A couple weeks ago Irene Wojtas passed away here in South Bend, Indiana about a week after testing positive for Covid-19. Irene Wojtas was originally born Irena Wojcik in Poland, lived through labor camps of the Holocaust in Germany, was devoutly Catholic her entire life, and in her 100 years on earth outlived her husband (passed in ‘77 about 43 years ago), 7 of her 8 siblings (she was the 5th), and sadly 2 of her 5 children (who passed 26 years ago & 5 years ago). We first met Irene a few years ago for her Fall 98th Birthday photos with her granddaughter Victoria and got to reunite with her EXACTLY one year ago for her granddaughter Victoria’s WEDDING here in South Bend AT THE VERY CHURCH (Polish Catholic church here in South Bend- St. Casimir) that sponsored Irene, her husband, and their 2 kids: Victoria’s mom Beth (Elzbieta) & their first son to come to the United States-!
Portraits of Irene Wojtas taken right after her 98th Birthday in 2017. Healthwin, South Bend, IN.
Irene was born on October 25th, 1919 and passed away the day after Victoria & Alex’s 1st wedding anniversary: just couple weeks ago on May 12th. Victoria & Alex had joked with her grandma (Irene who they called the Polish word for grandma: “Busia”) that she had better live to see their May 11th, 2019 wedding day, so the fact that she not only got to enjoy their wedding day with them AND kept her promise by also making it through May 11th, 2020 showed Alex that “Busia” always keeps her word & loved them all deeply.
Irene posing with her granddaughter Victoria as well as donning a celebratory birthday hat given to her for her 98th Birthday. Healthwin, South Bend, IN.
You may remember these 98th Birthday photos that Jenny captured of Irene from our blog post 2.5 years ago, so here’s the original link to that blog post celebrating Irene & her momentous birthday here in South Bend (just 7 minutes down the road from us): https://www.jennyandjasonphoto.com/blog/irene-98th-birthday-portait-session-south-bend
Top Left:Irene visiting the small chapel at Healthwin. She liked to visit the chapel often to pray and thank God for helping her to survive the holocaust and the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Poland.
Bottom two Photos: Irene relives family memories while reviewing some old photographs she kept with her in her room at Healthwin.
As you can see above, Irene LOVED praying the rosary in Polish, sharing her memories & mementos, and LOVED her plants-! She is very proud of the fact that in her apartment before the nursing home that she grew a sunflower so big that her neighbor above her had to attach it to the 2nd floor window-! Since Irene had gone through the Holocaust labor camps, then refugee camps in Germany (where she met her husband AND had 2 of her 5 kids), she grew up with very little & saved everything she could. As Victoria put it a couple years ago: She loved to give and would ALWAYS give a smile, hand squeeze, crocheted booties & blankets that she made, and for Jenny personally- she gave me some chocolates after I photographed her on her birthday 2 years ago (as well as some VERY kind words- which meant even more since she could be pretty funny & sarcastic at times)!
Irene poses for a fun portrait with her Granddaughter and Grandson-in-law, Victoria and Alex, on their wedding day in May of 2019.
Here are some photos of Irene at her granddaughter Victoria & Alex’s wedding just ONE year before she passed away from Covid-19. Irene was at her church for the wedding (St. Casimir where she’s gone since they sponsored her family- including Victoria’s mom- to move to the U.S. in 1951), then at the ripe young age of 99, cut a rug at the reception and even enjoyed the wedding photobooth-! Irene & her late husband had 5 kids (2 that they had at the refugee camps in Germany/ 3 that they had here in South Bend, Indiana), 17 grandchildren, and 14 great grandchildren which became very obvious when we went to capture the 3 page long list of family portraits post wedding ceremony-! You can check out those Teasers from our blog from a year ago by clicking on that link here: https://www.jennyandjasonphoto.com/blog/chicagoans-victoria-alex-st-casimir-the-armory-south-bend-wedding
Although she was 99 years old at the time of her granddaughters wedding, the whole family made sure that Irene (or Busia as everyone referred to her. Meaning grandma in Polish) had a great time. Making sure to keep her moving around the dance floor and never far from a celebratory bit of food or drink.
One of Irene’s 8 siblings (the youngest- Ziggy) is still alive to this day back in their home country of Poland with many nieces, nephews, and children! Irene lived a good life here in South Bend, IN as part of the Rosary Society at her beloved St. Casimir Catholic Church, attended bunco parties, loved Bingo which she got into a few years back, loved the music of Bobby Vinton, and loved the Mother Mary who she claims gave her strength in the extremely difficult times of her life.
Most recently Irene had been on lockdown in her nursing home for months due to the Pandemic (which she wasn’t thrilled about), but she DID get to meet her newest great grandchild Sophia through the window of the nursing home! She was a bit upset that she didn’t get to go outside or hold her newest grandchild, but she cared deeply about her family and was happy that she got to at least see her from feet away-!
Irene’s Legacy
Irene’s life was an extremely impressive feat of faith, love, strength, and perseverance against all odds. If you’d like to check out a professionally made Holocaust Museum video and photos of her early life put together and explained by her grandson (Victoria’s brother), we found that extremely interesting video on her here (on Youtube): https://www.ushmm.org/collections/the-museums-collections/curators-corner/the-nazi-persecution-of-polish-catholics-the-wojtas-family-collection
and her family photos via the Holocaust Museum here:
This one’s to you, Irene/ Busia/ Irena/ Nee! It took a LITERAL WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC for you in your toughness to be taken off of this physical earth. We thank you for making it to and enjoying Victoria & Alex’s wedding one year ago AND making it through their 1 Year Wedding Anniversary this year-! May we all keep promises as well as you, fight as hard as you did, be as kind as you were, love as hard as you did, and live in humility as well as you did…. Oh! And garden as well as you did-! (We’re 6 years in and still learning-!)
To all of Irene’s family: Thank you for welcoming us with opened arms, thank you for sharing your Busia with us, and we’re so, so, so sorry for your loss. In the past 5 years we’ve mourned 3 of our grandparents passing WITHOUT a funeral as we’ve grieved alone across the country from them and we can definitely say that this is one of the hardest losses. We’re so sorry that due to the pandemic, the lockdown, and her testing positive for Covid-19 that you were not able to go visit and be with her in person during these stressful and depressing times. Know that we mourn your loss with you and our hearts have been hurting for weeks. We’ve thought about her with all of the pierogies and kieflies that we’ve consumed over the past few years and will continue to do so.