Rose Mary (McKenna) Gierszewski (1926 - 2012)

Born 1 Oct 1926 in Edinburgh, Scotland

Ancestors

Wife of Josef Gierszewski — married 29 Apr 1950 in St. Stanislaw Church, Toronto, Canada

Descendants

Died 24 Mar 2012 at age 85 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Paul Gierszewski [send private message]

Biography

She was born Rose Mary McKenna on 1 Oct 1926, in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was the only daughter of Francis McKenna and Mary Jane McDonald.

From notes that she had written about her childhood:

“I was born during the National Strike of 1926, on a dull wet Friday. A local doctor and nurse were present for my arrival. My father of course was present after having had to carry a bag of coal for the fire from the local coal depot because of the strike. He had to climb 5 flights of stairs as we were situated on the top floor of the tenement.

The flat was lit by gas mantles. To get light you had to feed the meter with pennies. If you ran out of pennies, you also ran out of light.

Our flat was comprised of a large sitting room. There was a bedroom with no heating. A living room that also served as a kitchen. The room was heated by a large black range which was heated by coal and firewood. All water for washing had to be heated on the range or the small gas burner.

Our toilet was outside the flat, off the hallway. To have a bath we had to have the water heated on top of the range. An old zinc bath was brought out and placed in front of the fire, and the person taking the bath got inside. This was a weekly ritual, not a nightly one.

These flats had been divided and sub-divided. At one time they were luxury flats for the gentry of Edinburgh. If you lived on the top flat, you had to carry a pram down five flights of stairs. A parent had to take the child upstairs first and then come down and bring up the pram. Sometimes when the parent returned the covers or toys were missing from the pram.

Some stores had a delivery boy and they would bring the groceries to the home, for a small fee. But otherwise you had to carry the weekly supply upstairs, and this could not be done in one climb. I would endeavor to load myself like a pack horse, and take as much as I could manage on one trip. This was one reason I never smoked as my parents were always running short of cigarettes and would think nothing of sending me off to the local store to get a package, after just getting in from school and having climbed the stairs to reach home.”

When she was about 15, the war came. She remembered the bombing raids. They had to go into tunnels during the air raids (which she did not like because of the rats). When she was old enough, she volunteered for service, and worked in Medical Corps HQ in Edinburgh.

The Polish army was stationed outside Edinburgh later in the war. There she met Josef Gierszewski during a dance. After the war, Josef could not return to Poland since it was in Russian control. He emigrated to Canada. Rose then emigrated to Canada a few years later in 1950 to marry Josef. At that time, you crossed the Atlantic by boat. She remembers the crossing was very rough. She landed at Halifax during a snowstorm (welcome to Canada!), and travelled to Toronto by train.

Rose and Josef married on April 29, 1950, and had their honeymoon in Niagara Falls.

For 6 years, she worked for Dept of Public Works. Rose and Josef also bought a house in Etobicoke, then a suburb of Toronto, and she stayed there the rest of her life. The house and yard were important to her, given her childhood in the Edinburgh tenements.

Subsequently she became busy being a mother, and foster mother. Rose and Joe adopted three kids, Paul, Mark and Monica. They also fostered 12 kids. Sometimes the foster kids arrived in the middle of the night, and did not stay long. Some stayed for years, including Dennis, Robert, Tiara, Cathy, and Jimmy. Tiara was a special case, a young girl born with an illness who was fostered by Rose and Josef for a couple of years, but died young from her illness.

As her children grew up, Rose decided to go back to school, and get her certificate in social work. She graduated in 1973 and then worked for the Toronto Childrens' Aid Society for 17 years, retiring in 1989.

She enjoyed her retirement. Travelling. Painting in watercolors and oils. Spending time with her grandchildren at the cottage. Laterally, as her Parkinson’s restricted her mobility, she was content to stay close to home, and be with Joe and her cats.

She passed away at home on 24 March 2012. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Toronto.

Sources

• Notes as recorded by her son Paul Gierszewski in 2015.