Ludmilla Cizewski

Ludmilla Cizewski passed away on September 18, 2014 following a long illness. She was 88 years old. Ludmilla was born in Brno in the current Czech Republic, the only child of Antonia Schneider and Stefan Kotaczka. As a girl she took ballet lessons and developed a life long interest for classical music enjoying organ recitals. She was assessed at a young age to have an aptitude for mathematics and engineering and was tracked for university education. But the German schools in which she was educated were closed by the Nazis 3 months before her graduation, leaving her with no earned high school degree but with a knowledge of the English language. In 1945 she walked out of the then Czechoslovakia ahead of the Russians, losing track of her mother for years, wandering as a displaced person until she reached Frankfurt, Germany where she was employed by the post-war German government. Once she learned her mother had survived the Russian invasion, she set out to find her and they finally reunited on Christmas Eve 1948. In May of 1948 while waiting for a trolley car to take her to the Frankfurt zoo on her day off, a handsome American soldier kept circling the block in a taxi and asked her to join him and take her to the zoo. While skeptical, she realized the taxi driver could be a chaperone and she insisted that she pay for the trolley fare. Ludmilla (known to all as Millie) and Stanley Cizewski were married on September 2, 1950 and enjoyed over 61 years of a wonderful marriage. In 1951 Stanley brought his bride and their new baby girl, Jolie, to the United States. Shortly after her arrival in the U.S., Millie lived in Aberdeen Maryland where her son, Clem, was born, before Stanley was transferred back to Germany. While in Germany, she connected with the local community and her daughter Val was born. In 1958 Millie and Stanley settled permanently in Havre de Grace, Maryland. She became a US citizen and for many years worked for the U.S. Army and Navy, first doing clerical and secretarial work, then accounting where of course she excelled based on her natural aptitude for mathematics. During this time, her mother Antonia (known to her family as Omi) lived with the family until her passing in 1974. Millie retired from the civil service in 1987. She continued to volunteer for the Red Cross for many years in the pharmacy of Kirk Army Hospital at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, where she was recognized as a dedicated volunteer. In June 2010 Millie and Stanley moved to Annapolis, Maryland to be near their daughter Val. Throughout her life Millie was an inspiration to her children, a model of how determination and a strong educational background can dramatically change their lives. She was also a deeply caring mother to whom who children came first and with a passionate love for her husband. Ludmilla Cizewski is survived by her three children Jolie Cizewski (Martinsville, NJ), Clement Cizewski (King of Prussia, PA), Valeria Culotta (Arnold, MD); grand-daughters, Kathryn Cizewski, Amanda Kiley, Melanie Culotta, and Lily Cizewski; and great-grandson John Stanley Kiley. Her husband pre-deceased her in 2011. The visitation will take place from 9:00-10:00 am on Tuesday, September 23 at the Taylor Funeral Home, 147 Duke of Gloucester Street, Annapolis, MD 21401-2504. The funeral service will be at 11:00 am on Tuesday, September 23 at St. Andrew by the Bay Catholic Church, 701 College Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21409-5231. Internment will be at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery, where her husband Stanley is buried. In lieu of flowers, a donation in memory of Ludmilla Cizewski can be made to Riva Terrace 5 Assisted Living, 1232 Ritchie Highway, Arnold MD 21012 or to a special fund for Parkinson’s disease research in honor of Ludmilla Cizewski at Johns Hopkins University. Donations should be made directly to Dr. Zoltan Mari, Director, Parkinson’s & Movement Disorder Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 600 N. Wolfe Street, Meyer 6-181B, Baltimore, MD 21287 with the notation Dr. Zoltan Mari’s Gift Account/In Memoriam Ludmilla Cizewski.