Wanda Dzienkowski was born on February 14, 1922, in Krakow, Poland. Her father, Wilhelm Sliwinski, was an engineer who designed many prominent train stations in Poland and her mother, Jadwiga, was a classical concert pianist. Her father died from enemy fire while at a Polish border and her mother enrolled in a doctoral program in Greek mythology at Jagiellonian University, where she met her second husband, Jan Opalinski, a doctoral student in electrical engineering. Jadwiga and Jan raised Wanda and her older brother Stanislaw in Warsaw.
Wanda and her family lived in Warsaw when the Nazi Army invaded Poland. Wanda’s parents who were in the Polish underground resistance movement sent 17-year-old Wanda to live with a German family so she could avoid the risks of war. During this time, Wanda learned to speak German and went to German school. Wanda came back to Poland several years later to help support the work of the Polish resistance to disrupt German operations and send intelligence to Allied Forces. Near the end of World War II, she was captured with other underground members and taken to Germany. Fortunately, soon thereafter, Germany surrendered, and American forces freed all war prisoners. In an American military encampment of Polish citizens in Germany, Wanda met Stefan Dzienkowski, who was a polish officer captured by the German Army in the 1939 invasion of Warsaw. Stefan had spent the entirety of the war in Cassel, Germany as a prisoner of war. When the prison camps were liberated, the American forces deputized Stefan as a commander of the Polish camp to process Polish citizens to go back to Poland or on to other countries. Stefan and Wanda married during the time they worked in this camp, and they eventually decided to immigrate to Canada, a country that paid for the ocean passage if the immigrant agreed to work on a farm for six months. At that time, the United States required $500 for the passage, and they did not have the resources for this option.
Stefan agreed to work one year in Quebec on a farm and Wanda worked in a doctor’s office and as a child caregiver for the physician. After this first year, they invested their savings from Wanda’s work to purchase a gas station and diner in Brampton, Ontario, called the White Motor Grill. After a few years, they sold the business and built a motel in Peterborough, Ontario, called the Golden Nugget. From 1958 to 1971, Stefan and Wanda operated the motel and welcomed two children, John and Christine into their lives. In 1958, Wanda sponsored her parents, Jan and Jadwiga Opalinski, to immigrate to Canada and they settled in Toronto. Jan was fortunate to get a job at the University of Toronto as an engineer who made medical instruments for research scientists. In 1971, Wanda and Stefan immigrated to the United States because of the harsh winters in Northern Ontario.
The Dzienkowski family moved to Florida and over the years operated several real estate businesses, from rental apartments to a Mobile Home Country Club to the Sunrise Point Village condominiums. In 2000, Stefan died at the age of 92, and Wanda continued to operate the family businesses. Wanda was active and driving well into her ninth decade of life. She managed to travel the world with her family and friends. Wanda was a supporter of Polish culture and education in the United States. She exhibited her fierce independence and intellect until the very end of her life.
Wanda took great pride in the raising of her children, Christine and John, and welcomed their spouses, Eddie Grenet and Karla Crnkovich to the family. Wanda was a loving and caring mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Her love of family led her to support every interest and cause of her children and grandchildren. Wanda loved to preside over family events, travel with her family, and teach important family traditions. She pushed her children and grandchildren to find a passion in life and to excel in our professions.
Wanda Dzienkowski passed away on June 15, 2021, at the age of 99-years old. Wanda is survived by her daughter Christine Grenet and her husband Eddie and their children Casey Slattery, Justin Grenet, Christian Grenet, and Stephen Grenet and her great-grandchildren, Jameson and Scarlett Slattery and by her son, John Dzienkowski and his wife Karla, and their children Alexandra Dzienkowski and Katherine Dzienkowski. We will miss her loving support, spirit, and independence.
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