money after a volcanic eruption displaced them from their homes, according to Ralph’s partner Danielle Green. She was with him when he slipped and fell from a scenic spot on a coffee plantation outside Guatemala City.

“He thought it would be special to bring his son, and he picked the color red for the band because it’s his son’s favorite color,” Green said. “It was in his pocket later on, the day when he passed away.”

After Mr. Kamysz’s body was brought up from where he’d fallen in a rocky ravine on Nov. 29, police officers locked up his belongings.

“The police took his wallet and whatever was in his pocket,” his brother said. “He bought a Guatemalan bracelet for his son. It was a little bracelet, the last present he would ever get” from his father.

When he and Green went to retrieve Mr. Kamysz’s things at a police station outside Guatemala City, she says they were told everything was locked up in an off-site building that was closed for two days because the guy who had the key was on vacation.

“We were going back and forth two hours” trying to get his things returned, his brother said, while worrying about making their flight home.

They called the U.S. embassy for help. Shortly after, his brother said, they were presented with Mr. Kamysz’s things. The bracelet was still in the little bag it came in.

Sebastian was at his dad’s visitation on Friday at Countryside Funeral Home & Crematory in Roselle.

“We gave it to him at the wake,” his brother said.

“I asked if he wanted to wear it, and he said yes,” Green said. “To be able to come back and say, ‘We don’t have your dad, but we have this thing he wanted you to have, he was thinking about you.’ ”

Ralph Kamysz and his son Sebastian during a trip to England.

Mr. Kamysz was an Internet sales manager for Woodfield Lexus.

“He was really calm, easygoing,” his brother said. “He had an awesome sense of humor. He never got upset.”

Young Ralph grew up in Zabno, Poland, where his mother Barbara was an accountant, and his father Marian was an engineer.

“They moved to America hoping for a better life for me and Ralph and my sister” Joanna Krause, Jerry Kamysz said. “We were the first out of the family to move to America.”

As the oldest, Ralph looked out for his brother and sister. He went to Lane Tech and Maine West High School in Des Plaines and was on the soccer team at both schools, according to his brother before getting a computer science degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“He introduced me and taught me how to use a computer,” Jerry Kamysz said. “He inspired me to code and do programming and build websites. He inspired me to start my company, Chicago Music Festivals,” a media and marketing firm.

Ralph Kamysz on a visit to a pineapple plantation in Hawaii.

Mr. Kamysz always looked forward to his next trip. Some of his favorite destinations were Belgium, England, Germany, his native Poland, Spain, South Africa and Thailand. He also started a travel blog, TravelFeed.org.

“He almost wanted to try everything and see everything once,” Green said.

He also loved house music and techno music.

“He introduced me to electronic music at a very young age, when I was, like, 8,” his brother said. “He would take me to concerts.”

Ralph (left) and Jerry Kamysz at the Chicago music festival Mamby on the Beach.

Jerry Kamysz said he’s trying to stay focused by repeating one of his brother’s sayings. “If something was bothering you,” he said, “He’d say, ‘Don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine.’ ”

Services have been held.

Mr. Kamysz never made it to the colonial Guatemalan city of Antigua, where he wanted to visit a brewery because he loved trying new India pale ales. But, because of a bus accident and detour, Mr. Kamysz’s partner and brother ended up in that city.

“We asked the driver to stop, and we had lunch there,” taking in a view of the Volcan de Agua, the brother said.

“We had a beer on the balcony of this brewery, looking at the volcano,” Green said. “That was sort of the view he wanted — to sit on the balcony and have a beer.”

Jerry Kamysz took this photo of a volcano for his brother Ralph Kamysz, who died just before the final leg of a trip in Guatemala. He’d planned to stop for a beer at a brewery where he could enjoy the view of Volcan de Agua but fell to his death in a gorge.