Obit: Bielanski, Lucille “Lu” (1916 - 2016)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Bielanski, Socha, Sliwka, Gulcynski, Klint, Ustruck, Janette, Jacobson, Laskowski, Henderson, Gutsch, Anderson, York, Chura, Staron, Lindberg

----Source: Thorp Courier (Thorp, Clark Co., WI) 3/23/2016

Bielanski, Lucille “Lu” (1 June 1916 - 16 March 2016)

Upon her death, March 16, 2016, Lucill Sliwka Bielanski, was in her centennial year, being born June 1, 1916. She was the daughter of Paul and Agatha (Socha) Sliwka. In her early life she resided on a farm in the Town of Delmar northwest of Stanley, WI and attended East Riverside Grade School. In seventh grade she went to White Eagle Grade School, while living with her oldest sister Frances and brother-in-law Vincent Gulcynski, helping care for their young family in Junction. After completing the eighth grade in school she worked on her family’s farm until she moved to Chicago, IL in 1936.

In Chicago, Lucille tried a variety of jobs including housekeeper, nanny, cook, maid and waitress. She traveled in many states working in resorts along the east coast. Chicago always beckoned her back. She enjoyed being a waitress, retiring from Paolella’s Italian Restaurant on Chicago’s northwest side when they closed their doors in 1969. She had been employed there for nearly twenty years.

Enjoying music and dancing for a pastime brought her and her husband, Joseph Bielanski, together. They married in Chicago on July 2, 1960, where they lived forty-five years in the same house near Midway Airport on Chicago’s southwest side. After her husband Joe died February 18, 2005, unable to live alone, she located to Thorp to live with her nieces, Emily Ustruck and Judy Jacobson, and in 2010 moved with Judy to Eden Prairie, MN. Even though she was away from the area for seventy years, Lucille sought out and became reacquainted with three childhood friends, Stella Chura, Frances Staron and Ilene Lindberg from Stanley. They shared many lunches and many memories.

She was the last living relative of the Sliwka family and was preceded in death by her brothers: Paul (Lorraine), Robert, Alex (Rose) and Frank Sliwka, and her sisters: Frances (Vincent) Gulcynski, Emily Sliwka and Isabel (Ernest) Klint. She will be remembered as a very special, funny, joke telling, generous and loving aunt by all her nieces and nephews including Emily Ustruck, West Wallis, WI, Frank Gulcynski, Rockford, IL, Gerry (Jim) Janette, Brookfield, WI, Judy Jacobson, Eden Prairie, MN, Teri (Norbie) Laskowski, Mequon, WI, Margie Henderson, Milwaukee, WI, Richard Sliwka, Warrensburg, MO, Kathy Gutsch, Germantown, WI, Kenneth (Sharon) Sliwka, Wissota, WI, and Donald (Kathy) Sliwka, De Pere, WI.

Preceding her in death were two nephews: Bob Gulcynski and Ernie Klint; and stepdaughter Elaine Bielanski Anderson.

Additionally her step-grandchildren: Jim Anderson, Las Vegas, NV, Andrew Anderson, Boynton Beach, FL, Donna (Chuck) York, Newberry, FL, and Sherry Anderson, New Orleans, LA, fondly remember their “Lucy” for her best ever pancakes.

Burial will be held this summer in the family plot in Stanley, WI. Memorials in Lucille’s name can be directed to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Lucille and members of the Sliwka family have long suffered with debilitating diabetes.