Pawluch, Maria

With unspeakable sadness we announce the death of Maria Filomena (Giove) Pawluch on July 16, 2010. Maria was born on May 24, 1922 in Mottola, Puglia, Italy to Paolo and Maria Carmela. She was a dreamer from the start. For those with great courage, audacity and passion, big dreams can become the foundation for remarkable lives and Maria’s life was truly remarkable. She experienced the pain of loss early with the death of her father, the hardships her family endured as a result and the ravages of World War II. It was the war, however, that set her life on a trajectory that even she could never have imagined. She met and fell in love with a young Ukrainian, Theodor, who had come to Mottola as part of the Polish Corps which, together with other Allied Forces, liberated Italy. As his unit was about to move on from Mottola, Maria and Theodor vowed to remain true to each other. With fidelity Maria waited. The wait was long. Seven years later she received a letter from Theodor, reassuring her that he was safe, had survived the war and immigrated to Canada. He had never forgotten her. When he proposed marriage, she did not hesitate. So it was that she left la sua amata Italia, her beloved Italy, arriving in Sudbury on a cold, snowy December day in 1951. She and Theodor were married at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church shortly after. Maria was a devoted wife and companion to Theodor for over fifty years, standing steadfastly by his side till his death in 2005. His last act was a tender caress of her cheek, a gesture of abiding love and gratitude. Through their years together, Maria and Theodor raised a family. They lost their first baby, Maria, at birth, but went on to have three healthy children. As a mother, Maria was the very model of maternal love and sacrifice, fiercely protective and a sustaining source of nurturance, encouragement and support for her children Dorothy, Catherine and Nicholas, Tony and Sonia. As her children had children of their own, her grandchildren too – Alexandra, Simon, Andrew and Adam – were blessed to experience her boundless, all-giving, all-encompassing love. We all feel deeply privileged and honoured to be her family. She came to love Canada, referring to it as mia cara seconda patria, her dear second home. There was no prouder a Canadian. The community benefitted in immeasurable ways from her tireless capacity for hard work, her generosity and spirit. Though not Ukrainian herself, she became an active and honoured member of the St. Mary’s parish community and its Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League. For a time she served as sacristan, responsible for attending to the altar linens. An outstanding cook, Maria’s lemon butterfly cupcakes became legendary at the annual St. Mary’s teas. Up until the end of her life, she participated regularly in the making of holubchi and perohy, and other fund raising activities both at St. Mary’s and at the Ukrainian Seniors’ Centre where she resided after Theodor’s death. Throughout her life, Maria displayed a lively intelligence, an insatiable curiosity about the world and international events, a love of reading and an irrepressible thirst for knowledge. She had a formidable memory and could recite easily and beautifully long tracts of poetry she had learned as a young student, including the work of Dante, her favourite poet, or sing extended passages from her favourite operas. She loved classical music. She was proud to see traces of these traits passed on in her progeny. Their accomplishments were a source of great joy to her.
Above all, Maria was a person of powerful faith. For decades she attended Mass regularly at either St. Mary’s or at the Church of Christ the King where she was part of an informal rosary and prayer group. Her faith led her in later years to join the Third Order of St. Francis, a lay group of devoted Franciscans. She found solace in rising early each day to recite her office and spent many hours in contemplative prayer. She would often say that while her aging body limited what she could do physically for her children and others, she could offer her prayers for them. Especially poignant were the prayers she said for those who had no one else to pray for them. She sought fervently to emulate the example of St. Francis whose message of simplicity and love for all of God’s living creatures was the guiding principle of her life. It was her wish to be buried in the habit of the Franciscans. Maria is predeceased by her parents, her sister Addolorata (Liberato) Bianco and her brother Pietro (Marguerite) Giove. Her loss is also mourned profoundly by her nephews and nieces in Italy, Carlo Bianco (Donatella), Paolo Bianco (Silvana) and Cosimo Bianco (Maria), niece Pina Lacolla (Natale). She loved them dearly and touched their lives intimately, though an ocean away. They, in turn, had great affection for their Zia, as did her nephews, Lino and Mario, and niece Dora (predeceased), in France. She is mourned too by the many friends who respected, admired and loved her. A funeral service will be celebrated for Maria at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 9:30am a.m. Resting at Jackson & Barnard Funeral Home. Visitation will take place on Wednesday from 2-4 & 6-9 p.m. with Panachyda at 7 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to St. Mary’s Church Building Fund would be appreciated as would personal acts of kindness and generosity towards others, especially those in greatest need.