Obituaries

Joan Ann Domaleski

Joan Ann Domaleski
Joan Ann Domaleski

Joan Ann Domaleski of Cutchogue died June 6, 2016, at San Simeon by the Sound in Greenport. She was 83. 

She was born in Greenport June 30, 1932, to Antone and Josephine (Bunczyk) Chituk of Depot Lane in Cutchogue. Her father was one of Southold Town’s first police officers, a turkey farmer and carpenter, and her mother was a master gardener of dahlias and African violets. She was the oldest of four and the only daughter.

Shortly after graduation from Mattituck High School, she married Henry Domaleski on May 6, 1951, at Our Lady of Ostrabrama R.C. Church in Cutchogue. She lived her entire life in Cutchogue, growing up on Depot Lane and later moving one mile north to Oregon Road once married.

Joan was a devoted homemaker and worked at A & H Domaleski Farms, where they raised potatoes, cauliflower and cabbage and operated U-pick strawberry and pumpkin fields.

She was very active in the community and church as an organizer and project leader for several 4-H clubs; served on 4-H advisory committees including Awards and Rewards, Clothing Revue, fundraising; and was vice-chairperson of the 4-H Development Program Advisory Committee.

At Our Lady of Ostrabrama Parish, Joan was president of the Sacred Heart Rosary Society and organized biannual bake sales, parish polka barn dances and annual raffles. She prayed her rosaries every day and dedicated a day of the week to each of her children.

Joan was also a member of Mattituck Homemakers and the Long Island Farm Bureau and managed the “Grown on Long Island” T-shirts at fairs, rain or shine.

Joan’s public achievements include the Cornell Cooperative Extension Volunteer Award, Newsday Volunteer Winner and Saint Agnes Medal of Service for Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Other passions were cooking and baking. Joan cooked Sunday dinner every week for the entire family on the scale of a big holiday meal. She would welcome any of the grandkids’ friends to the table – “just get another chair’ she would say. At Christmastime, she would start early in December, baking thousands of cookies just to make sure there was enough for all the holiday meals that she and her husband would have at their home.

Easter was another special time for her as she would hold egg hunts and have a particular colored egg for each grandchild so everyone got their fair share. Lavish birthday parties for family and family pets were held as was a “Day after Christmas” celebration for the entire Chituk and Bunczak families.

Joan and her husband, Henry, shared a love for polka dancing, which was evident by their car’s license plate, which read “We Polka.” They attended many summertime Polkabrations in New London, Conn., and became personal friends with Dick Pillar and the Polka Family bands. Because of this, she helped organize many barn dances at June Glover’s barn for Our Lady of Ostrabrama.

She is survived by her husband, Henry; five children: Raymond (Elaine) Domaleski of Aquebogue, Virginia (Jerome) Surozenski of Cutchogue, Thomas (Barbara) Domaleski of Cutchogue, Theodore Domaleski of Bakersfield, Calif., and Geraldine Domaleski of Cutchogue; grandchildren: Tenille (Anthony) Rodine, Jessica (Paul) Reeve, Allison Surozenski, Thomas Domaleski Jr., Meredith, John Henry and Brendan Domaleski, Eileen, Michael and Olivia Kennedy, Tabby (Stanley) Zombick and Lisa (Juan) Reeve; and great-grandchildren: Aiden Tidwell, Ethan, Skye, Emma and Joan (her namesake) Rodine, Cara and Caiden Zombick and Blake Alvarado; cousins: Jackie (Roanne) Adams of East Islip and Angela Deroski of Cutchogue; sisters-in-law: Jane Domaleski of Cutchogue, Dolores Chituk of Riverhead and Dorothy and Henrietta Chituk of Cutchogue; nieces and nephews; and her pets: Buffy, Peanuts and Chester.

The family received friends June 9 at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck, where prayer services were conducted by Father Peter Narkiewicz and members of the Sacred Heart Rosary Society. The Liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated at Our Lady of Ostrabrama R.C. Church by Father Stan Wadowski and Father Peter Narkiewicz. Interment took place at Sacred Heart R.C. Cemetery.

All the memories we have will be forever cherished. She brought us all together at her bedside of her last days. God took her from us before we were ready to let her go but she lived a fulfilling and giving life. We will be forever grateful for having such a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. We have great comfort in knowing that she is now at peace with God. There was no one like her. She will be greatly missed and will live on in our hearts forever. If you want to do something in her memory, bake some cookies and share them with your family and friends, said family members.

Memorial donations to the Cutchogue Fire Department or American Diabetes Association would be appreciated.

 

This is a paid notice.