Darinka Maoduš

MAODUŠ, Darinka

October 20, 1916 - August 8, 1995

Born and died in Medak, Lika-Krbava, Srpska Krajina (Serbian Military Frontier).

Darinka is the dear aunt of Ilija Maodus (Essex), Nikola Maodus (White Lake, Michigan); Sophia (Pavlica) Peltier, Bogdan, George and John Pavlica of Windsor; Danica (Maodus) Celic, Dusan Maodus and Angelina (Maodus) Marsh in England; Tihomir, Danijel and Vladimir Maodus in Varazdin; Velimir Laskovic (Austria), Vesna (Laskovic) Pucarevic (Germany).

Darinka’s skeletal remains have been brought to Windsor from abroad for a proper burial and in order for her to lay in peace nearby her late brother Ljubomir Maodus (Windsor 2009).

Nearing the age of 79, Darinka was an innocent victim of the 1990s war in the former Yugoslavia.

Darinka, affectionately known as Tetka Dara, was not married and had no children.

Only recently have her remains been located and identified, after 27 years, through DNA matching with Ilija and Nikola, along with other nephews and nieces as referred to above. Unknowingly to her family here and abroad, she lay in an unmarked grave, far from her home and place of death, from the time of her death in 1995 until 2006 at which time she, and other innocent civilians who met with the same sad fate during the war, were exhumed and transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Criminology in Zagreb. Here they all continued to lay further until one day hopefully being identified and claimed by their families.

Aunt Dara visited her family in Windsor in 1967 and again in 1990.

Aunt Dara was the daughter of Ilija Maodus (1929) and Andjelija (nee Pavlica, 1966); sister of Jaga (1933 Medak), Djordje (1991 England), Ljubomir (2009 Windsor) and the following brothers and sisters who died in their infancy in the early 1900’s in Medak: Milan, Sara, Ljubica, Anka and Jeka.

Aunt Dara was the cousin of Dusan Pavlica (1998) of Windsor, Danilo Maodus (2014) of Varazdin and Nikola Laskovic (2018) of Gradiska, Republika Srpska.

Many thanks to Savo Strbac and his assistant Biljana Trifunovic of the Documentation Information Centre Veritas in Belgrade, Serbia without whose assistance, guidance and contacts it would not have been possible to navigate the 18 month bureaucratic process it took to locate and identify Darinka’s remains. Ilija and Nikola met and personally thanked Mr. Strbac and Mrs. Trifunovic during a November 2022 visit with them in Belgrade in the Veritas office.

Also a special thank you to Dr. Milovan Kubat of the aforementioned Forensics Institute. Ilija and Nikola met with Dr. Kubat in October 2022 in Zagreb. Dr. Kubat is a highly recognized professional in his field of DNA analysis especially in his work related to the identification of the remains of war victims.

There will be no funeral home visitation. Friends and family are asked to gather at St. Dimitrije Serbian Orthodox Church, 2690 Seminole St., Windsor on Saturday February 25, 2023 beginning at 10:30am. Funeral service to begin at 11am. Fr. Jovica Cetkovic officiating. Interment at Windsor Memorial Gardens, 1100 Division Rd., Windsor, immediately after the church funeral service.

If desired, please donate to DIC Veritas in Belgrade, Serbia (www.veritas.org.rs) and/or contact Veritas’s director Savo Strbac at [email protected].

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.AndersonFuneralHomewindsor.com for the Maoduš family.