IN MEMORIAM: Therese Gadomski, 91;

Helped Polish Resistance During WWII

COOPERSTOWN – Therese Gadomski, a mother of six and a distinguished World War II veteran, passed away July 27, 2015, in Englewood, Fla.

Therese was born in Warsaw, Poland Sept. 21, 1924, and grew up there and in its outskirt where she developed a love of animals and flowers. Her teenage years were shattered by the outbreak of World War II during which she was a covert courier of gold and dollars to fund Poland’s underground Home Army.

During the Warsaw uprising, she was in an auxiliary nursing unit, was captured and remarkably released shortly after the capitulation of the resistance fighters.

Following World War II, she escaped Soviet domination by being clandestinely smuggled to Belgium where she completed her master’s degree at the Gembloux Agricultural University. She met her future husband Richard Gadomski there and they married Oct. 28, 1949. As part of the Polish displaced persons quota program, they immigrated to the United States arriving in New York on Dec. 10, 1951.

VIEW A FULLER ACCOUNT OF MRS. GADOMSKI’S WWII HEROISM

 Therese and Richard raised six children in Westchester County: Stephen, Christopher, Anne Marie, Mary Helen, Richard and John Paul.

Following the death of her husband in 1973, Therese pursued a career as a regulatory compliance consultant for leading pharmaceutical companies including Ciba-Geigy and American Cyanamid, retiring in 1993.

She began visiting her son Stephen and his family in Cooperstown in the 1960s, and in retirement lived here for many years.

In retirement, she also enjoyed travel, the perpetual company of her beloved dogs, contributing to various charities, including the Society for the Care of the Blind in Laski in Poland, and enjoying the company of her 16 grandchildren at her homes in Borrego Springs, Calif., and Cooperstown.

In 2014, age 90, Therese moved from California to Florida to be closer to her family and to enjoy the tropical weather and lush vegetation of the Gulf coast which she loved. Known to her grandchildren as “Babu”, Therese left her surviving family with an appreciation for the importance of family, education and hard work, intellectual curiosity, and a love of nature.

A Mass of Christian Burial was at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, at Annunciation Church in Crestwood, Westchester County. Interment was at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society .