Katarzyna Tieluszecka

Katarzyna Tieluszecka age 38 of Toms River passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday, October 4, 2020 while spending time with her loving family.

Katarzyna, affectionately known as Kasia to her family and friends, was born in Hajnowka, Poland and was the oldest of three children to Miroslaw and Alina Tieluszecki.  Kasia was raised in Poland until the age of ten when her family immigrated to the United States in search of a better life and the American Dream.  Upon arriving in the United States, the family settled in Garfield where they lived for about four years.  In 1996, Kasia and her family then moved to the town of Haskell.  While living in Haskell, Kasia attended Wanaque High School where she was on the girl’s field hockey team.  Kasia had an incredible work ethic in her and sought employment at the age of fifteen at a local bagel store. She then worked as a waitress at the IHOP with her sister Adela on Hamburg Tpk in Wayne.  Following her graduation from Lakeland High School in 2001, she attended William Paterson University where she studied Business and Marketing.  In 2006 she graduated from William Paterson with high honors, earning her Bachelor’s Degree.

Subsequent to graduating college and earning her degree, Kasia worked tending bars for a few years for some different taverns and restaurants including Franklin Steakhouse in Nutley where she lived at the time.  Kasia truly enjoyed this work as it put her in the position to meet many people and make many friends.  After working a few years tending bar, Kasia started a new career as a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative with Primex Pharmaceuticals Ltd.  She held this position for about two years and was then offered another job with Horizon Pharmaceuticals. She earned several awards and bonuses, being named their top sales representative for several years.  During her time in Pharmaceutical Sales she moved to Brick Township for two years, then to Toms River where she was currently residing.

Kasia had a great love for the outdoors and enjoyed hiking, camping, mountain biking, and was obsessed with picking mushrooms.  She loved being on the water; boating, fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, or just soaking up the sun.  Because Kasia cherished the outdoors, it came as no surprise that she loved gardening.  Kasia grew a variety of flowers, vegetables, and fruit including blackberries, cucumbers and tomatoes nearly all year long.  Not only did Kasia love to grow the vegetables, she also put them to good use with her outstanding cooking skills.  Kasia treasured cooking a large variety of food for her family and friends for all sorts of occasions.  As people were sitting down to eat her delicious meals, Kasia would remain in the kitchen, continuing to cook and then clean.

Kasia was a selfless person who was there for those she cared for and always wanted the best for them. She worked with the Coalition for Peace Action in Paterson and their gun buyback program for several years.  She also had a deep love for animals, especially cats. She was known as the “Cat Lady”  because she would walk her cats Mishka, Bella, and Fluffy around the neighborhood on a leash.  Kasia loved to show off her awesome dance moves and was a big fan of music and concerts, her tastes ranged from Electronic Dance to Sinatra.  She had a natural talent for painting with acrylic and oil paints, creating beautiful landscapes and truly unique abstract art. Her favorite thing to paint was also her favorite place to be, the ocean.  Kasia was extremely creative and treasured spending time on her arts and crafts. She loved animals from all walks of life and enjoyed caring for wild life. A woman of culture, Kasia loved to travel. She and her family enjoyed wonderful vacations together to far away destinations all over the world including their homeland of Poland.  Kasia always told her family the city of Krakow, Poland was the most beautiful city in the world.   Other favorite places Kasia visited included Florida, Hawaii, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and most memorably traveling all over Europe for 30 days.

During the last year and half Kasia happily spent her time in a loving relationship with the love of her life, Pasquale Destro. They spent everyday together in their own paradise on the bay, enjoying life to the fullest and doing all of the things she loved, and looking forward to weekly visits from her parents and sisters.

Kasia was a smart, selfless person who was helpful, hardworking and had a great deal of determination in whatever she did.  She was funny and sarcastic and was the type of person whom you couldn’t help but want to be around.  Aside from all of her interests, hobbies, and talents, Kasia’s greatest passion was for her family.  Nothing in the world meant more to Kasia than spending time with her friends and family.  Kasia was a truly special person who touched the lives of many people and will be sincerely missed by everyone that knew her.

Kasia is survived by her parents Miroslaw and Alina Tieluszecki of Haskell, two younger sisters, Adela and Diana, both of Haskell, one aunt (Godmother) Theresa Durzynska and her husband Edmund, her aunt Lilla Durzynska and her daughters Eliza and Dominica, as well as family from Poland, Canada, and Australia.

Kasia’s beautiful soul will never be forgotten.

In addition to and in lieu of flowers, those wishing to make a donation in Kasia's name are asked to consider Kasisi Foundation, ul. Klarysewska 52C 02-936 Warsaw, Poland https://www.fundacjakasisi.pl/ or Compassion International,  Inc 12290 Voyager Parkway Colorado Springs, CO 80921 https://www.compassion.com/.