Louis Casimer Jankowski was born on June 27, 1931, in Regina, Saskatchewan, the fourth of six sons to a Polish Catholic mother, Anna Jankowski. Anna, her husband, and three sons had immigrated to Canada in 1927 from Świdnik, Poland. The family moved to Hamilton, Ontario after older sons Ben and Tony had jumped aboard a cargo train to end up in Sudbury, Ontario where they landed work at a smelter. Later, they heard about a place called Hamilton which was booming. They made their way to Hamilton and eventually landed with the Canadian Navy.\n', '

Ben and Tony wrote a letter to their mother to tell her how great everything was in Hamilton. Anna, in return, stated "Be ready, I am coming with your three younger brothers..." Ben and Tony replied "Don\'t come here yet, we don\'t have a place for you to stay!" yet shortly thereafter, mother Anna appeared in Hamilton with her three young sons and the family had to be hidden amongst the military barracks living in the staff house until Anna could afford to rent a room. She found a floor of a triplex to rent and raised six boys as a single mother who also worked a twelve-hour shift at a munitions factory.\n', '

Jankowski attended high school in Hamilton, Ontario, where he excelled at baseball and football. A gifted baseball player, he was offered a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. His love of hockey began on Cootes Paradise in Hamilton. Living in lean times, Jankowski and his younger brother John found a pair of ice skates. Each took one, learning to skate with only one skate each. At age 16, Jankowski helped the Hamilton Aerovox hockey team claim the Sutherland Cup as Ontario Junior B champions in 1948. He scored five goals and four assists in nine playoff games with players up to two years his senior.\n', '

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