5/23/07

Psa Hildegard Grabowski Fallen Asleep in the Lord

Warren OH [ROEA Chancery]  –  Preoteasa Hildegard Grabowski, wife of the late V Rev Fr Richard J Grabowski, fell asleep in the Lord on Tuesday, May 22, 2007, near her home in Warren, Ohio, as the result of a stroke that morning.

The Service of the Wake (Saracusta) will take place at Holy Resurrection Church in Warren, Ohio, on Monday, May 28, at 7:00pm (visiting hours 6:00-8:00pm).  The Funeral Service will take place at The Falling Asleep of the Ever Virgin Mary Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, May 29, at 10:00am, followed by a Memorial Luncheon (Pomana).  She will then be taken to Vatra Românească in Grass Lake, Michigan, for burial next to her husband, Fr Richard, in the St Mary Cemetery at approximately 5:00pm.

Fr & Psa Grabowski served parishes in Saint Paul MN, Gary IN, Los Angeles CA and Cleveland OH until Fr Richard’s retirement in 1989, at which time they moved to Warren OH.  Fr Richard was soon appointed  the coordinator of Help for Romania and then Chairman of the Episcopate's Department of Christian Assistance, again supported faithfully by Psa Hildegard.  They were both very active through the years in the activities of the Episcopate, thoroughly enjoying the company of their many friends.  Following Fr Richard’s death in May 2004, Psa Hildegard continued to be as active as her health allowed.

Fr Richard and Psa Hildegard are survived by their children Michael, George John, Richard, Corina (Phillips), Paul, and Stephen, along with their families.

The family asks that those who wish to make a contribution in her memory do so to any of the following:

The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration
321 Monastery Lane, Ellwood City PA 16117-6532

The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America
PO Box 309, Grass Lake MI 49240-0309

Holy Resurrection Romanian Orthodox Church
1836 North Road NE, Warren OH 44483

May Psa Hildegard's memory be eternal!

A short biography of Psa Hildegard Grabowski

Hildegard Huber was born on November 19, 1922, in Tecuci, Romania, the third of 4 children, to Franz & Regina Huber.  She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Adolf & Oskar, sister Olga, and her beloved husband of nearly 60 years, Archpriest Richard J Grabowski.

Growing up in Romania, she became a skilled seamstress and cook, and always had an artistic flair - from painting, to drawing, to crafts and her favorite Easter egg decorating.  Fleeing Romania during World War II, she fled first to Poland with her sister where she worked as a telephone operator.  As the war progressed, she eventually found herself reunited with her parents and siblings in a refugee camp in Linz, Austria.  There she met and fell in love with a young former Romanian National Army Lieutenant, Richard J Grabowski.  Almost from the start, her parents forbade her from seeing the young military man, so they continued their courtship “in secret” with the help of her brother and sister-in-law Adolf and Mandita.  They were married in a civil ceremony on September 7, 1947, and a church wedding followed thereafter.

After selling nearly all their worldly possessions in preparation for immigration to Australia, they were denied travel prior to leaving the camp, being deemed “former enemy” and therefore “undesirables.”  They were subsequently granted immigration to the United States and arrived by boat, from Bremen, Germany, in New York harbor on June 26, 1952.  The trip was almost like a honeymoon, as their two young children born in Austria (Michael and George) were quarantined on the ship due to illness, so the young couple’s evenings were free to dine, dance, stroll the deck, etc.

Settling first in Gettysburg, Ohio, they then moved to Minnesota in October of 1952, where there was a large Romanian community.  When her husband decided to honor a battlefield pledge he made to God (to pay Him back for sparing his life) and become a priest, the soon to be Preoteasa Hildegard helped all along.  She watched the children, cooked, cleaned, sent her husband hot meals at one of his three jobs, and, most importantly, kept the children quiet and out of his hair so her husband could accomplish what he did.  She was always by his side, willing to help, and never once (even up to her passing) worrying about herself or her needs.

Although quiet, unassuming, and non-demanding, Preoteasa stood by her husband and was very involved in parish life, making a friend of nearly everyone she met or spoke to during Fr Richard’s tenures in Gary IN, Los Angeles CA, and finally Cleveland OH where she and Father retired from active parish life in 1989.  She was active in the Ladies Auxiliary on both the Parish and National levels even after retirement from parish life.  They bought a house in Warren OH (the first home they owned since the late 1950’s in Minnesota) and began to enjoy retirement.

Whether traveling to California to see her grandchildren or Europe to visit family there, she and Fr Richard were inseparable until his untimely passing in May of 2004.  Up to the end, she busied herself with crafts, making and giving to friends what she made.  She had a special love for the nuns of the Transfiguration Monastery in Ellwood City PA and went their nearly every Sunday with Fr Richard while he served the Monastery for nearly ten years after his retirement.

Preoteasa was the loving, giving mother of seven children - Michael (wife Janet) of Hobart IN; George (wife Anna) of Ten Mile TN; John (wife Eanswythe) of Agoura Hills CA; Richard of Warren OH, who made his home with her; Corina (husband Daniel Phillips) of Medina OH; Paul (wife Laura) of Canyon Country CA; and Stephen of Fairlawn OH who all survive her.  In addition, she is survived by seven grandchildren (6 boys and 1 girl, just like with her children) - Matthew and Brenna Grabowski of Agoura Hills CA; Alexander and Lukas Grabowski of Canyon Country CA; and John, Nicholas and Daniel Phillips of Medina OH.