3/29/1918 - 7/4/2020
OBITUARY
Virginia Brachocki passed away peacefully on July 4, 2020 at the age of 102 in Scottsdale, AZ. She was born on March 29, 1918 in Brooklyn, NY, the eldest child of Joseph A Smolenski and Felicia (Piasecki). She was preceded in death by her husband Edward and daughter Barbara (O’Leary), as well as her brothers Stephen and Joseph Smolenski and their wives.
She is survived by her son Edward and wife Susan (Schnoor), grandchildren Jennifer Brown (Anthony) and Sean O’Leary and great grandchild Max Brown, plus numerous nieces and nephews who she loved very much. Jeannie, as she was known to most, was a wonderful, caring and compassionate person. Her intellectual curiosity knew few bounds and she always wanted to know about you. As a teen she was very involved with the YWCA in Brooklyn, where she met Eleanor Roosevelt, a highlight of her young life. After the war she worked for a number of years for the interior design firm McMillen and Co. in Manhattan as an assistant to company founder Mrs. Brown. She left to start her family, and spent most of her adult life on Long Island where she raised her family. She was dedicated to volunteer work including transcribing books into Braille for many years and working for Catholic Charities. She and her husband Ed were longtime members of Hempstead Golf Club where she was also an avid bridge player. They also traveled extensively through the U.S and Europe on business and pleasure which she treasured. She moved to Arizona in 2014 where she lived with her son and his wife until recently. She was a deeply religious, strongly independent woman and the best Mom anyone could ask for. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial on Monday July 13 at 9:30AM at Holy Spirit with interment at Holy Rood Cemetery, Westbury to follow.
Arrangements are being made with the New Hyde Park Funeral Home www.nhpfh.com. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation in her name to the American Foundation for the Blind (www.afb.org).