Joanna Witwicka

A beloved, noble, beautiful, compassionate human being, and a loyal and steady friend passed

peacefully, with her children by her side, after suffering a massive intracranial bleed.

Born in Krakow, Poland to Emil and Aurelia (nee Bielewska) Witwicki, she was the eldest of three

children. Widow of Witold Stefan Korwin-Lopuszanski; loving mother to Anna-Maria and Peter;

sister of Irena and the late Ignacy Witwicki; sister-in-law of the late Mieczyslaw Skrobik; grandmother

of Jean-Sebastien Goyette and Stefan-Michel Korwin-Goyette; and great-grandmother of Alycia.

She also leaves to mourn her beloved niece and god-daughter Dr. Yoanna Skrobik, her husband Eric

Shoubridge, and her great-nieces and nephews, Aurélie, Émile, Emilie, Justin, and relatives and many

friends around the world.

In accordance with her wishes, the funeral will be private.

A celebration of her life, will be held at a later date.

In her native Krakow, Poland she was a well-known poetess. When the war erupted, and the Nazis

started bombing Krakow, she, her mother and siblings Irena and Ignacy had to flee the city, leaving

behind her father who worked for the government. He was never able to join them. After a horrific

flight, they were rounded up by the Soviets, packed into cattle cars and sent, along with thousands

to the Siberian work camps where they endured horrible conditions. They were among the lucky ones

who survived. When the Nazis turned on the Soviets, the Soviet government released the surviving

prisoners in order that they help fight the Nazis.

She worked for the Polish Embassy which followed General Anders who led the Polish Army in exile and

was able to finance her mother and siblings out of the camp. They travelled through Kazakstan and

Uzbekistan following the Polish Army, then they went to Isfahan and Teheran in Persia, where the Polish

Government in Exile, in London had organized schools, for the orphans and refugee children. There she

worked going around inspecting the schools.

She continued on to Jerusalem in Palestine, where she worked for the United Nations Relief and

Rehabilitation Administrator, as Chief Registrar and Supervisor of the Central Index of Refugees from

January 1, 1945 – February 28, 1947, until the curtailment of their work in the Middle East. She took

statements from the refugees about their war experiences. Her siblings went to Polish Army Cadet

schools in Nazareth, and her mother ran an orphanage in Ramallah.

When the refugees were being repatriated, she and her family, not wanting to return to a Communist

Poland, were sent to a Refugee Camp in England. From there they went to London. While her siblings

did their higher studies, she worked.

Then she was offered a scholarship from the Padarewski Foundation, Inc, in New York City NY, to do her

Masters in Slavic Studies at the Universite de Montreal. She also lectured at the university.

She married Witold on July 14, 1951 and had her daughter in August 1952 and the following August

her son. She continued working to 1956, and then stayed home to raise her children.

She had an eye for beauty, design and fashion. In the sixties she immersed herself in weaving. She

displayed her weavings at Boutique Tourne-Sol on de la Montagne Street, Stewart Hall, as well as other

venues. She collected antique English blue transfer ware, furniture, carpets and textiles.

In 1967 she went to work at Eaton’s Gifts and Antiques Shop and later moved to Holt Renfrew’s Gift and

Antiques shop. When it closed she worked in fashion, and later for David Barrington in Haute Couture.

She retired from Holt Renfrew at age 72.

She spent her later years gardening and sharing her perennials, discussing politics, art and poetry,

travelling with her niece and family, and looking after and being looked after by family.

Regrettably, after suffering a major stroke in December and then a bad fall in March, She had to leave

her beloved home and garden of 37 years, and moved to a lovely apartment in a Senior’s Residence.

We celebrate the life of a remarkable woman.

In lieu of flowers, donations to The Polish Library (4220 Drolet Street, Montreal, QC, H3Y 1W7),

or Le Bon Dieu dans la Rue, or The Heart and Stroke Foundation, would be appreciated.

Special thanks to all the Doctors, nurses, student Jake Levy and staff, in the emergency room and on the

neurology ward at the Montreal General Hospital, for their tender care and compassion both for her as

well as the family.