Annabelle Sekular's Obituary
In her mid-nineties little did Annabelle Sekular expect to be a T.V. "star" on a local cable show. Anxious though she was about the 28 minute interview she thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The cable show appearance was a far cry from her "world debut" in a West 14th St. Lorain house on May 16, 1914, having been born to Lawrence and Anna (nee Shulz) Pokrywski. Television as we know it did not exist let alone cable, although Ann's , as Annabelle also came to be known, biography would undoubtedly provide interesting material for a T.V. historical bio movie manuscript.
Annabelle's fairly routine W. 14th St. childhood would be interrupted at the age of 8 when her father decided to uproot the entire family, including her, himself, mother Anna, and younger brother Joe, to return to the family farm in Poland, and also to pursue a manufacturing investment, the latter of which quickly went awry. The farm as it was eventually turned out to be the family's main livelihood. Ann spent many hours with her father and brother tending to agricultural tasks at hand without the advantage of modern machinery. She often attributed her longevity to the many hours of heavy laborious farm work, such as digging up sugar beets, hoeing and hand pulling weeds in the field; digging, peeling, and otherwise prepping potatoes for the hogs' slop as numerous other jobs. Her younger sister was too young to partake in the latter work. Lawrence often referred to Ann as his right hand person because not only did she work side by side with him, she also read out loud newspapers and documents to him because of his limited grade school education. Yet also while in the process of working on the farm she managed to attend and graduate from a private agricultural school due to her father's financial support, verbal encouragement, and insistence. The school's curriculum demanded its students attain skills related to both farm fields, animal husbandry, and household work among other things.
Ann's father's involvement and foresight regarding the evolving political and economic situation in Poland eventually brought pressure to bear on the Pokrywski family and forced Ann's lone return at the age of 22 to the U.S. and Lorain again. Once here she went to evening classes to relearn both written and spoken English while during the day she worked at a Cleveland area private residence as a cook-nanny-housekeeper. This was a period of transitional employment for her some of it based on the then existing World War II effort, working as an assembler on a factory line as well as a "Rosie the Riveter". Being away from her immediate family and readjusting to life here was difficult and often lonely until she met her beloved Len.
Ann married Len on July 1, 1940 in Lorain's Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church. The long and happy marriage lasted until Len's untimely death in 1997. Ann's married life was sometimes a combination of work outside the home as well as that of a homemaker. Being a homemaker especially allowed Ann the latitude to pursue her main delights: cooking, baking (especially apple squares), sewing, needle arts, and ceramics. Securing her first driver's license at the age of 65 allowed her the flexibility to seek further independence, but at the age of 95 she willingly surrendered her license due to poor eyesight. Her years as a housewife and mother, Ann found and made time to maintain her family ties in Poland with many letters, cards and visits. As her life evolved here she maintained ethnic ties to the local area too with informal affiliations and memberships such as singing in the Paderewski Choir, volunteering at the P.L.A.V., and participation in church festivals. However, her most fulfilling life's work was with her family, particularly grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Ann is preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Anna (nee Schulz) Pokrywski, and her husband, Leonard T. Sekular.
She leaves behind her daughters, Helena (George) Mitchell of Troy, Ohio and Laureen (George) Ferlic of Lagrange, Ohio; grandchildren Brian (Kristen) Mitchell of Irmo, South Carolina and Phillip (Jen) Mitchell of Maineville, Ohio; Dr. Marin (Chris) Waynar of Powell, Ohio, and Meredith (Jay) Bingham of Amherst, Ohio; great-grandchildren Katelyn, W. Clay, Logan, Griffin, Anderson, Cecily, Brenden, Leighton and Cooper; niece Linda Sekular of Lorain, and numerous cousins.
The family will receive friends on Wednesday, August 10th from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. in the Dovin and Reber Jones Funeral & Cremation Center, 1110 Cooper Foster Park Rd., Amherst. Closing Prayers will be Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in the Funeral Center followed by Funeral Mass at 10:00 a.m. at Nativity BVM Catholic Church. Fr. Robert Glepko, Pastor, will officiate. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery, Lorain.
Family and friends may leave online condolences at www.dovinreberjones.com.
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