Zofia Paszek

Zofia Paszek (née Michno) was born on May 27th, 1932 in the peaceful village of Jankowicze in southern Poland.

By the age of seven, WW2 had broken out and Zofia's bucolic country life ended. The Germans invaded Poland from the west on 1 September 1939, and the Russians invaded from the east on 17 September 1939. They divided Poland between them.

It was during the Russian invasion that schooling in Polish ended and she was forced to adopt the Russian language. With the arrival of German troops in 1941, she and her family were deported to a labour camp in Germany. Thus began her strong work ethic and her ability to adapt from a very young age.

At the end of the war, at the tender age of 16 and being the oldest child in the family, she journeyed to Canada. She was given the responsibility to prepare the way for the eventual arrival of the rest of her family. During this time, Zofia worked on a Mennonite farm to pay off her passage, after which she saved for the arrival of her loved ones.

Zofia's achieved her goal of reuniting her family, at which point she was able to focus on her personal happiness. This occurred when she met Edward, the love of her life, with whom she had three children - Lenata, Roland, and Renata.

Zofia died in Kitchener, Ontario on February 17th, 2023.