RADECKI, EMILIA HELENA 1922 – 2019 Peacefully at St. Joseph’s Health Centre on Sunday, March 31, 2019.
Predeceased by beloved husband Franciszek. Loving mother of Hanka (deceased), Jacek (Jack), Olenka (Alexandra) and Zosia (Sophia). Proud grandmother of of Kasia (Kathleen). Predeceased by sister Zofia, and brothers Walenty, Wincenty, Roman and Stefan.
Emilia was born on November 1, 1922 to parents Wojciech Gogol and Franciszka Zawadzka in Zastawie, Poland. At the age of 17, Emilia Gogol’s idyllic childhood life in the Polish countryside changed forever. On February 10, 1940, Emilia, her brother Stefan and their parents were forced to leave their home with barely more than the clothes on their backs when they were taken by the Soviets as political prisoners. Together the family faced the horrors of the labour camps, the sub-zero temperatures and the ever-present threats of disease, starvation and separation. She and her family moved with the course of the war, first from the frozen taiga forests of Siberia to the cotton fields of Uzbekastan until finally her first taste of freedom came as a military school girl in Palestine. It was here in Jenin, on a broiling day in August that Emilia was reacquainted with Franek, a young man who shared his soup with her during the terrifying days of the gulag. The two chatted under the shade of a grove of pepper trees, Franek, at the time a 26-year old soldier would soon leave to fight in the battle of Monte Cassino and asked Emilia to be his pen pal. Several letters and a few years later they were reunited for a third time, this time in England where their friendship blossomed into love. They were married on June 4, 1949. Their first child Hanka was born in London in 1950. They immigrated to Canada in 1951 and settled happily to raise their family.
The family will receive friends at a visitation on Friday, April 5th from 6-9 p.m. at the Mount Pleasant Funeral Centre 375 Mount Pleasant Rd. (east gate entrance). Funeral Service in the Chapel on Saturday, April 6th at 11 a.m., with a visitation an hour prior. Interment to follow at Mount Hope Cemetery, 305 Erskine Ave.
In lieu of flowers, donations to St. Joseph’s Health Centre, Diabetes Canada or the Heart & Stroke Foundation would be appreciated by the family