Mary S. (Stoklosa) Wolosz, 97, a lifelong Worcester resident and active volunteer, died Thursday, March 14, 2019 at Dodge Park Rest Home following many challenging years of progressive dementia. She was predeceased by her husband, Henry Wolosz, who died in December 1982, and a son Eugene Wolosz who died in May 2017.
The daughter of the late Stanley and Aniela (Saletnik) Stoklosa, Mary attended St. Mary’s School and graduated from Commerce High School and Felt & Tarrant Business School. Her chosen vocations in life were those of wife, mother and homemaker, yet for 19 years she also worked part time for the former Jordan Marsh Company in Worcester. She often recalled with fondness her time there, telling stories of the fun she and her colleagues had.
Always proud of her Polish heritage, Mary was an active member of the Polish American Veterans Auxiliary and the Our Lady of Czestochowa Guild. She also sang in the parish choir from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. Mary was an experienced baker and cook, and she used her arts and crafts skills to create and donate countless flower arrangements and wreaths for charity fundraisers.
Throughout her life, Mary delighted in volunteering for a number of local organizations, including the Volunteers of Assumption College where she served a term on the Volunteers’ executive board, as well as Hope Lodge, Why Me, Inc., and St. Charles Borromeo Church. She was also actively involved with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and in 2010 received its Top Hat Award for her dedication. Another of her passions was the fight against cancer, and in addition to raising money on her own for the American Cancer Society, she sold daffodils during the Society’s annual Daffodil Day and worked in the visitors’ tent during its Relay for Life.
Mary leaves behind a son Richard Wolosz of Boston, daughter Karen Kudless and her husband Peter of Turnersville, NJ, grandchildren Christopher Kudless and Susan, Alison Kudless and David Hamilton, Noelle and Thomas Green, Stephen and Wendy Kudless, Paul and Diana Kudless, and Maryann and Daniel Molis, in addition to 12 great-grandchildren, daughter-in-law Penelope Wolosz of Toronto, Ontario, a step grandson and two step great-grandchildren. She also leaves a dear cousin, Virginia Mikolajczyk of Worcester. Mary also was predeceased by her brother Eugene Stoklosa and sister Sally Stoklosa.
The family offers its sincerest thanks to the staff members at Dodge Park Rest Home and Notre Dame Hospice for their genuine care, love and appreciation of Mary that was evident in the many stories they were kind enough to share in her final days.
A funeral Mass will be held Monday, March 18, 2019 at 10:30 AM in Our Lady of Czestochowa Church, 34 Ward Street, Worcester. Burial will follow in Notre Dame Cemetery. Calling hours will be Sunday, March 17, 2019 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM in Henry-Dirsa Funeral Service, 33 Ward Street, Worcester. The family requests that flowers be omitted and donations instead be made in Mary’s memory to the Our Lady of Czestochowa Renovation Fund, 34 Ward St., Worcester, MA 01610, or the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, National Council of the United States, 58 Progress Pkwy., Maryland Heights, MO 63043-3706. www.worcesterfuneral.com