Marie B. Lewandowski

Marie (nee Bathelt) Lewandowski December 2, 2021 Maria Bathelt was born in 1933 in Lodz, Poland. Her Father was a textile engineer like his father. Her mother was a home maker and budding businesswoman. Poland had just gained independence in 1918 after over a century of partitioning. Like most families in Lodz, they were bilingual, speaking German and Polish. She was 6 years old when the Nazis invaded in 1939 and she remembered playing outside, laying on the ground, hearing and feeling the earth vibrate as they bombed Warsaw some 90 miles away. Her memory of the details of these early years remains vague or maybe suppressed. By 1944, her father had been killed and the Russians were advancing westward through Poland. Her mother, Barbara Bathelt, took the kids; Stanley (an infant), Ursula (5 years old) and Marie, and fled. They managed to get on a westbound train for some distance and then made their way to Berlin. Marie recalled being homeless, carrying a large feather quilt and some clothes, sleeping in train stations, having her shoes stolen, scavenging potatoes from the fields, having near death experiences, and begging for food. They walked to Heilbronn, to a refugee camp run by the Americans and the United Nations, arriving in 1945, covering some 400 miles in all. There, they settled into a single room where they lived for years; being fed, going to a camp school, playing sports, and establishing the semblance of a life and a routine. In 1949, at the age of 16, with the assistance of the Polish Roman Catholic Union (PRCU) of Chicago, she obtained a sponsor, a visa, and a spot on a ship, the S.S. Muir, from Hamburg to New York City. She absolutely loved her 2 weeks at sea and was endlessly fascinated by the power of the waves and the ocean. Upon her arrival in New York, she was given a train ticket to Chicago. There she met her sponsors: Wanda and Mark Gordon. They had an apartment with a spare bedroom; so, they sponsored 3 girls who shared one bed and one set of clothes. By 1950, Marie was able to get a factory job at Chicago Rawhide. She worked the evening shift inspecting rubber gaskets being produced for Mercury Kieckhefer Marine. She earned enough money be send five to ten dollars a month to her mother and siblings in Heilbronn. As a parishioner at Holy Innocents Church, she met Eugene Lewandowski, also a recent immigrant from Lodz. He was sponsored by John and Stella Jachowski through the PRCU as well. They married in 1952. By 1955, Eugene and Marie had 2 children, became citizens, and were able to able to serve as sponsors for the rest of Marie’s family still at the camp in Heilbronn. During this time Marie continued to work and went to night school learning English and getting a high school diploma from Wells High School. By 1961, the young family moved to the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines. There Marie worked as an administrative assistant and continued to pursue and develop her love of art and painting. This was her avocation and her legacy. Over the years, Marie worked as an administrative assistant at various places including St. Louise De Marillac High School as the secretary to the principal. She remained a student throughout her life, continually taking classes at the local high school, at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (where the family lived for 2 years) and then at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee to develop her artistic skills. In 1974, the family moved to Cedarburg, Wisconsin where they lived in the beautiful countryside until her death on December 2nd, 2021, at the age of 88. During her “golden” years she lived with Eugene and eventually under the care of her daughter Anne and son-in law Peter. We are deeply indebted and grateful to her caregiver and our friend Katerina Beamon for her nine years of dedicated service to Marie. Marie was an extremely caring and inclusive person who loved taking care of others. Her home was always warm and inviting. She took great joy in entertaining and cooking for her extended family, mostly made of people who had a similar journey in life to hers. She led an extremely rich life filled with many friends and loved ones. She had a unique ability to connect to people of all walks of life and strata. She also made a name for herself in the local art world. She was a prolific painter and was shown in several galleries. Despite her success in selling her art, she was very generous and took immense pleasure in giving away paintings to those that liked her work. She was drawn to serious themes of the destitute and displaced as well as capturing the simple beauty of still life in nature and flowers. She loved her grandchildren and filled over 30 volumes with notes, pictures, and reflections of all their early years. She will be missed greatly. Marie is preceded in death by her loving husband of 60 years, Eugene C. Lewandowski. She is survived by her children, Dr. Christopher A. Lewandowski (Dr. Jeanne Gallen Lewandowski), and Anne M. Lewandowski (Peter F. Kranstover); her grandchildren Michael P. Kranstover, Katherine L. Nowacki (Christopher M. Nowacki), Andrew F. Kranstover (Laura E. Campbell), Michael C. Lewandowski (Natalie R. Destefano), Stephanie M. Kranstover, Dr. Daniel F. Lewandowski (Ana V. Lewandowski); her great grandchildren Josephine Joan and John Christopher Nowacki. She is further survived by her sister Ursula E. Schlosser, and brother Stanley T. Bathelt (Barbara E. Bathelt); nieces and nephews, Ursula E. Sprague (Richard Sprague); Edmund M. Bathelt (Laura C. Ramsey), Maria Siemaszko, Andrew Siemaszko (Gosia Siemaszko), and great nephew Justin P. Bathelt and great niece Eden L. Bathelt. A memorial Mass and celebration of her life will be in held in the spring of 2022. In lieu of flowers, memorials in her name may be sent to the International Institute of Wisconsin (info@iiwisconsin.org), which supports and resettles refugees and immigrants in Wisconsin.