Obituary of STANISLAWA WASILEWSKI

Stanislawa (Stella) Wasilewski (Maruszewski) February 20, 1935 - April 6, 2014 Beautifully, with her daughters and family friends by her side, our beloved “Mama” at the age of 79 began her new journey into eternal life. She is predeceased by her husband of 31 years, Julian (2001), and her parents Jozef and Katerzina, and her siblings Irena, Maria, Janek and Jozef. She is survived by her 2 loving daughters: Barb (Basia) and Irene (Ircia) and family members in Canada and Poland. Stanislawa (or Stella) was born near Opoczno Poland in 1935. Her early life was spent living and working on a farm with her family in Poland and in 1969, mom moved to Canada where she met her husband Julian and began her family with her daughters Basia and Ircia. Mama sacrificed a lot for her children– working long evening hours as a custodian at Polar Cleaning, then coming home and doing everything she needed to do to raise 2 successful girls. Mama taught us strong family values – something we try to express everyday. Things we will never forget about our “Mama”: her beautiful skin; and how she loved to: knit and crochet some very beautiful blankets, sweaters and berets for her children; spend night after night teaching us how to pray in Polish; walk us everywhere including to church every Sunday, to St. Johns and Kildonan Park for swimming, and taking us to Eaton’s every Saturday; dress her little girls in the same but beautiful dresses; camp with the girls at Birds Hill Park; tell us that as sisters we needed to always love and honor each other no matter what; sit in Irene and Barb’s backyard in the summer, soaking in the sun with “moj (my) Ziggy”. We also knew that even in our 40s, our meek and gentle mom knew how to put us in our place and how her compassion towards others was truly an inspiration. For everything she had faced in her life, she was always a very loving Mama. Her values live within us. Although her body grew weary over these last few years, Mama never lost her faith. From the time we were little girls, we saw an immense strength in our Mama – an unbroken faith that kept us strong. Daily, our mom’s morning routine always involved prayer and when we looked in on her because she was too quiet, she would always say “I am just praying”. She loved going to church and took pride in knowing the priest was coming over. Her faith lives within us. The family would like to thank Dr. Koczanski, Dr. Kowalchuk (and Heather) for always taking the time for her, for the staff at the ER and ICU at Concordia Hospital who looked after her (including Aaron who was always by our side), Father Tomasz for visiting her at home, and all the friends, family and co-workers who have who reached out to us during this very hard time. The daughters request that this year on Mother’s Day, family and friends each say a prayer for our mom and take the time to honor their “Mamas” in a special way. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, April 15, at 10:00 a.m. at Holy Ghost Parish, 341 Selkirk Avenue, with the Rosary being said prior at 9:30 a.m. Interment to follow at Holy Ghost Cemetery. Wieczny odpoczynek racz jej dac Panie. “Mama, kochamy cie”.