Eugenia Maria Wojtyla

Eugenia Maria Wojtyla (née Gralinski), known to all simply as Gene, was born on July 19, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Polish immigrants who taught her, from the cradle, what it meant to hold onto a culture with pride and joy. Polish was her first language, and she spoke it fluently her entire life, as a living thread that tied her to a heritage she was determined to preserve.

From childhood, Gene made lifelong friends with whom she was still in contact until her death. She graduated from high school at an early age and was admitted to the University of Chicago as an undergraduate starting as a sophomore. She completed her degree there and later took her master’s degree in education at Columbia University, while teaching and raising her family.

Gene met her husband of 71 years, Henry Wojtyla, as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. Their partnership was so complete that even after Henry's passing earlier this year, it is impossible to write of one without the other. They married on March 19, 1955, and built a life devoted to their work, family, travel, literature and the arts, and to each other.

Gene gave her working life to the written word and to the students lucky enough to sit in her classroom. For many years she taught English at the Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, New Jersey, before she took on administrative duties as well. She was the Head of the English Department, and then the Principal of the Upper School, In both her work as an administrator and as a teacher, she left a lasting imprint. Her course on William Faulkner was legendary among students, the kind of class people still talked about decades later. As a teacher, she didn't just teach literature; she handed students a way of seeing the world more deeply. As Principal, she was famously tough but fair—a woman who held everyone, students and faculty alike, to high standards, because she cared, fiercely, for their success.

In retirement, her calling never left her: she spent years tutoring students privately, and volunteering as a tutor for non-English-speaking immigrants at the Englewood Public Library, quietly giving to newcomers the same gifts of language and confidence she had been granted. She and Henry travelled widely, always learning as they adventured, and she participated in a number of book clubs, and a book and movie club, which she loved. She was an active tennis player until her late 70s, and always enjoyed her garden, her walks, and feeding the many happy birds (and some very fat squirrels) who came to her home in Englewood.

For her family, she nurtured every branch of it, including those still rooted in Poland, and she and Henry made sure the ties never frayed with distance. Young Polish cousins were welcomed into their home for summers of discovery, immersed in American life and culture. She and Henry shared their loves – travel, literature, the arts -- generously, opening the world to their children, grandchildren, and the wider family circle. And each December, she recreated the traditional Polish Wigilia in her home, a ceremony engraved in the hearts of her family.

Gene was predeceased by her beloved husband, Henry, who passed away on the 24th of April this year. She is survived by her daughter Karen Wojtyla and son-in-law Jay Ackroyd, her daughter Lauren Wojtyla and son-in-law Samuel Levy, her grandchildren Moriel Levy (Jonathan Jove) and Ezra Levy (Judy Kim), her step-grandson Max Keenoy (Alexis Keenoy), her step-great-granddaughters Zoe and Ada Keenoy, and her great-grandson Ethan Jove.

Details for a celebration of her life, to be held near her former home in Englewood, New Jersey, will be announced separately.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Dwight-Englewood School: https://www.d-e.org/giving/give-online