Obituary for Margaret Sivak (Podvojsky)
Margaret “Marge” Podvojsky of Erie was born in coal mine company housing in Adah, PA on April 7, 1920, the daughter of Antoinette Saksa & Stefan Podvojsky both immigrants from Czechoslovakia. She was the eighth of nine children. She lived in Edenborn, PA until she graduated from Germantown High School in 1938. After graduation, she moved to New York City and took the opportunity to attend Cumberland Hospital School of Nursing. While in nursing school, she learned that her father had died in a mining accident, motivating most of the family to leave coal mining and move to Detroit.
Margaret graduated from nursing school in May 1944, with plans to join the Army as a nurse. With 4 brothers already in military service in WWII, she supported her mother in Detroit working as an Industrial Nurse in the Chrysler Plant that manufactured tanks for the war effort. After the war ended, her lifelong partner, Joseph Sivak from Apollo, PA, returned from the war and they were wed on June 5, 1946. Their marriage lasted for 67 years, until Joe’s death in 2009. Margaret often joked that Joe married her for the new blue Plymouth coupe they were able to purchase from the company, whose wedding gift to the newlyweds was to move them up on the long waiting list created by the manufacturing shortages of WWII.
Margaret & Joe moved to Erie where Joe taught physical education & Margaret worked as a nurse. The Sivak family moved to Dexter Avenue where they lived for 47 years raising their four children & created memories & lifelong friendships with their neighbors, especially the Luddy's.
Margaret loved games … her favorite was pinochle - a game she played for over 90 years & passed on to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Margaret read voraciously, solved the Erie Daily Times crossword puzzle, did jigsaw puzzles, needlepoint, knitted, crocheted and had weekly card games with the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Bingo Alumni group & the monthly dinner outing with her Club girls.
Margaret passed peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, January 28 and reunited with her family, especially her mother whom she thought of and kept close in her heart throughout her life. She was proceeded in death by her parents, Antoinette and Stefan and her siblings Jake, Mary, Steve, John, Andy, Ann, Joe & Mike. She is survived by her children Ginny, John (Beth Scalise), Stephanie (Jan Balsom) and Veronica, grandchildren Peter and Bethany Sivak and Cristina Fritzche (Ryan), her great grandchildren Teague, Monroe, Danielle and Liam Fritzche and many nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews.
Friends and family are warmly invited to call at the Russell C. Schmidt & Son Funeral Home, Inc., 5000 Wattsburg Rd., Erie, PA, 16504 on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the prayer service at 11:30 a.m. A Funeral Mass will follow at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 12:00 p.m. Margaret will be laid to rest next to her beloved husband Joe at Mary Queen of Peace Cemetery.
The family thanks the compassionate staffs at West Lake Woods, the Pennsylvania Soldiers & Sailor Home & Great Lakes Hospice for their wonderful care. Memorials may be made to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (where Margaret was a founding member) 1553 E. Grandview Blvd., Erie, PA 16510 or Great Lakes Hospice 244 Erie Central Mall, Erie, PA 16501.
Margaret graduated from nursing school in May 1944, with plans to join the Army as a nurse. With 4 brothers already in military service in WWII, she supported her mother in Detroit working as an Industrial Nurse in the Chrysler Plant that manufactured tanks for the war effort. After the war ended, her lifelong partner, Joseph Sivak from Apollo, PA, returned from the war and they were wed on June 5, 1946. Their marriage lasted for 67 years, until Joe’s death in 2009. Margaret often joked that Joe married her for the new blue Plymouth coupe they were able to purchase from the company, whose wedding gift to the newlyweds was to move them up on the long waiting list created by the manufacturing shortages of WWII.
Margaret & Joe moved to Erie where Joe taught physical education & Margaret worked as a nurse. The Sivak family moved to Dexter Avenue where they lived for 47 years raising their four children & created memories & lifelong friendships with their neighbors, especially the Luddy's.
Margaret loved games … her favorite was pinochle - a game she played for over 90 years & passed on to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Margaret read voraciously, solved the Erie Daily Times crossword puzzle, did jigsaw puzzles, needlepoint, knitted, crocheted and had weekly card games with the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Bingo Alumni group & the monthly dinner outing with her Club girls.
Margaret passed peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, January 28 and reunited with her family, especially her mother whom she thought of and kept close in her heart throughout her life. She was proceeded in death by her parents, Antoinette and Stefan and her siblings Jake, Mary, Steve, John, Andy, Ann, Joe & Mike. She is survived by her children Ginny, John (Beth Scalise), Stephanie (Jan Balsom) and Veronica, grandchildren Peter and Bethany Sivak and Cristina Fritzche (Ryan), her great grandchildren Teague, Monroe, Danielle and Liam Fritzche and many nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews.
Friends and family are warmly invited to call at the Russell C. Schmidt & Son Funeral Home, Inc., 5000 Wattsburg Rd., Erie, PA, 16504 on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the prayer service at 11:30 a.m. A Funeral Mass will follow at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 12:00 p.m. Margaret will be laid to rest next to her beloved husband Joe at Mary Queen of Peace Cemetery.
The family thanks the compassionate staffs at West Lake Woods, the Pennsylvania Soldiers & Sailor Home & Great Lakes Hospice for their wonderful care. Memorials may be made to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (where Margaret was a founding member) 1553 E. Grandview Blvd., Erie, PA 16510 or Great Lakes Hospice 244 Erie Central Mall, Erie, PA 16501.