Janina Mikowski, a Polish immigrant who came to America as a teenager and spent decades as a seamstress and retail worker while raising three children, died May 13 in Palos Heights, Illinois. She was 77.
She was born June 15, 1948, in Budomierz, Poland.
Mikowski arrived in America alone as a teenager and later helped her parents and siblings immigrate. She worked as a seamstress and in retail to support her family. She was a member of Sacred Heart Church in Palos Hills, where she sang in the choir. She loved gardening, cooking Polish meals and maintaining family traditions.
She was married for 55 years to Jan Mikowski.
She is survived by her three children: John Mikowski and his wife, Laura Linden; Christina Sanchez and her fiancé, Andrew Smith; and Ted Mikowski. She had six grandchildren: Anastazja Mikowski and her fiancé, Alfredo; Juniper Mikowski; Maya Sanchez; Nicolas Sanchez; Jack Mikowski; and Matthew Mikowski. She had one great-grandchild, Steven Miranda.
She is also survived by her brother, Władysław Nowodsiały, and his wife, Wanda; her brother-in-law, Edward Huk; her sister-in-law, Aniela Nowosiadła; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Franciszek and Anastazja Bodnar Nowosiadły; her brother, Tadeusz Nowosiadły; and her sister, Maria Huk.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, May 20, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Damar-Kaminski Funeral Home & Crematorium, 7861 S. 88th Avenue, Justice, Illinois.
A funeral Mass will be held Thursday, May 21, at 10 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church, 8245 W. 111th Street, Palos Hills, Illinois. Prayers and a procession will begin at 9 a.m. at the funeral home.
Interment will be at Resurrection Cemetery in Justice, Illinois.