WESTFIELD: Mary (Warchol) Blicharz, 101, (1920-2022) passed away on January 14, 2022. She was born in 1920 to the late Andrew and Regina (Jucha) Warchol who both emigrated from Poland. A graduate of Westfield High School, Mary worked at the Springfield Armory during World War II, for Spalding in Chicopee, for Old Colony Envelope as a machine operator and as a clerk for Towne Pharmacy in Westfield. Her sweetheart and beloved husband Edward Blicharz passed away too soon, back in 1969. Their adventure together began when Mary caught his eye one Wednesday night long ago while at a dance hall with her girlfriends. They happened to mention that they’d be at Coutere’s Gardens (by Hampton Ponds) for dancing the next week. Lo and behold Eddie happened to be there too. Smart fella. Theirs was a romance filled with travel, golf, plenty of trips to the Cape and love. Proud of her Polish heritage, Mary was active in St. Joseph’s National Catholic Church where she was member of the MK club and enjoyed helping create the snopek for the Do?ynki. She cherished hosting the traditional Wigilia at her home each Christmas Eve, loved a good polka, and particularly enjoyed dancing the oberek. Her sewing machine has been quiet for a little while now, but boy did it hum over the years. Mary spent many a blissful hour “down cellar” in her creative space where she crafted, painted or sewed the hours away. Upstairs in the kitchen she was a maestro at making things from scratch – jams to soups to pies. Her pierogies were the stuff of legend, and family members across the country clamored to fly home with a frozen dozen or two. From hiking on trails around Mt. St. Helens and in the Canadian Rockies to climbing Mt. Washington, Mary had fond memories of the hikes she took. And speaking of mountains, at age 70 she took a trip to Disney World with her sister-in-law. They thought they were in a long line for the Epcot Center, gabbing as the line zigged and zagged, but it turned out to be the line for Space Mountain – they were in for quite the surprise!
Mary is predeceased by her brother Matthew “Joe” Warchol and brothers-in-law John Ashe and Eddie “Kiddo” Wegiel, and sisters-in-law Helen Slade, Louise Cooper and Betty Wegiel.
She is survived by her brother Henry Warchol, sister Claire Ashe, sister-in-law Marilyn Warchol and the extended family of Pettengills and Mayhews. She was above all our beloved Cio Cia Mary, our “Cioch” to nieces Sandra Johnson, Susan O’Hearn, Christine Ashe, Michele Robert, Sandi Cooper Williams, Eileen Baird and Jackie Leach, and nephews, Tim Ashe, Michael Warchol, Glenn Wegiel and Wayne Wegiel and several grandnieces and grandnephews.
We are deeply grateful to the team at Armbrook Village for their splendid care over the past two years, and the staff at Governor’s Center and Westfield Center for their care during a brief stay. Elder care professionals are true heroes, and we thank you all for what you do each and every day. If you crossed paths with Mary in her later years and inquired about her longevity, you would inevitably hear her say – “nie zatrzymuj si?” – keep moving. And so we must. But we will miss you, Cio Cia Mary, all the while.
A Funeral Mass will be held Friday, June 10, 2022, at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph’s National Catholic Church in Westfield with burial to follow in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. There are no visiting hours. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to St. Joseph’s Building Fund, 73 Main St., Westfield, MA 01085 www.firtionadams.com
