Aniela Cimala

Aniela was born in Poland in 1920 following on the heels of the 1st World War. She was one of 9 children who were raised on a farm in post war Poland. All the children worked on the farm and lived off the land. She was taken from her home in 1939 by the Nazi's and forced to work as unpaid farm labor in Austria, where she was treated inhumanely, until she was freed by the Allies in 1944. She made her way to Italy, working as a civilian cook for the British troops who brought her to England in 1946. There she met the love of her life, her husband Francis, a former P.O.W., and they were married in 1947. In 1949 they had a son, John and life was good. However, post war England was not the land of opportunity, particularly for people who spoke a bare smattering of English. In 1951 they took off and sailed across the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth I, with their young son. A voyage that by all accounts set a new record for sea sickness. They arrived in the United States and settled in Passaic, New Jersey. She lived a happy and uneventful life. They became citizens as soon as they were eligible. They worked in jobs, they purchased homes, bought cars, had enough to eat, raised a son, believed in God and lived quiet peaceful lives in a much simpler and perhaps better time. After Francis passed away in 1985, Aniela lived in Garfield until she took residence at the St. Joseph's Senior home in Woodbridge, NJ. She spent the last 9 years there in a warm, caring and spiritual environment. Aniela was predeceased by her beloved husband Francis, and surviving are her son John and his wife Diane Cimala of Oceanport, NJ. Her Grandsons Christopher and his fiance Rita Drevis of Sea Bright, NJ and Bryan and his wife Samantha of Woodbury, NY. She is also survived by her niece Christina Stephenson of Salem, Virginia. Family and friends will gather at Warner-Wozniak Funeral Service, 9AM, Friday, January 15th. A funeral Mass will follow at 10am, at St. Joseph's Church, 7 Parker Ave, Passaic, NJ. Interment at St. Michael's Cemetery, 120 Saddle River Road, South Hackensack, NJ. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to St. Joseph Senior Residence, 1 St. Joseph Terrace, Woodbridge, NJ.