Obituaries

Elizabeth Krajewski Hodukavich

Elizabeth Krajewski Hodukavich of Smyrna, Del., passed away Friday, March 29, 2019, with peace and grace after a 12-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 94. She was known to family and friends as “Betty” and was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

A native of Riverhead, Long Island, N.Y., Betty was born Dec. 19, 1924, to the late Anthony Krawjewski and Helen Przyborowski. She graduated from Riverhead High School and worked as a bookkeeper.

She soon met John Hodukavich, a tall and handsome Suffolk County potato farmer. Betty and John married on Sept. 10, 1944, and enjoyed a honeymoon trip to New York City. The couple raised seven children, beginning with two daughters and two sons born on Long Island and then a daughter and two sons born in Delaware, where the family moved in 1956.

Over the next several decades, life for the Hodukavich family was centered around the 250-acre farm and 1800s-style farmhouse near Leipsic, owned and managed diligently by John and Betty. Devout Catholics, they shared a life of faith, hard work, family joys and fun.

Betty was an avid flower and vegetable gardener as well as a talented seamstress, baker and cook. She was an active member of St. Polycarp parish, particularly the Blessed Virgin Mary Sodality. She was an enthusiastic traveler and visited Hawaii, Northern Europe, Italy, and many destinations across the U.S. Betty enjoyed games of Scrabble and Bingo, reading, yardsaling, fishing with her husband, days at the beach and family gatherings. She was very health conscious and an ardent walker.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, John. She is survived by her children Carol Newberry (Paul, deceased) of Smyrna, Del., John Hodukavich (Critchett) of Arlington, Va., Thomas Hodukavich of Tuckahoe, N.J., Diane Weller of Dover Del., Elizabeth Hinckley (Chris) of Middletown, Del., Edward Hodukavich (Cynthia) of Bozeman, Mont. and Scott Hodukavich of Seattle, Wash.; her grandchildren Laura Gordon, Daniel Newberry, Joel Newberry, Amy LaFalce, Isaac Hodukavich, Aaron Hodukavich, Cathryn Hodukavich, Tina Hodukavich, Vinney Hodukavich, Leo Hodukavich and Margo Hinckley; and her great-grandchildren Alexander, Gavin, Grant, Henry, Gerard, Alejandra and Fiona. Betty is also survived by two sisters Florence Volinski (Benjamin) of Lantana, Fla. and Carolyn Edwards (Paul, deceased) of Muncy, Pa.

She is predeceased by her three brothers Edward Krawjewski, Joseph Krawjewski and Anthony Krajewski; as well as her three sisters Dorothy Jazombek, Helen Krajewski and Marcella Gocha.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered Friday, April 5, at noon at St. Polycarp Catholic Church, 55 Ransom Lane, Smyrna, Del. Friends may call from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the parish hall, located at the same address. Burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Dove, Del.

Memorial donations may be made to Delaware Hospice, 911 S. DuPont Hwy., Dover, DE 19901 or St. Polycarp PSR Program, 55 Ransom Lane, Smyrna, DE 19977. To sign the online guest book, please visit matthewsbryson.com.

This is a paid notice.