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| Ron's aunt |
| New York, New York |
| Bronistawa (Kaczmarek) Milkowski (1916-1961) |
| Born in Bay City, Michigan, four years after the family had emigrated to America, the third daughter of Jozef and Franciszka |
| Kaczmarek nonetheless inherited the traditional Polish moniker of "Bronistawa"; but, to everyone, she was always Bernice. |
| If Bernice's life could be described in two words, they would be "unfulfilled potential." Throughout her teens, she displayed |
| great academic promise; but a tumultuous home life deprived her of an adequate environment in which to study. Bernice's |
| mother, after two years of widowhood and with three small children at home, remarried out of financial desperation. Husband |
| number two, Mike Japczyk, a successful entrepreneur, drank excessively. His loud and often obnoxious behavior dominated |
| life in the home, and his three children from a previous marriage added even more confusion to the already cramped quarters |
| When Bernice's teacher visited the home and pleaded for a quiet corner in which Bernice could study, Franciszka failed to |
| grasp her daughter's need for privacy. Depressed and deeply disappointed, Bernice left home at the age of 14 and joined her |
| older sister, Martha, in New York City. In New York, Bernice refused to attend school, so Martha helped her obtain a job in |
| the only line of work she knew: the restaurant business. After several stints in the kitchen, however, it became clear that |
| Bernice's real talent lay in entertaining people. As a young woman she had blonde hair, big blue eyes, high cheekbones, |
| and a curvaceous figure. She also played the harmonica quite well and danced gracefully. Before long, she discovered her |
| niche entertaining sailors on shore liberty in New York, and she began dating some of them. Men showered her with gifts, |
| and she never lacked for spending money. In her early twenties, she landed a job with the Grace Line, working on cruise |
| ships steaming up and down the eastern coast of the United States, as well as Central and South America. On board, she |
| served as a caregiver for children of wealthy passengers. Although she had no children of her own, she developed a special |
| bond with youngsters, and parents showed their appreciation in the form of generous tips. Sadly, money slipped too easily |
| through Bernice's fingers, or as her sister, Virginia, stated, "She blew it all." Bernice suffered through two failed marriages; |
| first with Tony Padovan from New York, and, second, with Joe Milkowski, origins unknown. As Bernice's disappointments |
| in life mounted, she turned increasingly to alcohol for escape and eventually died from liver failure in 1961at the age of 44. |
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Source: tape-recorded recollections of Virginia Plummer (Oct. 28, 1996/Nov. 1, 1996) |
