Obituary for Antonina Rotko (Rusinko)
Antonina Rotko, 94, of Auburn, went to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, whom she loved with all her heart on Friday, March, 1st at Auburn Community Hospital, following a brief illness.
Antonina was born in 1930 in Pankna, Poland, the youngest of four siblings to the late Theodore and Anna Hlywa Rusinko. In 1959 she married Stefan Rotko, and they had one son, Roman Rotko.
She went on to have a life that was worthy of a novel. Talking with her was as if you were taken back to the 1930’s, 40’s 50’s and so on. She had a memory that to her last days remembered detail after detail. In Europe she went from living the poorest and simplest of lives to hellish times that one can only imagine. Her family lived in a home that often hid people from Nazi and Communist soldiers.
One of her most terrifying events was when her family was forcefully removed to be resettled, and she was left to be resettled in a different part of Poland separated from her family and having only a few hours to take what she valued, which included a piglet. Eventually she was reunited with her sister and mother.
She came to the United States in 1962 with her husband and son and lived with family in Yonkers, NY, and came to Auburn in 1967, joining the Ukrainian community.
She worked as a housekeeper, as a seamstress at Custom Cleaners, and retired from Auburn Memorial Hospital.
At home she enjoyed cooking for family and who ever needed, and she enjoyed gardening until the age of 90, sometimes being in the garden until midnight. She loved visiting and a good conversation, and was comforted in her last days with discussions with close friends. She led a life of prayer.
Mrs. Rotko was a communicant and active member of SS Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church, and was a member of the Sacred Heart Society at the church.
She is survived by her son Roman Rotko and his wife Lisa, four grandchildren; Justin(Katie) Miccuci of California, Andrew (Danielle) Annie (Alex) and Kathryn Rotko all of Auburn, four great grandchildren; Charlie, Liam, Luca and Logan with one on the way, several nieces and nephews, and close friends Julie Lupo, Anne Kott, Olga Brazee and Nikola Pinchak. She was predeceased by her husband Stefan in 2013.
Funeral services for Mrs. Rotko will be 10:30 A.M. Thursday in SS Peter & Paul Church. Burial will be in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. Friends are invited to call Wednesday from 4 to 7 P.M. at the Plis Funeral Home, 220 State St.
Contributions in her name can be made to SS Peter & Paul Church, 136 Washington St., Auburn or the Fleming Volunteer Fire Dept. Co.#1, 6063 W. Lake Rd., Auburn.
Antonina was born in 1930 in Pankna, Poland, the youngest of four siblings to the late Theodore and Anna Hlywa Rusinko. In 1959 she married Stefan Rotko, and they had one son, Roman Rotko.
She went on to have a life that was worthy of a novel. Talking with her was as if you were taken back to the 1930’s, 40’s 50’s and so on. She had a memory that to her last days remembered detail after detail. In Europe she went from living the poorest and simplest of lives to hellish times that one can only imagine. Her family lived in a home that often hid people from Nazi and Communist soldiers.
One of her most terrifying events was when her family was forcefully removed to be resettled, and she was left to be resettled in a different part of Poland separated from her family and having only a few hours to take what she valued, which included a piglet. Eventually she was reunited with her sister and mother.
She came to the United States in 1962 with her husband and son and lived with family in Yonkers, NY, and came to Auburn in 1967, joining the Ukrainian community.
She worked as a housekeeper, as a seamstress at Custom Cleaners, and retired from Auburn Memorial Hospital.
At home she enjoyed cooking for family and who ever needed, and she enjoyed gardening until the age of 90, sometimes being in the garden until midnight. She loved visiting and a good conversation, and was comforted in her last days with discussions with close friends. She led a life of prayer.
Mrs. Rotko was a communicant and active member of SS Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church, and was a member of the Sacred Heart Society at the church.
She is survived by her son Roman Rotko and his wife Lisa, four grandchildren; Justin(Katie) Miccuci of California, Andrew (Danielle) Annie (Alex) and Kathryn Rotko all of Auburn, four great grandchildren; Charlie, Liam, Luca and Logan with one on the way, several nieces and nephews, and close friends Julie Lupo, Anne Kott, Olga Brazee and Nikola Pinchak. She was predeceased by her husband Stefan in 2013.
Funeral services for Mrs. Rotko will be 10:30 A.M. Thursday in SS Peter & Paul Church. Burial will be in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. Friends are invited to call Wednesday from 4 to 7 P.M. at the Plis Funeral Home, 220 State St.
Contributions in her name can be made to SS Peter & Paul Church, 136 Washington St., Auburn or the Fleming Volunteer Fire Dept. Co.#1, 6063 W. Lake Rd., Auburn.