Mom's History
• Mom was born Dec.23,1929 in Warthenau, Poland – she was
1 of 4 daughters.
• Life was simple and good in those times until WWII came.
• The coming of Russian forces caused the family to flee their
home and subsequently Mom – about 12 years old then- and
1 sister were separated from the rest of the family and wound
up in Germany. Picture hundreds & thousands of people
overloading train cars, destination and what's coming
unknown.
• The Red Cross placed Mom & her sister with a family in
Germany where essentially they had to “earn their keep”.
• It wasn't until war's end-about 3 years- that she was able to
reunite with her parents and 1 other sister in Germany; the
remaining sister unfortunately was unable to leave Poland.
• The war had not been kind to her father- he became
paralyzed in both legs & confined to a wheelchair. This
eventually cut his life short; her mother who had struggled
to provide, developed cancer and the sisters were now alone.
• Life continued;among the many jobs Mom had in Germany,
one was with Olympia Typewriters, where she held various
positions manufacturing typewriters – not sure if this was
why Dad had a special connection with typewriters- none of
his letters were ever handwritten.
• At some point, Mom met Dad, the man she would spend the
rest of her life with.
• Dad immigrated to Canada in 1954 for a better life, with
Mom following in 1955. They married in 1957.
• 3 sons were born,expanding the family-Frank, Mike & Ray.
• This kept Mom busy as a stay-at-home mom raising her
sons while Dad worked in the office for Northern Telecom,
American Motors & later Ford, where he retired from.
• In this time frame, Bramalea-amalgamated into Brampton became
home from Mom & Dads original Toronto startup.
• While the sons were growing up and later during Dad's
retirement, Mom & Dad enjoyed extensive travelling-
Hawaii being a repeat favourite.
• Of course, life has a way of changing things up- Dad
developed lung cancer despite never smoking & died 2002.
Needless to say, this was tough on Mom,being left with a big
empty house, sons living their lives.
• The family home was sold & Mom was able to move in with
Ray, which was the start of over 20 years of stability.
• Yes, Mom had about 2 years of depression and
breakdown when Dad's passing really hit home, but she was
able to pull through, and able to enjoy life again.
• Having said that, with advanced age comes various health
issues-in a nut shell, Mom had her fair share over the last 10
years. However,it says a lot that she finally gave up driving
at 90 years of age-how many of us will be able to say that ?-
and that's after getting her license at age 50 !
• It's fair to say, despite getting covid-19 and recovering,
Mom started a noticeable health decline-being
confined,limited social interactions, challenges with getting
health help and progressive age issues gradually took their
toll. On Mon. March 24, 2025 Mom took her last breath and
left her tired body to reunite with Dad-she was 95 years and
3 months old.
• I and the entire family would like to thank everyone from
taking time out of your busy life to pay respect to Mom's life
& memory. Thank you.