Violetta Zablocka

Violetta Zablocka, age 65, of Lincoln Park, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 2, 2021.

The daughter of Franciszek and Helena (Mischker) Niklewicz, Violetta was born in 1956 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Up until 1994, she spent her life living in Bydgoszcz.

Violetta was the beloved wife of Edward Zablocki. They met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend who along with Edward were Olympic trained rowers for the Polish national team. That date and subsequent ones went very well and, as fate would have it, they fell in love. Desiring marriage, Violetta and Edward began searching for a day for the joyous occasion. They did not want to wait very long and found that the church was available for the marriage on Friday, July 13, 1979. Apparently that date was available for one simple reason– human superstition. Clearly, the average couple did not want to start their marriage on Friday the 13th because of its association with bad luck. Not only would most never choose that date, they also would not have chosen the only available time – one-o-clock. You see, Poland goes by the 24-hour clock where one-o-clock is considered 13:00!

Going against the norm, Violetta and Edward fearlessly booked the date and exchanged their wedding promises before God, family, and friends on that day at Sw. Antoniego z Padwy Church in their hometown of Bydgoszcz. After a honeymoon to the shore along the Baltic Sea, Violetta and Edward went on to enjoy almost 42 years in a happy and devoted marriage and forever confirmed how ungrounded the fear of superstition actually is. In fact, the number 13 went on to become their lucky number.

After the wedding and honeymoon, Violetta and Edward continued to live in the city of Bydgoszcz. Soon they welcomed two sons – Igor in 1980 and Peter in 1982. Unbeknownst to others (including Violetta), when Edward visited his cousin in the United States in the early 1990s, he entered into a lottery for a green card.

Soon an envelope from the U.S. Consulate informed Violetta and Edward (now back in Poland) that they and their children were granted permanent resident status in the United States. So, in 1994, after careful thought and much soul-searching, Violetta, Edward, Igor, and Peter decided to take a pause from life in Poland and give life a try in the United States. After arriving at Newark Airport, the family moved into a studio basement apartment in Clifton, NJ and embarked on a difficult journey towards assimilation. After a year of hardships and much deliberation – and the door still open for a return to life in Poland – Violetta and Edward decided that it would be best to remain in the U.S. and raise their two sons here.

A dream of home ownership was realized in the late 1990s when they purchased a dilapidated house in Lincoln Park – tore ninety-nine percent of it down and rebuilt with their own hands. As months of construction saw friends and family showing up to help, Violetta always kept the volunteers well nourished with her cooking. This hospitality continued to this day as Violetta made the finished house a warm, inviting home for her family and friends whom she hosted with her amazing cooking on all holidays, birthdays, and gatherings. Her family especially loved her Polish Bigos (hunter’s stew), and tomato soup. You also always knew when she was making Veal Bitki (bitki is polish for beat or tenderize) because you could hear her beating the veal in the kitchen to tenderize it.

Violetta loved getting together with her girlfriends for bake-a-thons or to practice yoga. She was often described as a ‘classy lady’. While she loved dressing up, getting her hair styled and nails painted pretty, she was never flamboyant or pretentious about it and was just as happy with her hands and knees in the dirt while working in her beautiful flower garden. She was a truly talented gardener who enjoyed taking cuttings from her plants to propagate new ones which she’d delighted in giving away as little gifts. She loved chamomile tea and considered it a cure for anything that ailed you. She was known for her many wives’ tales but was also a real glass-half-full woman who always assured those faced with a dilemma, that everything would be ok.

Above all else, Violetta’s family was her greatest treasure on earth. She was a fearless lioness always tending to and protecting her cubs, Igor and Peter. Countless hours spent making sure the boys are both studious as well as safe in their lives’ adventures. She was extremely proud of them and joyous when they found their wives Kasia and Deidra, and eventually giving her one of the greatest gifts mother can get…grandkids of her own. As Lucas, Landon and Damian’s grandmother, “Babcia” as they called her, she was always glad to take care of her little grandchildren when need be. Spoiling them with toys was a regular habit; and seeing that big smile that would light up their faces when she slipped them a twenty-dollar bill was worth every penny. She loved the ocean and family vacations, both to the shores of the Baltic Sea in Poland and to Cape May in the U.S. These shore trips became time-tested traditions and her boys always found it humorous that Mom gravitated to the full sun while Dad retreated to the full shade of an umbrella.

To Violetta, her dog Bari, a cute little Beagle given to her by her sons when they got married and moved out, was as much a part of the family as her husband and boys. In fact, the men in her life sometimes wondered if little Bari was maybe a notch above them on her hierarchy of importance. Bari lived longer than the average pooch, surely because of the special pampering Violetta poured upon him. In one example, Violetta would put water bowls all over the house so Bari would not have to walk too far to get a drink.

Graced with a generous heart and a grateful spirit, Violetta would give you the shirt off her back. If you came to her house on a regular basis, you eventually learned not to make a compliment about anything that she had because, if you did, she would insist that you take it for yourself. Violetta would have made the perfect nurse. If a family member or a friend was sick, she would be right there by their bedside attending to all their needs.  

Violetta was an extraordinary woman. She was the beloved wife of Edward. She was the most loving mother of Igor Zablocki and wife Katarzyna of West Caldwell, and Peter Zablocki and wife Deidra of Denville, as well as an adoring grandmother of Lucas, Landon, and Damian.

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Violetta’s name are asked to consider St. Peter’s Orphanage in Denville N.J. – 170 Diamond Spring Road, National Kidney Foundation at kidney.org or Chilton Medical Center Foundation at www.atlantichealth.org/patients-visitors/donate-volunteer