It is with great sadness that the family of STEFANIA LISOWICZ, announces her passing on Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at St. Michael’s Palliative Care Centre at the age of 87. Stefania is survived by her son Hans (Lynda) Lisowicz, her grandson Jason (Deniece) Lisowicz and a great grandson Tiberius, all of Lethbridge. She also leaves behind numerous relatives in the Ohladiv-Lvov area of Poland (now Ukraine). She was predeceased by her husband Stan in 1986, both of her parents and all of her siblings; Nastasia, Joseph, Tekla, Parania, Anna, Michalina and Wasyl. Stefania was born in Ohaldiv, Poland on September 17, 1923 to Ted and Eva (Dmytruk) Holowaty. Steffie was the second youngest of 8 children. Steffie started the adventure of her life at 16 years of age by volunteering to take a sisters place in a forced labour position in Germany during World War II. While working in Germany she met Stan who was a prisoner of war and also a labourer in Germany. Both of them escaped the Russian advance into Germany and ended up in the American controlled sector of Germany. They married in 1945 and in 1946 they had a son Hans born in Mannheim. They then awaited an opportunity to immigrate to North America. Stan was the first to leave and settled in southern Alberta and within a year, Steffie and Hans joined him in Stirling where Stan obtained work as a labourer on a farm. The family remained in the Stirling area where Stan worked on farms and Steffie took on the hard labour of thinning sugar beets. Stan assisted her around his farm chores but Steffie took on the brunt of the labour working long, hard hours and many days. The family moved to Lethbridge in 1960 when Stan’s English improved to the point that he could take work in his trained profession as a watchmaker and Steffie assisted by cleaning homes in the city.
Stefania was a loving and dedicated daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. When she was finally able to make contact with her family after some forty years, she began assisting all of them with continual packages and other items. She did return home for a visit in 1990 and was at least able to meet her brother once again and also many of her extended family. Mother also showered her family here with everything she had, whether it was money or it was cooked, canned or pickled. She had a green thumb and could get the most of each plant in her garden. As her health declined she was forced to cut down on the size of her garden but nurtured what she had until she was hospitalized in Calgary. Steffie loved people irrespective of their race or ethnic background and religion did not interfere with her determination to treat all people fairly and with dignity. She was devoutly religious and was a member of St. Patrick’s Church for many years and later St. Basil’s. When her health limited her church attendance, she watched Mass in her home on the CBC French channel. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at ST. BASIL’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, 604 - 13th Street North, Lethbridge, AB., on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. with Reverend Dariusz Zarebsk S.D.S., Celebrant. Interment will follow at Mountain View Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Steffie to the Canadian Cancer Society, 317-10th Street South, Lethbridge, AB, T1J 2M7.