Gertrude Ann Gorecki

Gertrude Ann Gorecki was born on April 19, 1949 in New York City, New York. Daughter to Henrietta and Joseph Majerak, Gertie , as she was known by most, grew up in Massapequa on Long Island. In 1977, she married Michael J. Gorecki. That same year they embarked on a journey across the U.S. as they moved to Oregon. Three years later, they moved again to Missouri, settling in Macks Creek. In 1982, their daughter Rosalie was born.

The thing most people in Missouri asked Gertie the first time they met her was “Where are you from?” Even years after leaving, her New York accent was still prominent. To call her personable does not begin to describe Gertie. She was kind, generous, and sincere. Gertie made friends with ease, from her longtime friends in New York, Oregon, and Missouri, all the way to the UPS driver that regularly delivered her packages when she eventually moved to Alabama.

Her daughter Rosalie was a huge part of her life. Not only was Gertie a stay at home mom, but she also homeschooled Rosalie throughout most of her elementary and high school years. Pool parties and slumber parties were a regular event at the Gorecki household. To those who grew up with her daughter, Gertie was funny, fun loving, and just as much of a friend as Rosalie.

In the early 2000s Gertie and Mike divorced. She continued to live in Macks Creek and began working at Bates Grocery in 2001. After Bates she worked briefly at First National Bank in Camdenton before finally starting as a bank teller at Bank of Macks Creek (BMC) in 2004. Her favorite part of working at both Bates and BMC was getting to know and visit with the entire town of Macks Creek. Her kindness and easy going personality made her a well known figure among pretty much everyone in town.

Aside from work, Gertie had a number of hobbies and passions. In her early years she worked with ceramics and painted landscapes. She loved the ocean, Jones Beach on Long Island, and lighthouses. She loved to sew and was a masterful seamstress and quilt maker. She loved Oldies and Celtic music. She watched the movie Harold and Maude every Thanksgiving. She was interested in astronomy. She loved her pets which over the years included cockatiels, parrots, Saint Bernards, a whole host of dogs, and two cats. She also loved nature. In both Missouri and Alabama she would often go out on cool nights and sit under the stars listening to the cicadas, tree frogs, and the occasional owl.

In 2014, shortly before her planned retirement from BMC, she was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma cancer. There are different variations of this blood cancer, and she had the unfortunate luck of having a fairly aggressive type. But those who knew Gertie knew she was a tenacious woman. If she didn’t know something, she learned it. If you told her no it can’t be done, she saw that as a personal challenge to find a way. And that is how she approached her cancer.

She began her treatments in Missouri at the Bolivar Cancer Center. After pushing back the disease, she underwent her first stem cell transplant in 2015 at the University of Kansas in Kansas City. The transplant was a success and she went into remission.

The next year, Gertie made one final move to Thorsby, Alabama. Her daughter, having married the year prior, lived in Montgomery and Gertie wanted to be closer to her. In early 2017, Rosalie became pregnant with a son that would become Gertie’s one and only grandchild. Evan was the light of Gertie’s life. She witnessed his birth in January of 2018, and visited him at least once a week from there on out. In her words he was “Grandma’s boy.”

Sadly, her cancer had returned near the end of 2017. She began treatment at the Kirklin Clinic at UAB medicine in Birmingham, Alabama. Her cancer was once again pushed into remission and she underwent a second stem cell transplant in October of 2018. The success of the transplant was short-lived. She had continual health problems through the first half of 2019, including a bout of C-diff in April where she very nearly died. She fought through one final time, never quite returning to her state of health prior to April.

On July 10th, 2019 Gertie received the news that she only had days to a couple weeks left. As her doctor put it, her cancer was so absurdly aggressive that even he was surprised by the speed with which it had progressed. Gertie lost her battle with cancer one week later on July 17, 2019.

Gertie Gorecki touched the lives of nearly everyone she met. She was a strong, independent, and incredibly smart woman.

Since her passing her family has received numerous messages of condolences and testimonies of how important Gertie was to them, and how she impacted their life. The world lost a beautiful and unique soul and she will be dearly missed by all her had the pleasure to know her.

Preceded in death by her parents Henrietta and Joseph Majerak. Survived by her daughter Rosalie Pearson, son-in-law Joe Pearson, former-husband Michael J. Gorecki and Grandson Evan Pearson all of Montgomery, Alabama, brother Joey Majerak, sister-in-law Terry Majerak, niece Julie Yearous and husband Nick of Lebanon, Missouri, as well as many cousins.

A visitation for Gertrude will be held Wednesday, July 24, 2019 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM at White Chapel-Greenwood Funeral Home, 909 Lincoln Road, Montgomery, AL 36109, followed by a Celebration of Life at 1:30 PM. Immediately after the Celebration of Life, there will be a committal in Greenwood Cemetery.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.WhiteChapel-GreenwoodFH.com for the Gorecki family.

In lieu of flowers please share gifts with: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (https://www.lls.org/), or Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (https://themmrf.org/)