Elizabeth Namiesniowski passed away on Sunday, November 21, 2021 at the Valley Manor in Barry’s Bay at age 104.
Born Elzbieta Mateja in Warsaw, Poland on May 20, 1917. She was the loving mother to Stephen Milan (Barbara Zaremba), Marek Milan (Patricia Anderson), and Lidia Kotarski. She was known as “Babka” to eleven beloved grandchildren: Mark (Patricia), Joanna (Graham), Peter (Jennifer), Matthew (Anna), Christina, Michael, Cecilia (Darryl), Max, Kateri (Dave), Sharon-Rose (Jacob), and Sean (Riane), as well as 34 Great-Grandchildren and two Great-Great-Grandchildren. Elizabeth is preceded in death by her son Stephen, her Daughter-in-Law Patricia, and her grandson Michael.
Elizabeth was born in Poland during World War 1. She was married in 1937 and had her first son in 1938, the year before World War 2 started. Her husband was captured as a prisoner of War, so Elizabeth spent most of the War alone with her son. They were reunited when the War was finished, and immigrated to Hamilton, Ontario together in 1948. In 1949 she welcomed her second son, and her daughter in 1955.
Elizabeth made sure to live a tremendously full life. Once she settled in Canada, she completed her BA at McMaster University, and her degree in Library Sciences at the University of Toronto. She loved to travel and spent all her holidays travelling around Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Mexico, the Caribbean, and many more. She aimed to find as many places as possible in the world where she could to ski, swim, and snorkel. Everywhere she lived was filled with mementos to the places she had seen.
After her retirement in 1982, she discovered her love of acting and painting. She studied under Tomoko Koolama at the Ottawa School of Art after becoming fascinated by Japanese art in her travels. She practiced her passion for art for many years, and several of her paintings can be found all over Barry’s Bay. She has been an active member of the Polish Kashub community since moving to Canada, and finally moved there from Ottawa in 2007.
She was a lively woman with an active spirit, one she did not lose well after her 100th birthday. She had a bold fashion sense and was known all around town as “The Yellow Lady”. She will be dearly missed by her many friends and family.
Funeral Mass will be held at St. Hedwig’s Roman Catholic Church on Saturday, November 27, 2021 at 10:30am. Burial will occur at the Annex Cemetery following the Mass.