Josphine Frances Bronski

Josephine Frances (nee Dudziak) Bronski, died peacefully at home in Yardley, Pennsylvania on Sunday, December 1, 2013, with her primary caregiver, Maria Peters, and her daughter, Kate at her side. She lived an outstanding 98 years. Born at home in March 1915 to the late Stanley and Agnes (nee Skrzynecki) Dudziak, Josie was raised in Chicago, Illinois, where she remembered running through wheat fields as a child with her younger sister, Frances. In 1919, a set of twins, Henry and Helen were born into the family. Tragedy struck when Josie caught the measles at school and inadvertently infected the twins. The twins were hospitalized and, within one week, both died of pneumonia at two years of age. Josie mourned the loss of the twins, and her role in their deaths, for the rest of her life. Her father was so devastated by the loss of his only son that he moved the family to a then-rural area of Chicago on Marmora Avenue to start life anew. As a young teenager, Josie earned a job with the Curtiss Candy Company, where she learned to smash Baby Ruth candy into bars, by hand, as the candy was carried on a conveyor belt. She wrapped 150 candy bars for three cents. As a result of that work, Josie never ate another candy bar. She attended Holy Family Academy, and admired the example of one quiet and hard-working teacher, Sister Mary Bernice, so much that she wanted to become a nun herself. When she shared this dream with her father, he vetoed it, implying that Josie deserved a larger life. Josie took violin lessons from a neighbor boy and then from a nun in the Academy. Josie’s favorite teacher, Ms. Tibbet, loved music and taught Josie to read notes. Josie spent countless hours happily singing her way through life, first as a child with her parents and siblings, and then with her husband, Joe, and their children. In the final days of her life, Josie could no longer sing, but merrily nodded her head in time with the music Maria sang to her. Josie completed her two-year program in the Commercial Department of Holy Family Academy on May 31, 1931. Her career in business began as a bookkeeper at Pioneer Brewery, where she worked for a few years before and after her marriage. Josie admired a boy who lived across the alley from her home on Marmora Avenue, and dutifully practiced her typing at the back of her home often so that she could watch him. When she was seventeen, she went on her first date with this boy, Joseph M. Bronski, when they attended the Fourth of July fireworks together at Portage Park. After dating for four years, Joe and Josie were married in June 1936, and celebrated with a party in the basement of Joe’s parents’ home on Mansfield Avenue. Josie cleaned all the chickens and helped make the sausage for the wedding reception. The day after their wedding, they both returned to work. After living in a small bungalow behind her parents’ home on Marmora Avenue for twelve years, Josie and her husband purchased two acres of land in 1950 in Lombard, Illinois, and together built their home themselves, board by board. Josie was the brains behind every aspect of this project, and she worked until each project met her standards of perfection. She taught herself how to mix concrete, tile floors, hang drywall, plaster walls, and install and finish oak flooring. She figured out how to grow a huge garden that included every fruit and vegetable imaginable, and an orchard with many apple, cherry, peach and pear trees. When Josie wanted to blend the best qualities of two different species of apple trees, she taught herself to graft them together. Whenever Joe wanted to add another fruit or vegetable to their garden, Josie figured out how to do it. Josie had within her a determination that was unstoppable. Every summer and fall, Josie and her husband happily shared their bounty by entertaining their extended families, week after week. Josie generously sent additional fruit and vegetables, from her gardens and orchards, home with her guests. Josie was extremely frugal and hard-working, having lived through the Great Depression. She used her bookkeeping skills to manage side businesses that she ran with Joe throughout most of their lives. Together they created and sold wooden toys; they raised and sold vegetables, apples, Christmas trees, rabbits and three types of fishing bait. Josie made clown dolls, stuffed them with ruined nylon hosiery, and sold them. She designed clothes for Barbie dolls, using fabric for dresses and crocheted yarn for jackets and coats. Above all, Josie was happiest when she was in her kitchen, spatula in hand, cooking for a crowd. She could produce phenomenal amounts of wonderful food in seemingly no time. Her canned foods not only were delicious, they never spoiled, and were as beautiful as those in magazines. It seemed as if Josie must have made a million apple turnovers from her apple trees, each one tastier than the last. Her sweet, chunky applesauce was made from the perfect combination of apples from her own grafted trees. Her pickles were so crunchy that they never lasted the recommended three days in brine. The list of desserts she produced regularly would require a paragraph of its own. Josie’s intellect and artistic talent allowed her to master any challenge she imagined. She crafted Christmas ornaments from tin cans, with each one designed differently from the rest. These ornaments still sparkle flawlessly every Christmas on her daughter Kate’s tree. She crocheted ringing bell ornaments, and tinsel made from sardine cans. They remain beautiful to this day. Josie taught herself tatting, crocheting, knitting and embroidery. She could examine any woven article and create an identical version at home; no pattern needed. She sewed complicated aprons from her own designs. She taught herself how to make French pastry on one of the hottest Midwestern summer days of the year, in a kitchen with no air conditioning. When the Rubik’s Cube came onto the market, she stayed awake all night and mastered its secrets by sunrise. Josie and Joe moved to Sandwich, Illinois in 1996, where Josie lived until Joe’s death in September 2007. Ten days after her husband’s death, Josie moved to Yardley, Pennsylvania, to join her daughter Kate’s family. Josephine was a classic example of what is now called The Greatest Generation. Although her life was filled with more than her fair share of tragedies, Josie’s resiliency, positive disposition, and continued fascination with people and the world-at-large allowed her to overcome her deep losses. In her final years in Yardley, Pennsylvania, Josie was known as “Queen Josephine.” She had a regal elegance that inspired devotion from those who cared for her. Josie never complained. She loved all the women who took care of her, and told them she loved them, daily. In particular, she dearly loved her primary caregiver, Maria Peters. Together, they sang, danced and chatted away the final years of Josie’s long life. It is possible that Josie loved no one else in her life as much as she loved Maria, for Maria selflessly and tirelessly provided every possible comfort to Josie in her hours of greatest need. Josie was preceded in death by her cherished husband of 71 years, Joseph M. Bronski; son, Stanley (Karen) of LaValle, Wisconsin; and son, Chester, of Warrenville, Illinois. Josie is survived by her daughter, Frances Rheintgen, of Downers Grove, Illinois. Josie will be sadly missed by her daughter, Kate Bronski Roth, her cherished son-in-law, Stan Roth, namesake grandsons, Joseph M. and Franklin J. Roth, and devoted dog, C.J, all of Yardley. She was preceded in death by her adoring younger sister, Frances Kobyleski, who doted on Josie her entire life. She is survived by her youngest sister, Alice Labuda (Wally). She was preceded in death by her brother-in-law, John (Wanda), her sisters-in-law, Sophie Urbanski (the late Edward), Cecilia, Adeline Wise (the late Merrill), and Bernadine Dziem (the late Witol). Josie is survived by a special nephew, Bob Labuda (Carmelita), of Millbrae, California, who always remembered her with a phone call or a card on every single special occasion. When Bob spoke with her just days before her passing, Josie could hardly hear anymore; but when she understood that it was Bob on the line, her face broke into a radiant smile. Josie is also survived by many friends and relatives around the country. A Funeral Mass will be held at 10 am on Saturday, December 7, 2013, at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, 9172 New Falls Road, Fallsington, Pennsylvania, 19054, where family and friends will be received from 9 am until the time of the service. A luncheon reception will follow. Interment will be held privately at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Josie’s memory to The Salvation Army, 215 Appletree Drive, Levittown, Pennsylvania