Alicia Teresa Warcholski

On June 23, 2024, long-time Corte Madera resident Alicia Warcholski passed away peacefully at the age of ninety-three surrounded by her family. Alicia was born in Oakland, California, the only child of Polish immigrants Eugenia and Stanislaw Krycki. Alicia’s first language was Polish. She learned English when she started elementary school, a fact that made her feel like an outsider even though she was American-born. She was a shy but intensely curious child known to put relatives and family friends on the spot by asking embarrassingly probing questions and wanting to know “why?”

Alicia met her husband, Jerzy Warcholski, in 1950 at a dinner dance at the Polish Club in San Francisco. Like her parents, Jerzy was a native of Poland. Alicia and Jerzy married in 1951, and went on to have three children, Michael, Kristina, and Mark. Alicia’s Polish heritage was always important to her. Over the years she maintained her Polish language fluency, stayed in touch with many of her Polish relatives and visited Poland multiple times. Her home was filled with special mementos from those trips.

Exhibiting a strong artistic bent from a young age, Alicia loved to draw, paint, craft, cook, and sew. She spent many years studying piano, achieving great proficiency. As a teenager, Alicia expanded her cultural horizons by embracing all things Latin. After becoming fluent in Spanish, she melded her piano skills with her love of Latin music. Anyone coming to her Corte Madera home could frequently hear the sounds of Mexican bolero, rumba, and tango music. Alicia was quick to start conversations in Spanish when she discovered she was conversing with a Spanish speaker.

Unlike many women of her generation, Alicia entered the work force as a young woman and continued to work throughout her entire adult life. She started her work career in San Francisco as the Spanish language translations secretary for the Bank of America’s South American banking division. She eventually settled in the insurance brokerage business, working for several brokerages until her retirement in 1993.

Once retired, Alicia’s lifelong intellectual curiosity kicked into high gear with the internet’s advent. If there was research or investigation needing to be done, Alicia worked diligently searching for an answer online. Considered the family’s chief medical diagnostician, she frequently provided insights for family members not sure of what ailed them. During the eight shared years of their retirement, Alicia’s husband, Jerzy, and she took trips to a number of different countries. They enjoyed their lovely home and garden together, frequently taking local trips to find just the right oyster or some necessary elusive meal ingredient at a specialty market. Their joint retirement was unfortunately cut short when Jerzy died in 2000.

Alicia started a new phase of her life as a widow. Participating in family activities, she enjoyed being a grandmother to her two granddaughters, Alina and Mariana. There were many intellectually stimulating years taking part in the Emeritus Students College of Marin program. Alicia took frequent classes in the arts and humanities, meeting many like-minded seniors who enjoyed learning. She eventually began writing a column for their monthly newsletter. In her final years Alicia avidly rooted for the Golden State Warriors and enjoyed finally being able to watch cooking shows instead of having to do the cooking herself.

Alicia is survived by her three children, Michael (Stefani), Kristina (Dennis), and Mark (Eyda), and granddaughters Alina and Mariana. The memorial service and burial will be private. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to American Heart Society or American Cancer Society.