Czeslawa Hryszko

 Czeslawa (“Czesia”) Hryszko, 96, passed away peacefully on April 1, 2025 at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center. A family member was always at her side, and all the children and grandchildren are very grateful that they were able to say good-bye before her passing.

Czesia was born on July 1, 1928 in Lipina, Poland and was the youngest of five children. She lost her mother at a young age, right before the outbreak of WWII, and her father shortly after the end of the war. Czesia took care of everyone and was a healer and spoke about how she had wanted to be a doctor. However, under the German occupation, education was only allowed until the 4th grade. Czesia spoke about how everything had to be given to the Germans, and there was never enough food, and how people would be taken away and never seen again. The horror of that time stayed with her all her life.

Czesia, with her husband and three young children, arrived in Boston Harbor, MA on December 28, 1965. In order to help take care of her family, soon after arriving in America, Czesia went to work at Prudential in Newark cleaning offices at night. She was eventually made an elevator operator. After retiring due to downsizing at Prudential, Czesia worked at Ciba-Geigy packaging medications until her retirement in 1993. Czesia first lived in Newark, and then Irvington. In 1978 the family moved to Livingston, New Jersey. Czesia had read about Livingston and seen the town and thought it would be a very nice place to live.

In 1984, Czesia lost her husband Ignacy, who loved her dearly, to cancer. She was 56 at the time and did not want to burden anyone and decided that it was time to learn how to drive a car. After receiving her driver’s license, Czesia bought her first car, a Buick, and later another car, a VW Jetta. She continued to live independently in her home until the age of 90, and then with her daughter Halina, who also lives in Livingston. Czesia is also pre-deceased by her parents Teofila and Stanislaw Horosz, brother Roman Horosz, sister Bronislawa Horosz and sister Marianna Kordynska. Her only remaining sister Wladyslawa, age 101, lives in Poland and is in excellent health.

Czesia was a very calm, patient and hard-working woman. She took great care of her husband, children and grandchildren. Czesia loved cooking, especially holiday meals such as all the traditional non-meat dishes for Christmas Eve. However, once in America, the traditional fish for Christmas Eve, which is the carp, was never part of the meal again – she hated that fish!

Czesia will be very much missed. Czesia was “Mamusia” to her daughter Halina Sutula and her husband Zbyszek (“Ziggy”), her daughter Barbara Dank and her husband Jacob (“Jake”) and her son Mark (“Marek”) Hryszko. Czesia was “Babcia” to Nicholas Dank, Thomas Sutula and his wife Lauren, Dr. Monica Sutula and her husband PJ Jennings, Melissa Reynolds and her husband Sean, Michael Dank and his wife Olivia, and her youngest grandchild Julia Dank. Czesia was very happy to have spent a lot of time with her great-granddaughter, Natalie Czeslawa Sutula.

Czesia prayed every morning and evening and always included all her family in her prayers. Father Tadeusz Trela, of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, would visit and pray with her the first Friday of every month. He was of great comfort to her these past few years. In lieu of flowers, donations in Czesia’s memory may be made to Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Irvington.

Funeral from the Galante Funeral Home 2800 Morris Ave in Union on Tuesday April 8.

Visitation on Tuesday from 8:00 - 9:30AM.

A funeral mass will be celebrated at Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church at 10:00 AM 

Interment will follow at Our Lady of Czestochowa Cemetery Doylestown PA