Obituaries

Bernice C. Cruz

Bernice_CruzWESTFIELD – Beloved Mother, Grandmother, Wife. Bernice C. Cruz, 79, passed away peacefully on January 30, 2014. Born May 12, 1934, she was a lifelong resident of Westfield, and the daughter of the late John and Louise (Morytko) Jagiello.
She attended local schools, graduating from Holy Trinity School and Westfield High School. Bernice was employed as an accounting clerk for Polep Brothers Distributors Inc. (Paysaver, Holyoke) for 5 years and prior to that worked in a family business, M&M Sales on Elm Street in Westfield for over 35 years. She was a communicant of Holy Trinity Church, served as a Eucharistic Minister, and often served as reader at the 8:30 Sunday Polish Mass. Bernice was a lifelong member of Holy Trinity’s St. Cecilia’s Choir, where both her parents and grandfather, Peter Morytko, served as church organist for many years. She was a longtime Librarian at the Holy Trinity Elementary School and was instrumental in setting up the library as a student resource. Bernice was fluent in 3 languages, Polish, English and Spanish and taught English as a second language through the church’s community outreach in the mid-1950’s, where she met her husband.
Bernice was devoted to her family and sadly leaves her husband of 57 years, Mariano Cruz, Sr. along with 2 children; son, Mariano Cruz Jr of Melrose, MA; daughter, Maryann and son-in-law Russ Swift of Wilbraham, MA; 3 grandchildren, Amanda Cruz, Marelena Cruz, and Michaela Swift and a god-daughter, Louise Jean (Shimeld) Savey of San Diego, CA. Bernice was predeceased by her sister, Jean Shimeld.
Her funeral will take place on Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. from the Robert E Cusack Funeral Home, 94 Main Street (Route 20) with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. in Holy Trinity Church. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, all in Westfield. Visiting hours will be Wednesday from 5:00-7:00 p.m. and Thursday morning from 9:00-10:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Bernice’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association, MA/NH, 480 Pleasant Street, Watertown, MA 02472.

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