Published: Sunday, August 29, 2010
'Everyone wanted to be around' Snohomish woman
Dorothy Gadzinski and her daughter went to the movies to see "The Twilight Saga--Eclipse."
She laughed with her daughter, Kathy Brownell, that they were the oldest "girls" at the show.
Gadzinski, 81, loved the old and the new. She was excited about a November USO dance at the Carl Gipson Senior Center of Everett. She loved the annual dance, said Brownell of Snohomish, who works at the center. Her mother volunteered in the center kitchen, called bingo numbers and helped set up the annual tea.
Dorothy "Dee" Gadzinski, who thought of the center as a second home, died July 13 of heart failure following surgery. She was born in Chicago in 1928 and married Leonard Gadzinski in 1948.
"She endured Polish jokes the rest of her life, exchanging Winchell for Gadzinski," her daughter said. The couple raised four children in Chicago.
Gadzinski worked in a bank, as a bookkeeper and in retail jewelry sales. She also worked for Marilyn Miglin, who sells beauty products on the HSN cable shopping channel.
Following her husband's death in 1996, Gadzinski lived with her daughter, Sheri, who died in 1999 at age 41, just two months after being diagnosed with leukemia.
Gadzinski and her mother, Irene Adams, then 90, moved to Washington to be near Brownell, and her husband, Donald. Adams died in 2006 at age 99.
"We enjoyed their company," Brownell said. "We babied them like our 'senior kids,' called out 'Curb' in every parking lot to avoid more than the few tumbles they took, and, in general, just enjoyed sharing their lives."
Gadzinski is survived by son Peter, and his wife Mary, of Omaha, Neb., their children Nate, Anna and Ben; son Jim, and his wife, Joann, of Tinley Park, Ill., and their children Robin and Aimee; and Kathy and Donald Brownell.
His mother was quite a lady, said her son, Jim Gadzinski.
"Everyone wanted to be around her," Jim Gadzinski said. "She never had a bad word to say, was open-minded, curious about everything, intelligent and never complained about anything."
When his mother paid visits to the Chicago area, she was so popular with friends and family, her son had to schedule time with her.
On one of her visits, she left his house to play cards with friends. She didn't get home until 3:30 a.m.
As if grilling a teenager, he asked her: "Mom, do you know what time it is?"
His mother said the gang had so much fun, the time just slipped away.
"She said she was too tired to talk about it, she had another big day tomorrow," Jim Gadzinski said. "The next morning, my wife told my mother that she was grounded."
Deb Loughrey-Johnson, director of the Carl Gipson Senior Center of Everett, said Gadzinski, who was a licensed masseuse, gave massages at the center.
"She would tell you to relax," Loughrey-Johnson said. "She wouldn't let you talk. She had a wonderful touch."
For the center's annual tea, Gadzinski would help wash and put out several hundred cups and saucers with fellow volunteer May Lynch.
"Dee was fabulous, a great volunteer," Loughrey-Johnson said. "Working with seniors is the best."
The Snohomish family enjoyed going out to dinner at the Olive Garden, and just tooling around together, Brownell said. She cooked for her mother and grandmother a few times each week.
"They liked everything," she said. "They always said everything was delicious."
Gadzinski, who loved to polka, liked to look her best at all times. She was a Red Hat lady, very generous and loved butterflies. So many people called her a good friend, her daughter said.
She had one annoying trait.
"She was too cheery," Brownell said, smiling. "I'm low key."
And her mother tended to scream out the wrong answers while watching "Wheel of Fortune."
As Brownell sorted her mother's belongings, she was surprised by one drawer.
"She kept every card we ever sent her, every Christmas tag."
When her mother died, Brownell didn't think a cake and coffee get together was the right memorial at the center.
"I put more money in the bingo pot that week," Brownell said. "Mom would have liked that."
Kristi O'Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.
She laughed with her daughter, Kathy Brownell, that they were the oldest "girls" at the show.
Gadzinski, 81, loved the old and the new. She was excited about a November USO dance at the Carl Gipson Senior Center of Everett. She loved the annual dance, said Brownell of Snohomish, who works at the center. Her mother volunteered in the center kitchen, called bingo numbers and helped set up the annual tea.
Dorothy "Dee" Gadzinski, who thought of the center as a second home, died July 13 of heart failure following surgery. She was born in Chicago in 1928 and married Leonard Gadzinski in 1948.
"She endured Polish jokes the rest of her life, exchanging Winchell for Gadzinski," her daughter said. The couple raised four children in Chicago.
Gadzinski worked in a bank, as a bookkeeper and in retail jewelry sales. She also worked for Marilyn Miglin, who sells beauty products on the HSN cable shopping channel.
Following her husband's death in 1996, Gadzinski lived with her daughter, Sheri, who died in 1999 at age 41, just two months after being diagnosed with leukemia.
Gadzinski and her mother, Irene Adams, then 90, moved to Washington to be near Brownell, and her husband, Donald. Adams died in 2006 at age 99.
"We enjoyed their company," Brownell said. "We babied them like our 'senior kids,' called out 'Curb' in every parking lot to avoid more than the few tumbles they took, and, in general, just enjoyed sharing their lives."
Gadzinski is survived by son Peter, and his wife Mary, of Omaha, Neb., their children Nate, Anna and Ben; son Jim, and his wife, Joann, of Tinley Park, Ill., and their children Robin and Aimee; and Kathy and Donald Brownell.
His mother was quite a lady, said her son, Jim Gadzinski.
"Everyone wanted to be around her," Jim Gadzinski said. "She never had a bad word to say, was open-minded, curious about everything, intelligent and never complained about anything."
When his mother paid visits to the Chicago area, she was so popular with friends and family, her son had to schedule time with her.
On one of her visits, she left his house to play cards with friends. She didn't get home until 3:30 a.m.
As if grilling a teenager, he asked her: "Mom, do you know what time it is?"
His mother said the gang had so much fun, the time just slipped away.
"She said she was too tired to talk about it, she had another big day tomorrow," Jim Gadzinski said. "The next morning, my wife told my mother that she was grounded."
Deb Loughrey-Johnson, director of the Carl Gipson Senior Center of Everett, said Gadzinski, who was a licensed masseuse, gave massages at the center.
"She would tell you to relax," Loughrey-Johnson said. "She wouldn't let you talk. She had a wonderful touch."
For the center's annual tea, Gadzinski would help wash and put out several hundred cups and saucers with fellow volunteer May Lynch.
"Dee was fabulous, a great volunteer," Loughrey-Johnson said. "Working with seniors is the best."
The Snohomish family enjoyed going out to dinner at the Olive Garden, and just tooling around together, Brownell said. She cooked for her mother and grandmother a few times each week.
"They liked everything," she said. "They always said everything was delicious."
Gadzinski, who loved to polka, liked to look her best at all times. She was a Red Hat lady, very generous and loved butterflies. So many people called her a good friend, her daughter said.
She had one annoying trait.
"She was too cheery," Brownell said, smiling. "I'm low key."
And her mother tended to scream out the wrong answers while watching "Wheel of Fortune."
As Brownell sorted her mother's belongings, she was surprised by one drawer.
"She kept every card we ever sent her, every Christmas tag."
When her mother died, Brownell didn't think a cake and coffee get together was the right memorial at the center.
"I put more money in the bingo pot that week," Brownell said. "Mom would have liked that."
Kristi O'Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.
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