Winifred Florence Kiewra

Winifred Florence Kiewra, born September 25, 1924, passed away at age 98 on February 3, 2023 in Manassas, Virginia. Winnie led a full and loving life. Winnie hailed from Long Island, New York and lived there until 2012, when she and husband Frank Kiewra moved to Tamarac, Florida. Frank passed away in 2019 at age 91. They were married 68 years. Winnie then moved to Dumfries, Virginia where she lived and was cared for by daughter Diane Bardenhagen and her husband Tom Bardenhagen until her death. Winnie was the daughter of Herman Bleich, who immigrated from Baden Baden, Germany, and Frances Newman, though she was raised primarily by her maternal grandfather who was a loving and generous caregiver throughout her youth and the Great Depression. Winnie and Frank were married in 1951 and raised three children: Dard, Diane, and Kenneth. Child rearing was Winnie’s full-time passion and commitment until all her children were in school. Then, she held a series of part-time positions as an elementary school cook, an office manager at a college food service, and a personal bookkeeper. Winnie did these jobs with panache. As a school cook, for example, she gave the children cooking lessons and added her favorite recipes to the lunch menu. Home-bagged lunches were out; cafeteria food was in. Speaking of cooking, Winnie was an amazing cook, preparing scrumptious dishes reflective of the family’s Polish and German heritages. There was homemade kielbasa, stuffed cabbage golumpkis, sauerbraten, potato pancakes, and pork knuckle to name a few cultural favorites. And her London Broil, vegetable soup, shrimp scampi, and chocolate cake with fluffy vanilla icing were legendary. Winnie and Frank lived in a modest home in East Northport but that home was the undisputed family gathering place for day-into-night summer barbeques and house-brimming dinners for generations of family and friends. Winnie and Frank were road warriors. Post early retirement, they made several weekslong trips each year to Nebraska to be with Kenneth, wife Christine, and their three children. They also journeyed to Florida for several weeks each winter, and took road trips west to mountain landscapes and Pacific waters. They were bigtime cruisers, sailing almost yearly with friends to alluring destinations like Spain, Portugal, Mexico, and Alaska. Winnie stayed active in her final years, even with failing eyes, ears, and lungs. She loved walking around the block, knitting clothes and animals for great grandchildren, playing solitaire on her tablet, playing board games with family, and listening to a new novel most every week. Her favorite author was Lisa Scottoline. She was certainly not one to be slowed down. She flew round trip from Virginia to Nebraska in 2022 on her own, enjoying her Nebraska family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although her physical heath was tenuous, her mental acuity was as sharp as a knitting needle. She recalled past and present events with ease and carried on long conversations unfailingly. Her most special gift came in those conversations and interactions with loved ones. She cared deeply about people and shifted conversations in their direction. She knew their triumphs, tribulations, and intentions. Her inner child flowed as she played tirelessly with family children right up to her dying days. When with her, you were the center of attention, the center of the universe. Winnie cherished her seven grandchildren: Melissa (Ryan) and Scott (Tiffany) Masino; Allison (Martin) and Christopher (Miriam) Stagg; and Keaton, Anna, and Samuel Kiewra along with her 10 precious great grandchildren (Andrew, Kaleigh, Michael, Madelyn, Harleigh, Stanley, Griffin, Hadley, Hannah, and Millicent). Preceding Winnie in death was husband Frank, son Dard Stagg, and his wife Denise, along with many other family and friends. Now she leaves the watery shores of Long Island, Florida, and Virginia and follows loved ones and her Lord Jesus to heaven as her resting song sounds: Lord, you have come to the seashore, neither searching for the rich nor the wise, desiring only that I should follow. O, Lord, with your eyes set upon me, gently smiling, you have spoken my name; all I longed for I have found by the water, at your side, I will seek other shores. We love and miss you Winnie, Mom, Grandma, Nonnon and will meet you again on that beautiful shore.