Submitted by: Dan Rich

Mary Kowalski

June 19, 2008

South Bend Tribune 8/31/2008
SOUTH BEND - Mary Kowalski, 90, of N. Redington Beach, FL, previously of South Bend, from 1951 to 2003, passed away Thursday, June 19th. She was born in Beczkow Winy, a small village near Kielce, Poland, was captured early during WWII and spent the remainder of the war in a forced labor camp. In 1951 she immigrated to South Bend, IN, with her husband and daughter to join her maternal aunt, Sophia Piatkowski, and her family. She was the beloved wife of the late John Kowalski, and was preceded in death by her siblings, Jacek and Jan Pedrycz, stepfather and step-sister, Antoni and Antonina Kraska, who are interred with the remainder of her family in Poland. She is survived by her daughter, Stella, and her husband, Dr. Richard Herrick; three grandchildren, Sophia Marie, Florida, Rick, his wife Cynthia, and two granddaughters, April and Cassie Hill, Opelika, AL, and Jahn and his wife, Cindy of Las Vegas, NV. Her only other remaining family in the USA are cousin, Gladys Piatkowski, and her son, Stanley, and his family who reside in South Bend. She was a devout member of the Legion of Mary, and never was without her Rosary.

A funeral Mass was held July 5, 2008, in Most Holy Name Catholic Church, FL, followed by a traditional Polish lunch. On Saturday, September 6, There will be a 9 a.m. Mass and second rite of interment at St. Adalbert's Parish and St. Joseph Cemetery; celebrant, Rev. Michael Heppen, CSC; lunch to follow.