Julia Teschler

Julia Teschler was born In Winnipeg Canada October 21, 1918 2nd daughter of Peter and Pauline Hrynowski. The family moved to Chicago when Julia was about 8years old. Here she grew up with her sisters Stella and Mary. They were part of the Ukrainian catholic community where mom learned and practiced the language and culture. She grew up and went to Lucy Flower, a 2 yr trade school to learn millenary skills. There were many friends and family here in Chicago.

While in high school, a friend of mom’s arranged a blind date. The story goes that when she arrived waiting was John Teschler. This was no first meeting as they both said “oh no not you” but the romance began and they were married June 5th 1939. When the war broke out John enlisted in the service and was stationed in southern California. Mom followed and her sister Mary came with to keep her company in Highland Park. Here the family began to grow with their first child Ron. New lifelong friends were made that became a base for moving here permanently.

After the war, they went back to Chicago for a short while but it was not for them. John’s family had moved to Monterey Park and so they soon followed. They bought the house on Park ave and stayed there for more than 30yrs. Mom’s family soon followed and so the family grew as Sharon and Dennis came along. On Park ave mom was at home. She honed her skills as a cook and took her job of housewife very seriously. There was a story I was told that dad had to paint the inside of the house almost yearly because mom was known to wash the walls so frequently she wash the paint off. Everything in the home and the yard was special and chosen carefully. On Park ave they made many new friends and neighbors who shared their family events. As the kids grew, mom searched out new things to try. Park ave had many wonderful memories for mom. She went back to school and was very proud to have gotten her GED. She once had a decorator come to redo the front room…never again. Mom and dad had several trips that mom really enjoyed and remembered fondly to Canada and Mexico. There was the cat “Mrs. Cat” and her dog Lucky to take care of.

Holidays were always special for mom. Each holiday had its own special gathering and celebration with family and friends Special foods for each holiday…pirogues and cookies for Xmas, homemade sausage for Easter, and homemade cakes for birthdays. Being a devout Catholic, mom’s favorite holiday was Easter. Easter meant the lamb cake. The lamb cake evolved over the years but mom was still making it until last year.

When mom and dad retired they moved to their brand new dream home in Carlsbad California. Again the building of a very special place began. She lovingly bought, planted or had dad build everything in it. Being so far away, mom had to learn to drive the freeways. She became an expert. She once said that she really denied her younger self the ability to travel because she was afraid. Now that she was older she was traveling farther and more frequently. Mom became very involved with the new parish being built nearby, St. Elizabeth Seton and was very active there up until last year.

The family grew with time bringing daughter-in-laws, a son-in-law, grand children Ron, Elizabeth, Micheal and Maggie and later yet, grand daughter-in-law Cori and then the great grandchildren Nicholas and Lauren. She loved and spent as much time with each and every one of them as much she could. Holidays, birthdays, personal achievements, only with grand ma vacations, babysitting weekends and trips to Disneyland fill all their memories. She once told me that she probably wouldn’t be here to see Liz graduate from High school. She did better than that and saw all of them graduate from high school and 3 of them graduate from college. She loved them and they her very much.

We will always remember mom’s violet blue eyes, selective hearing, with hearing aids on or off, tailored look, and cashmere sweaters, her love of gardening and a lunch out with a friend. Mom was always fussy about her hair; she preferred lemon pie but loved chocolates and Irish Cream as an evening drink and her home even to the last day was in perfect condition. She loved the benefit of her Disney silver pass and taking family and friends there. She loved to shop and find a bargain and was proud of learning Spanish by watching novellas. She lived independently making her own choices. A life well and long lived. Rest in Peace mom, you are now with those that have gone before.