Jozefa Bielski

Dearly loved mother of Tadeusz Bielski and his wife, Milaidy, and Helen Mooney and her husband, Paul. Dear grandmother of Robbie, Sean Tomasz and Dariusz. Dear great grandmother of Riley, Chloe, Ashley, Nathan and daughter and son of Dariusz. Also, grandmother of Leyanis (Milaidy’s daughter) and great grandmother of Camila Teda, both of Cuba.

Also surviving in Poland are two sisters, Mirta and Jaska, and their children and grandchildren. Her brother (Kasik) and other sisters (Adela & Marysia) passed away many years ago. Jozefa is also survived by many dear cousins in the USA, particularly by the Czarnockis, Siedinskis, Chmielarskis, Salveminis and in England, Szlachtas (Beata and Yasmina).

Jozefa was born in Ryglice, Poland, east of Cracow in 1929. When she was 14 years old she was abducted off the street by the Germans and shipped by train in a cattle wagon to Germany to work on a farm. After the war she spent almost 4 years in various refugee camps in Germany (near Hanover) where she married Wincenty and gave birth to Tadeusz. She arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia with Tadeusz in March 1948 and took the train to Noranda, Quebec to meet her husband, Wincenty, who had arrived there the previous year. After World War Two, many Polish refugees arrived in Noranda to work in the mine. In the early 1950s there was a large Polish community of 500 Polish families in Noranda. Jozefa gave birth to her daughter, Helen, in 1952 in Rouyn-Noranda. In 1955 Wincenty & Jozefa bought a farm (no running water, no sewer, no central heating, no toilet, just a freezing outhouse in winter, no gas service, etc.) in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The farm was sold in January 1965 and they bought a house in Niagara Falls. Wincenty worked for GM in Buffalo and Jozefa worked for the Niagara Falls School Board until she retired in 1993.

Jozefa Bielski has always celebrated two birthdays per year since coming to Canada … March 1, 1929 and August 3, 1928. To make her of “legal age” to work on the farm in Germany the Germans gave her a new ID with a birth date of August 3, 1928 which became her new legal birthday. So, Jozefa celebrated her birthdays on March 1st and August 3rd. On March 1st she celebrated her 97th birthday and would have celebrated her 98th birthday on August 3rd.

Jozefa has the honour of being related to Blessed Father Jerzy Popieluszko, the Polish priest who was associated with the opposition Solidarity trade union in communist Poland. He was murdered by the Polish secret police on October 19, 1984. His monthly Sermons for the Fatherland in the early 1980s provoked the communist government to take action against him. In August 1976 Father Jerzy visited the Bielski family in Niagara Falls for 10 days. He conducted morning masses during his stay in Niagara Falls at Our Lady of the Scapular Church and conducted mass one Sunday at the Polish church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, in Saint Catherine’s. Jozefa adored him.

Jozefa was a member of the Polish National Union of Canada in the Niagara region for 70 years. She attended the meetings regularly. For her volunteer work for the Polish National Union of Canada, she received the highest order, Diamond Cross of Merit. At the Polish Hall on Thorold Stone Road, she and her husband, Wincenty, would volunteer to work during the Polka dance parties on Saturday nights and other activities on Sundays.

She loved to go to the casino, particularly the new Fallsview Casino, where she played the penny slots, getting excited when winning 1000 points (1000 pennies, 10 dollars). Once or twice a week she would walk to Stamford Centre to catch a bus to the casino. Whenever Milaidy and Tadeusz came to visit her (at least once or twice per month or even more ) they would take her to the casino every night of their stay. Jozefa was very happy there. She knew every penny slot machine.

On October 9, 2025 Jozefa ended up in the hospital in Niagara Falls where she stayed until she was moved to Dearness Home in London in mid-December 2025. Two days prior to her emergency visit to the hospital in Niagara Falls, her friend Anna, took her to the Fallsview Casino. That was her last visit to a casino. Now she will visit the Big Casino in Heaven.

Jozefa wants to give special thanks to her grandson Robbie, who visited her frequently and helped her as required in the past 30 years. She also wants to thank her daughter-in-law Milaidy for her kindness and friendship and who always called her “Mama” since her arrival from Cuba in March 2014. And very special thanks to Kasia and Janine, both of whom used to take long bus tours with Jozefa around Canada and the USA in the old days. Both friends passed away years ago. Thanks to Lucy, her Polish friend, who used to take Jozefa for grocery shopping and to church every Sunday. And thanks to Marysia and Wanda with whom Jozefa would spend hours talking on the phone. And many more thanks to Anna who helped Jozefa for the past two or three years with her shopping, trips to the casino, taking care of the house and yard. Jozefa also wants to thank her two good neighbors, Ron and Franca (friends) and Melanie and Jimmy.

In the winter time in the days when Jozefa lived on the farm in Niagara on-the-Lake she and her Polish friends would gather in her kitchen crocheting in the evening two or three times per week. She loved to crochet. Her house was filled with crochetwork. She crocheted a bedspread which took her over a year. That bedspread will certainly be claimed soon. But her crocheting days passed many years ago when she started to suffer from arthritis. The arthritis became very severe and painful in the last ten years. But even with her severe arthritis in her feet, she managed to walk one kilometre to the bus stop to get to the casino. That was passion!

When her son, Tadeusz, was in the hospital in Saint Catherine’s for three months in 1960 she would visit him almost every day. To catch the bus to Saint Catherine’s she had to catch it in Saint David’s. She would walk or hitchhike almost 6 kilometres from the farm to the bus stop. No child could expect more from a mother.

Jozefa was a religious person and attended Catholic mass very Sunday. She had a strong faith in the Roman Catholic Church. She always forced her son and daughter-in-law to go to church whenever they were in Niagara Falls. Hallelujah!

Jozefa was a generous person. She helped her family in Poland and her husband’s family with big bi-yearly packages. She wrote letters to her family frequently and helped them financially. Her family was important to her and she was as generous as she could be in her low-income days in the 50s, 60s & 70s. Her generosity increased in the following years.

Jozefa arrived in Canada as a penniless refugee in 1949. Jozefa was a good immigrant and embraced the culture of Canada. She mixed her Polish culture with her new Canadian culture. She loved her new country and has never regretted her arrival here. She became a Canadian citizen in 1964. She has been a model citizen and worked hard every day of her life in Canada. Canada has been good to her. She never had any formal English-learning classes like ESL that are given to newly-arrived immigrants and refugees but she learned to speak and read English. Yes, a very good immigrant and Canadian citizen! Everyone was proud of her.

When she was shipped in a cattle car to Germany in 1943 she never saw Poland nor her family in Poland until her first trip in the late 1960s. Twenty-five years without seeing her parents and siblings! She then visited her family in Poland six or seven times until the early 2000s. Several times she invited her brother and sisters for a visit to Niagara Falls. Likewise, her cousin, Father Jerzy Popieluszko, and his cousin and benefactor, Mary Kalinoski, in 1976.

Friends and family are invited to visit the PATTERSON FUNERAL HOME, 6062 Main Street, Niagara Falls. Visitation times are Friday, May 22nd between 2 - 4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. and on Saturday, May 23rd between 11 a.m. and 12 noon. The Funeral Mass will commence at 12 noon, Saturday, May 23rd followed by the funeral procession to the Fairview Cemetery (corner of Stanley and Morrison) where Jozefa will be buried alongside her husband, Wincenty. The details of the reception will be announced at the mass.

In memory of Jozefa Bielski please be generous to a stranger. Surprise a stranger with your generosity. If you wish you can donate to a charity of your choice.