Josephine Pirnik
(Home News Tribune)
JOSEPHINE PIRNIK
AGE: 93 CARTERET
Josephine Pirnik, 93, of Carteret, died on Monday, March 15, 2010, at Clare Bridge Assisted Living in Dublin, Pa. She was born in Carteret and lived there most of her life before moving to Pa. in 2007. She was a parishioner of Holy Family RC Church in Carteret. Josephine retired in 1981 from US Metal Refining Co. in Carteret as a Laboratory Supervisor.
She is predeceased by her husband, Michael Pirnik who died in 1966; three brothers, Paul, Frank and Anthony Sroka and two sisters, Stella Baranowski and Helen Dudka. Josephine is survived by her son, Michael Pirnik and his wife, Dolores of New Hope, Pa.; two grandsons, Edward Pirnik and his wife, Kathleen and Michael Pirnik; and one great grandson, Sam.
The funeral will be Wednesday, 9 AM at Synowiecki Funeral Home, 56 Carteret Avenue in Carteret. Mass at 9:30 AM at Holy Family RC Church in Carteret. Interment to follow at St. Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia. Visiting hours will be today, Tuesday from 4 PM to 8 PM.
Published in Home News Tribune on March 16, 2010
Carteret woman with Polish roots had special connection with pope
Published in the Home News Tribune 04/7/05
Courtesy of Josephine Pirnik
Josephine Pirnik of Carteret meets with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican in 1992.
She had him at "Dziekuje."
Josephine Pirnik of Carteret, one of six children born to Polish immigrants Paul and Katherine Sroka, was on a tour of Italy in 1992, when the tour leader, whose family in Poland was friends with the family of Pope John Paul II, arranged for the group to meet the pope in the Vatican.
A circle was formed, and the pope greeted each person individually. Pirnik's cousin and traveling companion, Helen Kalinowski of Woodbridge, was the first to make contact. Literally. "I'm touching him," she told Pirnik. Kalinowski then said, "Get over here, Josie."
Pirnik touched him, and then asked, in English, if he would bless pictures of sick children she'd brought from home, and religious articles she'd purchased at the Vatican.
"You're just the one I wanted to see," she said. He blessed the items. "Dziekuje," she said.
The pope's eyes lit up, and he and Pirnik began talking in Polish, with him asking how she learned to speak it so well. She explained she had two good teachers at home — her parents — and that she went to a school in Carteret, Holy Family, where lessons were given in Polish in the morning and English in the afternoon. She told him how her parents came from a village near the Polish town of Sanok.
Others in the tour group looked at her wondering: Who is this woman chatting it up with the pope? Unknown to her, a picture was taken, and it now has a place of honor at the home in Carteret she and husband Michael purchased for $4,500 after World War II, when U.S. Metals offered its executive homes to employees.
Pirnik's family illustrates the historic link between Poland and Carteret. Her father came to Carteret in 1910 aboard the steamship Abraham Lincoln. He had $25 in his pockets, a cousin in Carteret and a job waiting for him at U.S. Copper Works, the company that would become U.S. Metals. After about a year he was able to send for his sweetheart, whom he would marry. They had six children.
Josephine, born in 1917 and one of two surviving children, married Michael Pirnik in 1940. During the war he was a cook in the Army and never had to go overseas, working at Governor's Island in New York Harbor. Michael died in 1966, and Josephine went to work at U.S. Metals.
In several ways, Pirnik is old school. She does not have a credit card and gave up driving after her fourth driving lesson when Michael
feared she would ruin the clutch. At 88 she has a remarkable bearing, which she owes to walking. When she went to work a boss asked if she was in the Army. "He told me, "You have such great posture.' " Nor has she shrunk from the 5-foot-8 height she reached at 13.
Pirnik recalled watching television in October 1978, when her soap opera was interrupted with a special bulletin. A new pope had been named, and he was Polish! "I called my mother and told her to turn on the television. She couldn't believe it."
Kalinowski recalled, "Everybody in the world was shocked. The Polish people were elated."
When Pirnik retired, she took up traveling and has been to Europe nine times, often with Kalinowski. Twice they visited Poland — before and after communism. While a free Poland is better than the old Poland, Pirnik allowed that some of the older Poles actually miss communism, when decisions were made for them.
It was a cousin, Stephanie Mitchell, who called and told me about Josephine Pirnik, and her meeting the pope. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Pirnik did not want a story about her, until Mitchell called back and insisted.
It was my pleasure to meet her. "Dziekuje," I told her.
Rick Malwitz's column appears Sundays and Thursdays. Call (732) 565-7291; e-mail
(Home News Tribune)
JOSEPHINE PIRNIK
AGE: 93 CARTERET
Josephine Pirnik, 93, of Carteret, died on Monday, March 15, 2010, at Clare Bridge Assisted Living in Dublin, Pa. She was born in Carteret and lived there most of her life before moving to Pa. in 2007. She was a parishioner of Holy Family RC Church in Carteret. Josephine retired in 1981 from US Metal Refining Co. in Carteret as a Laboratory Supervisor.
She is predeceased by her husband, Michael Pirnik who died in 1966; three brothers, Paul, Frank and Anthony Sroka and two sisters, Stella Baranowski and Helen Dudka. Josephine is survived by her son, Michael Pirnik and his wife, Dolores of New Hope, Pa.; two grandsons, Edward Pirnik and his wife, Kathleen and Michael Pirnik; and one great grandson, Sam.
The funeral will be Wednesday, 9 AM at Synowiecki Funeral Home, 56 Carteret Avenue in Carteret. Mass at 9:30 AM at Holy Family RC Church in Carteret. Interment to follow at St. Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia. Visiting hours will be today, Tuesday from 4 PM to 8 PM.
Published in Home News Tribune on March 16, 2010
Carteret woman with Polish roots had special connection with pope
Published in the Home News Tribune 04/7/05
Courtesy of Josephine Pirnik
Josephine Pirnik of Carteret meets with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican in 1992.
She had him at "Dziekuje."
Josephine Pirnik of Carteret, one of six children born to Polish immigrants Paul and Katherine Sroka, was on a tour of Italy in 1992, when the tour leader, whose family in Poland was friends with the family of Pope John Paul II, arranged for the group to meet the pope in the Vatican.
A circle was formed, and the pope greeted each person individually. Pirnik's cousin and traveling companion, Helen Kalinowski of Woodbridge, was the first to make contact. Literally. "I'm touching him," she told Pirnik. Kalinowski then said, "Get over here, Josie."
Pirnik touched him, and then asked, in English, if he would bless pictures of sick children she'd brought from home, and religious articles she'd purchased at the Vatican.
"You're just the one I wanted to see," she said. He blessed the items. "Dziekuje," she said.
The pope's eyes lit up, and he and Pirnik began talking in Polish, with him asking how she learned to speak it so well. She explained she had two good teachers at home — her parents — and that she went to a school in Carteret, Holy Family, where lessons were given in Polish in the morning and English in the afternoon. She told him how her parents came from a village near the Polish town of Sanok.
Others in the tour group looked at her wondering: Who is this woman chatting it up with the pope? Unknown to her, a picture was taken, and it now has a place of honor at the home in Carteret she and husband Michael purchased for $4,500 after World War II, when U.S. Metals offered its executive homes to employees.
Pirnik's family illustrates the historic link between Poland and Carteret. Her father came to Carteret in 1910 aboard the steamship Abraham Lincoln. He had $25 in his pockets, a cousin in Carteret and a job waiting for him at U.S. Copper Works, the company that would become U.S. Metals. After about a year he was able to send for his sweetheart, whom he would marry. They had six children.
Josephine, born in 1917 and one of two surviving children, married Michael Pirnik in 1940. During the war he was a cook in the Army and never had to go overseas, working at Governor's Island in New York Harbor. Michael died in 1966, and Josephine went to work at U.S. Metals.
In several ways, Pirnik is old school. She does not have a credit card and gave up driving after her fourth driving lesson when Michael
feared she would ruin the clutch. At 88 she has a remarkable bearing, which she owes to walking. When she went to work a boss asked if she was in the Army. "He told me, "You have such great posture.' " Nor has she shrunk from the 5-foot-8 height she reached at 13.
Pirnik recalled watching television in October 1978, when her soap opera was interrupted with a special bulletin. A new pope had been named, and he was Polish! "I called my mother and told her to turn on the television. She couldn't believe it."
Kalinowski recalled, "Everybody in the world was shocked. The Polish people were elated."
When Pirnik retired, she took up traveling and has been to Europe nine times, often with Kalinowski. Twice they visited Poland — before and after communism. While a free Poland is better than the old Poland, Pirnik allowed that some of the older Poles actually miss communism, when decisions were made for them.
It was a cousin, Stephanie Mitchell, who called and told me about Josephine Pirnik, and her meeting the pope. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Pirnik did not want a story about her, until Mitchell called back and insisted.
It was my pleasure to meet her. "Dziekuje," I told her.
Rick Malwitz's column appears Sundays and Thursdays. Call (732) 565-7291; e-mail
Josephine Pirnik
(Home News Tribune)
JOSEPHINE PIRNIK
AGE: 93 CARTERET
Josephine Pirnik, 93, of Carteret, died on Monday, March 15, 2010, at Clare Bridge Assisted Living in Dublin, Pa. She was born in Carteret and lived there most of her life before moving to Pa. in 2007. She was a parishioner of Holy Family RC Church in Carteret. Josephine retired in 1981 from US Metal Refining Co. in Carteret as a Laboratory Supervisor.
She is predeceased by her husband, Michael Pirnik who died in 1966; three brothers, Paul, Frank and Anthony Sroka and two sisters, Stella Baranowski and Helen Dudka. Josephine is survived by her son, Michael Pirnik and his wife, Dolores of New Hope, Pa.; two grandsons, Edward Pirnik and his wife, Kathleen and Michael Pirnik; and one great grandson, Sam.
The funeral will be Wednesday, 9 AM at Synowiecki Funeral Home, 56 Carteret Avenue in Carteret. Mass at 9:30 AM at Holy Family RC Church in Carteret. Interment to follow at St. Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia. Visiting hours will be today, Tuesday from 4 PM to 8 PM.
Published in Home News Tribune on March 16, 2010
Carteret woman with Polish roots had special connection with pope
Published in the Home News Tribune 04/7/05
Courtesy of Josephine Pirnik
Josephine Pirnik of Carteret meets with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican in 1992.
She had him at "Dziekuje."
Josephine Pirnik of Carteret, one of six children born to Polish immigrants Paul and Katherine Sroka, was on a tour of Italy in 1992, when the tour leader, whose family in Poland was friends with the family of Pope John Paul II, arranged for the group to meet the pope in the Vatican.
A circle was formed, and the pope greeted each person individually. Pirnik's cousin and traveling companion, Helen Kalinowski of Woodbridge, was the first to make contact. Literally. "I'm touching him," she told Pirnik. Kalinowski then said, "Get over here, Josie."
Pirnik touched him, and then asked, in English, if he would bless pictures of sick children she'd brought from home, and religious articles she'd purchased at the Vatican.
"You're just the one I wanted to see," she said. He blessed the items. "Dziekuje," she said.
The pope's eyes lit up, and he and Pirnik began talking in Polish, with him asking how she learned to speak it so well. She explained she had two good teachers at home — her parents — and that she went to a school in Carteret, Holy Family, where lessons were given in Polish in the morning and English in the afternoon. She told him how her parents came from a village near the Polish town of Sanok.
Others in the tour group looked at her wondering: Who is this woman chatting it up with the pope? Unknown to her, a picture was taken, and it now has a place of honor at the home in Carteret she and husband Michael purchased for $4,500 after World War II, when U.S. Metals offered its executive homes to employees.
Pirnik's family illustrates the historic link between Poland and Carteret. Her father came to Carteret in 1910 aboard the steamship Abraham Lincoln. He had $25 in his pockets, a cousin in Carteret and a job waiting for him at U.S. Copper Works, the company that would become U.S. Metals. After about a year he was able to send for his sweetheart, whom he would marry. They had six children.
Josephine, born in 1917 and one of two surviving children, married Michael Pirnik in 1940. During the war he was a cook in the Army and never had to go overseas, working at Governor's Island in New York Harbor. Michael died in 1966, and Josephine went to work at U.S. Metals.
In several ways, Pirnik is old school. She does not have a credit card and gave up driving after her fourth driving lesson when Michael
feared she would ruin the clutch. At 88 she has a remarkable bearing, which she owes to walking. When she went to work a boss asked if she was in the Army. "He told me, "You have such great posture.' " Nor has she shrunk from the 5-foot-8 height she reached at 13.
Pirnik recalled watching television in October 1978, when her soap opera was interrupted with a special bulletin. A new pope had been named, and he was Polish! "I called my mother and told her to turn on the television. She couldn't believe it."
Kalinowski recalled, "Everybody in the world was shocked. The Polish people were elated."
When Pirnik retired, she took up traveling and has been to Europe nine times, often with Kalinowski. Twice they visited Poland — before and after communism. While a free Poland is better than the old Poland, Pirnik allowed that some of the older Poles actually miss communism, when decisions were made for them.
It was a cousin, Stephanie Mitchell, who called and told me about Josephine Pirnik, and her meeting the pope. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Pirnik did not want a story about her, until Mitchell called back and insisted.
It was my pleasure to meet her. "Dziekuje," I told her.
Rick Malwitz's column appears Sundays and Thursdays. Call (732) 565-7291; e-mail
(Home News Tribune)
JOSEPHINE PIRNIK
AGE: 93 CARTERET
Josephine Pirnik, 93, of Carteret, died on Monday, March 15, 2010, at Clare Bridge Assisted Living in Dublin, Pa. She was born in Carteret and lived there most of her life before moving to Pa. in 2007. She was a parishioner of Holy Family RC Church in Carteret. Josephine retired in 1981 from US Metal Refining Co. in Carteret as a Laboratory Supervisor.
She is predeceased by her husband, Michael Pirnik who died in 1966; three brothers, Paul, Frank and Anthony Sroka and two sisters, Stella Baranowski and Helen Dudka. Josephine is survived by her son, Michael Pirnik and his wife, Dolores of New Hope, Pa.; two grandsons, Edward Pirnik and his wife, Kathleen and Michael Pirnik; and one great grandson, Sam.
The funeral will be Wednesday, 9 AM at Synowiecki Funeral Home, 56 Carteret Avenue in Carteret. Mass at 9:30 AM at Holy Family RC Church in Carteret. Interment to follow at St. Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia. Visiting hours will be today, Tuesday from 4 PM to 8 PM.
Published in Home News Tribune on March 16, 2010
Carteret woman with Polish roots had special connection with pope
Published in the Home News Tribune 04/7/05
Courtesy of Josephine Pirnik
Josephine Pirnik of Carteret meets with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican in 1992.
She had him at "Dziekuje."
Josephine Pirnik of Carteret, one of six children born to Polish immigrants Paul and Katherine Sroka, was on a tour of Italy in 1992, when the tour leader, whose family in Poland was friends with the family of Pope John Paul II, arranged for the group to meet the pope in the Vatican.
A circle was formed, and the pope greeted each person individually. Pirnik's cousin and traveling companion, Helen Kalinowski of Woodbridge, was the first to make contact. Literally. "I'm touching him," she told Pirnik. Kalinowski then said, "Get over here, Josie."
Pirnik touched him, and then asked, in English, if he would bless pictures of sick children she'd brought from home, and religious articles she'd purchased at the Vatican.
"You're just the one I wanted to see," she said. He blessed the items. "Dziekuje," she said.
The pope's eyes lit up, and he and Pirnik began talking in Polish, with him asking how she learned to speak it so well. She explained she had two good teachers at home — her parents — and that she went to a school in Carteret, Holy Family, where lessons were given in Polish in the morning and English in the afternoon. She told him how her parents came from a village near the Polish town of Sanok.
Others in the tour group looked at her wondering: Who is this woman chatting it up with the pope? Unknown to her, a picture was taken, and it now has a place of honor at the home in Carteret she and husband Michael purchased for $4,500 after World War II, when U.S. Metals offered its executive homes to employees.
Pirnik's family illustrates the historic link between Poland and Carteret. Her father came to Carteret in 1910 aboard the steamship Abraham Lincoln. He had $25 in his pockets, a cousin in Carteret and a job waiting for him at U.S. Copper Works, the company that would become U.S. Metals. After about a year he was able to send for his sweetheart, whom he would marry. They had six children.
Josephine, born in 1917 and one of two surviving children, married Michael Pirnik in 1940. During the war he was a cook in the Army and never had to go overseas, working at Governor's Island in New York Harbor. Michael died in 1966, and Josephine went to work at U.S. Metals.
In several ways, Pirnik is old school. She does not have a credit card and gave up driving after her fourth driving lesson when Michael
feared she would ruin the clutch. At 88 she has a remarkable bearing, which she owes to walking. When she went to work a boss asked if she was in the Army. "He told me, "You have such great posture.' " Nor has she shrunk from the 5-foot-8 height she reached at 13.
Pirnik recalled watching television in October 1978, when her soap opera was interrupted with a special bulletin. A new pope had been named, and he was Polish! "I called my mother and told her to turn on the television. She couldn't believe it."
Kalinowski recalled, "Everybody in the world was shocked. The Polish people were elated."
When Pirnik retired, she took up traveling and has been to Europe nine times, often with Kalinowski. Twice they visited Poland — before and after communism. While a free Poland is better than the old Poland, Pirnik allowed that some of the older Poles actually miss communism, when decisions were made for them.
It was a cousin, Stephanie Mitchell, who called and told me about Josephine Pirnik, and her meeting the pope. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Pirnik did not want a story about her, until Mitchell called back and insisted.
It was my pleasure to meet her. "Dziekuje," I told her.
Rick Malwitz's column appears Sundays and Thursdays. Call (732) 565-7291; e-mail
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
