Preceded in death by her brothers Bruno, Walter, Florian, Jozef and Edward. Survived by her sisters, Helen Rozanski (Walter) and Zofia Bodnar; her children, Kenneth (Nancy) and Alicia (Ronald); and her grandchildren, Jeremy, Joshua, Connor and Katherine.
Mom had a typical young farm girl life, going to school, tending to the family’s cows and taking care of her 4 younger brothers and sisters. When she was 9, Germany invaded Poland and her life immediately changed. The German occupation was the worst of times for Poland and her family. The Germans took all the farm produce for their army and the threat of death was constant. The German occupation was extremely oppressive and then it got worse. In 1943 her brother Walter was taken to Germany for forced labor. Also, in 1943 the retreat of the German army left the family in between the German and Russian fronts for 5 months. The church, school and their home were burned. Only two homes remained out of the village of 120 homes prior to the war. The family was later moved behind Russian lines. Her older brother Florian and his girlfriend were killed by a land mine in 1944. After the war, the land mines and other explosives were collected and buried by her brother Bruno. The barbed wire remains to this day. After the war ended, her Father died in 1946 and Poland transitioned to Russian occupation. A good student, Mom never recovered from the long gap of missing school and ended up helping others in need. One thankless job she did not relish was chasing the crows from the church pastors corn field.
Waiting patiently, Mom emigrated to America in 1960 where she met her future husband Ignatz, himself a former forced laborer in Germany who helped the US Army occupation forces after the war and emigrated to the US in 1949. Mom worked manual jobs her entire career and never complained about it. Much of her time was spent working in housekeeping roles at Randolph Tower in Chicago. Mom loved to cook and entertain. She also looked forward to sharing with friends and family from her annual flower and vegetable garden.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, February 10th, at St. Thecla Catholic Church, 6725 West Devon Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60631, from 9:00am until time of funeral mass at 10:00am. Interment Maryhill Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Sunday, February 9th, from 3:00pm to 9:00pm at Malec & Sons Funeral Home, 6000 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60646. For more information, please call (773) 774-4100 or visit www.malecandsonsfh.com.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18