Submitted by: Dan Rich

Gertrude Botka

Aug. 10, 1923 - Aug. 4, 2006

South Bend Tribune 8/5/2006

Gertrude "Trudy" Botka, 82, of South Bend, Ind., passed away at 3:06 a.m., Friday, August 4, 2006, in St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center. Trudy was born on August 10, 1923, in South Bend, to Valentine and Maryanna (Graf) Pajakowski. She retired in 1981 from the St. Joseph County Welfare Department. She had also been employed with Studebaker Aviation for four years, Oliver Corporation for 12 years, South Bend Range for four years, and U.S. Plywood.

On May 4, 1963, in St. Adalbert Church, as Gertrude Pajakowski, she married Chester B. Botka, who survives. Also surviving are two sisters, Eugenia A. Nowicki of South Bend, and Evelyn Derda of New Carlisle, Ind.; two sisters-in-law, Harriett Pajakowski of Columbus, Ind., and Irene Pajakowski of South Bend; and by seventeen nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by five brothers, Eugene Paige, and Clement, John, Edwin, and Joseph Pajakowski.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Monday, August 7, 2006, in the Kaniewski Funeral Home, 3545 N. Bendix Drive. Entombment will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery. Friends may call from 4 until 8 p.m. on Sunday in the funeral home, where a parish wake will be held at 4:00 p.m., followed by an M.R. Falconette Legion of Honor Service. Friends may also call from 9 until 10 a.m. on Monday in the funeral home. A Memorial Mass for Trudy will take place at a later date in St. Adalbert Church.

Trudy was a 1942 graduate of Washington High School. She was a member of St. Adalbert Parish, M.R. Falconettes Nest #200, and the Falconettes Legion of Honor. She bowled for over 40 years in the Falconette Bowling League, and golfed in the Falconette Golf League.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Adalbert Church.