Teofila Bibik

Teofila was born on June 8, 1916, in Slawniow, Poland. During the Second World War, she was a member of the Polish Home Army (AK). She wanted to serve as a nurse but felt faint at the sight of blood, so she became an underground courier instead.

In 1953 her husband Konstanty, who also was a member of the Polish Home Army (AK), had to flee Poland, and left her on her own to care for their three children.

She was always fiercely independent and from the earliest times she showed entrepreneurial skills. On immigrating to Canada, in 1957, she opened a grocery store and a lunch bar in Sudbury, Ontario. She later moved to Winnipeg, where she also owned a grocery store/lunch bar. Later still she was the owner, manager and superintendent of an apartment block in Winnipeg. She did most of her own repairs and laughed that instead of money and children’s pictures in her purse, she carried "screwdrivers and a monkey wrench."

She was a member of the Polish Combatants’ Association Branch No. 13, and the Polish Women’s Federation Branch No. 7. During the War Measures Act in Poland, she organized a committee that sent medical and surgical supplies to Poland and helped new immigrants with acclimatization to life in Canada.

For her community work she received Bronze, Silver and Gold Crosses from the Polish Combatants’ Association, as well as a Commemorative Medal from The Canadian Polish Congress.

Teofila passed away in Winnipeg on 31 October 2000, at the age of 84 years.