CHOJNOWSKI, Alberta Jane 1925 - 2015

CHOJNOWSKI, DIEBEL

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 8/15/2015 at 20:17:07

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Page 6

Alberta Jane CHOJNOWSKI

Alberta Jane CHOJNOWSKI passed away at her home in Fairfield surrounded by loves ones on August 10th. She was 90 years old.

Alberta was born in Bronson, Michigan to Bertram and Bertha DIEBEL. She married Walter CHOJNOWSKI after his return from World War II. They were married for 64 years.

They were famous for being the first married students to have a child while attending Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Alberta was a busy stay-at-home mother and had four sons.

Alberta was an amazing artist. She loved to paint and to knit. She was a fabulous cook, and a master bridge player. She became a horseracing fan when they retired to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas in 1979. She had an infectious smile, a sharp mind, and a wicked sense of humor.

Alberta moved to Fairfield after Walt died in 2010. She said many times that "The move to Fairfield was the best move I ever made." She lived independently at the Wagon Wheel and made many friends.

The nurses at Jefferson County Public Health were especially supportive and kind. When Alberta was unable to complete a quilt she was working on, the nurses took their lunch hours to sew the hand-knitted squares together. They presented it to Alberta for her 90th birthday in January. She was extremely grateful for their generosity and excited that the story was featured on the front page of The Fairfield Ledger.

The family is especially grateful to Rick Lehman who greatly enriched Alberta's life. They met through the Fairfield Volunteer Center RSVP program and became close friends. Rick visited Alberta often and they shared many wonderful hours together.

Alberta is survived by her sons: Garth, Steve (Judy Pat), Wally (Karla) and Burt (Diane) CHOJNOWSKI, and grandsons Drew, Matthew, Todd, Eric, Peter, and Bryan. She was preceded in death by her husband Walter, her sister Loranetta, and her grandsons Patrick and Robert.

Funeral services will be held at Behner Funeral Home in Fairfield, 203 S Main Street, at 11 am on Thursday, August 13th.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial can be made in honor of Alberta to the Fairfield First Fund - P.O. Box 1176, Fairfield, IA 52556 www.FairfieldFirstFund.com.

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Front Page

Public health finishes quilt for woman
By Nicole Hester-Williams
Ledger staff writer

"You are my best angels this side of heaven," Alberta CHOJNOWSKI told several Jefferson County Public Health employees today after they presented her with an early birthday present.

The gift, a hand-stitched white knitted bedspread, was a project CHOJNOWSKI had been working on for 15 years, before her eyesight recently failed due to macular degeneration.

Jefferson County Public Health employees Chris Estle, Michelle Hoy and Peggy Hickenbottom took CHOJNOWSKI's 70 knitted squares and together finished stitching them into a bedsepread to be presented just in time for her 90th birthday Saturday.

"I hardly slept all night," CHOJNOWSKI said. "It's so amazing."

Hoy, CHOJNOWSKI's home care aid (sic - aide), said she'd always noticed a closed bag near her door, and one day she asked her about it.

That's when CHOJNOWSKI told her about the 15-year project that she would never have been able to complete.

Hoy said she felt passionate about helping CHOJNOWSKI finish the spread. When she returned to the Public Health Office, she told her supervisors about it.

Public Health administrator Chris Estle agreed to the project, and soon several other staff members had also stepped up to the plate.

CHOJNOWSKI provided all of the yarn and supplies necessary to complete the task.

"We started it just before Thanksgiving. We worked on it during our lunch breaks. It was our in-kind donation," Estle explained.

"You're going to make me cry," CHOJNOWSKI told her.

Holding the completed spread, CHOJNOWSKI told the group that she has six or seven grandsons and she told them that whoever got married first would inherit the spread.

Later, Hoy and her co-worker, home care aide Laura Vanzee, made CHOJNOWSKI's bed with her brand new spread.

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*Copied with permission from The Fairfield Ledger, Inc. This material may NOT be copied and re-posted in any public venue such as Ancestry or Find A Grave without permission from The Fairfield Ledger ~ copyright restrictions apply.
*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Alberta Chojnowski with her quilt - click here
 

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