It looks like you are viewing this on a mobile device. Would you like to use the mobile version? No thanks.
It looks like your device can support the full version of the site. Would you like to view that instead? No thanks.
Email to a friend Tweet This Send to Facebook Share on Google+
  Login
Maria Pernal
July 7, 1914 - June 23, 2016
Return to the Memorial Getting Started Administration Inbox  
Return to Getting Started  
Return to the Memorial Help Extend the Memorial Order a Keepsake Book  
Obituary Eulogy Guestbook Biography Photos Media Life Stories Family Tree Contribute
<div itemprop="description">The Pernal family members wish to announce to their friends the passing of Maria Pernal. Our beloved matriarch departed from us in Calgary, Alberta, on 23 June 2016, at the age of 101. She was predeceased by her parents, Jan and Katarzyna in Uzbekistan (1942); son Kazimierz in Persia (Iran), (1942); brother Maciej (1977) and sister Emilia Sroka (1980) in Poland; husband Antoni (1992), brother Wawrzyniec (1994), sister Helena Murawski (1995) and son John (2011), all in Windsor, Ontario. She is survived by her sister Bronislawa Zajac in Torrington, Connecticut, USA; son Andrew Boleslaw (Nan) in Calgary; six grandchildren: Andrew (Val Marie Blahut), Julia (R. J. Pratt), Caroline, and Marie-Isabelle in Calgary, Stephen (Jeannie) in Grande Prairie, Alberta, and Nicholas in Ottawa, Ontario; eight great-grandchildren: Ryan, Duncan, Rhett, Katherine, Nicole and William Pernal, and Sophia and Grace Pratt; as well as many nephews and nieces in Canada, Poland and the USA. Maria (née Pernal) was born on 7 July 1914 in Lubatowa, Poland, a picturesque village in the Beskid Mountains. In the early 1920s, her parents moved to the eastern part of the country, in order to purchase more arable land. In 1934 she married Antoni Pernal, helped him to run the farm and expected to lead a happy life. Unfortunately, this did not happen, for in September 1939 Nazi Germany and Communist Soviet Union attacked Poland. Thus, in 1940, Maria, her husband and members of both families were exiled to Siberia by the Soviet political police (NKVD) and forced to perform slave labour in the Siberian forests. In 1941, following the Nazi aggression on the USSR, they were released and ventured, on foot and by trains, far south; eventually, they were evacuated to Persia with the Polish army. From there she sailed with her son and sisters to Tanganyika (Tanzania), where they resided in Kondoa-Irangi, a refugee camp, until 1948. In that year she was reunited with her husband, who was demobilized from the Polish army in the United Kingdom. In 1950, the family emigrated to Canada. On completing the contractual work on a farm in northern Alberta, the family moved to Windsor, to assist Wladyslaw, the younger brother of Antoni. Maria resided in Windsor until 2012; then, at the age of 98, she moved to Calgary, to stay with her son's family. Maria did not lead an easy life; quite the contrary, her life was characterized by constant trials and tribulations, which would have crushed even the strongest of individuals. In the Soviet Union she fought to save her family from disease and starvation. Eventually, having survived horrors of this “inhuman land,” she was awarded, by the President of Poland, the Cross of the Exiled to Siberia. She developed a deep faith and never wavered in the support of the Catholic Church. At Holy Trinity Parish in Windsor she played an active role in the Catholic Women's League and the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi. Maria supported the endeavours of her children to gain higher education. She was generous in supporting various charities and missions of the Church. She bore pain and illnesses patiently. She was loved, admired and respected by all who knew her and rarely seen without a smile on her face. She will be very deeply missed. The family wishes to thank Fr. Karol Twardowski, S. Ch., and Fr. Nathan Siray for their spiritual aid in Maria's last days, and the staff of Bow View Manor, for their care and comfort. Instead of flowers, those who wish to honour her memory may make any donation in Windsor to the Catholic Women's League at the Holy Trinity Parish or the Polish Ursuline Sisters; or in Calgary, either to Bow View Manor or the Spruce Community. Funeral arrangements are being facilitated by Leyden's Funeral Home in Calgary and Janisse Funeral Home in Windsor. Visitations at Janisse Funeral Home (519-253-5225) 1130 Ouellette Ave., Windsor are from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. (with prayers from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.) on Friday, 1 July, as well as from 9:00 to 10:30 a. m. on Saturday, 2 July. A funeral Holy Mass will be celebrated by Fr. Zbigniew Sawicki on Saturday, 2 July, at 11:00 a.m., in Holy Trinity Church, 1035 Ellis Street East, Windsor, Ontario. Maria will be buried in Heavenly Rest Cemetery in Windsor.</div>