Born on August 10, 1913, in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, known locally as New Ken, and situated along the Allegheny River 18 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Veronica Rozalia Trojanowksi was welcomed into her family by her loving mother, Elizabeth (maiden name Smajda), and father, Joseph Anthony, along with her older brother, Joseph. She was the first girl in the family and was soon followed by three others, Ruth (aka Rita and Ru), Leucadia (aka Ada), and Genevieve (aka Gen), each named after either biblical heroines or Catholic saints. A sixth sibling, Raymond, was born “late in life” and was a complete surprise to all! Her father worked at the nearby Alcoa Aluminum plant and her mother was a full time homemaker.

She often shared she’d have rather been given Rozalia as her first name rather than Veronica since she never liked her nickname Vernie and would have preferred to have been called either Rose or Nicki.

She discontinued high school to marry her husband, Joe Sekelsky.  Together they had two children, first Elizabeth; then 13 years later, Steven. Prior to Steven’s birth, Veronica returned to school to earn her high school diploma. She’d had hopes to continue her education in the field of Home Economics, which was burgeoning at the time under the influence of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. However, in 1948, she divorced Joe and moved with her children to Southern California where her sister Ruth resided. Soon after she became employed by Ohrbach’s department store and rose to the position of assistant buyer.

In 1951, she met Joel Worthington. They were married in Arabia where he worked for Aramco Oil. While living there, she and Steven had several adventures together exploring the country and its historical monuments. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last and she returned shortly after to Los Angeles, California to begin her life anew as a single woman and mother. She resumed her position at Ohrbach’s. 

She then joined forces with her daughter who was also newly divorced and was caring for her baby girl, Kimberly. Over the next several years, Veronica, Elizabeth, Steven and Kimberly lived together as a family. They lived in a community adjacent to Watts for a short time and then moved to the Fairfax District so she and Elizabeth would have a shorter commute to their work places. Together they shared both pleasurable and difficult times often working six days a week to keep things afloat.

Veronica walked to work daily while Elizabeth took the bus or street car (trolley). On school days, Veronica would accompany Kimberly as far as possible toward her grammar school, Hancock Park Elementary, before having to turn off to make her way to Ohrbach’s. They had lots of fun together and enjoyed each others’ company. When Kimberly was 10 years old, Elizabeth remarried and Steven joined the Army. Veronica then moved to a smaller apartment and continued to live there until she retired from Ohrbach’s in 1975.

Shortly after her retirement, she was invited to move-in with her daughter, Elizabeth, and her son-in-law, Matthew Colucci. Together they shared many experiences as Matthew began a new career as a pastor, in Mariposa, California. Elizabeth has often shared that had it not been for Veronica’s support, she and Matthew would never have accomplished what they did in their ministry. Veronica held down the fort while Elizabeth and Matthew performed their daily responsibilities within the community. She took care of household chores, ensured messages were relayed and made meals. She also acted as peacekeeper to the delight of Elizabeth and Matthew who would often “stage” arguments just to hear her admonish them in Polish “Przestan! (Stop it!) Dzieci badzcie cico! (Children be nice!) to stop their bickering.

She was never alone though as she was welcomed warmly into the church sisterhood, and had two furry family members to keep her company – Boone, their beloved standard poodle, and Tabitha, a spunky once-feral kitty. She often professed indifference to them, but the sparkle of love in her eyes as she spoke of them or interacted with them spoke volumes otherwise.

After Matthew’s death, she an Elizabeth continued to live together, but then Veronica had an accident tripping over her sheets while making her bed. She trivialized it at first, but nothing seemed to resolve the constant pain she found herself in. She even underwent gallbladder surgery thinking that was the culprit. Soon after, she traveled to Kalispell, Montana to visit Steven and Jane where they insisted she visit another doctor. What they found was astounding! She’d actually fractured her vertebrae. Because of the diagnosis, she stayed with them for a year for treatment and rest then returned home to Mariposa.

Because of Veronica’s age and her declining health, she and Elizabeth decided it would be best for them to move to Kalispell permanently, to be closer to Steven and Jane. Unfortunately, shortly after moving there, Veronica was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. It was an extremely difficult time and it soon became apparent that 24/7 care was needed. Veronica agreed the best thing to do was for her to move into Lutheran Renaissance Senior Care. She lived there for nearly a year being visited daily by her children and friends from church. It was extremely difficult for those who loved her to watch the disease slowly take away all her memories, but she enjoyed the company of others and seemed at peace.

Although she died on December 15, 2006, she will always be remembered and loved forever.