Zdenka Pavlovich

Zdenka Genc Pavlovich, age 93, passed peacefully on Sunday, December 1, 2024, surrounded by her loving family. She is survived by her two sons, Robert and Davor Pavlovich, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Zdenka was born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) on March 12, 1931 to Mihael and Dragica Genc. She was the second oldest of six children and is survived by her older sister Mira Martinovich.

Zdenka was born in Zagreb to a poor family from the surrounding mountains. During World War II food and work were not available in the cities. The family suffered greatly, but they all survived. Baka often said that they would split up the little that they had without complaint, and they remained a very close family throughout their lives. According to Mira, Zdenka was a quiet and well-behaved child. She had some ambition to become a nun, but that was discouraged when the communists won the war. She completed school through the eighth grade and then apprenticed as a knitting machine operator. She went to work at the Tresnjaka factory in Zagreb, where she met her best friend, Maria Zidarevic, who was later her maid-of-honor and Davor's godmother.

Zdenka met her husband, Ivan (Ivo) Pavlovich, at dancing school. She had had several proposals for marriage that she rejected. She accepted Ivo's proposal, because they were in love, and because she saw Ivo’s work ethic and ambition. She was already twenty-five, which was considered old for marriage. After they married they lived with her family, but Zdenka dreamed of one day having a home of her own. Their first son, Robert, was born two years later, in September, 1959.

Zdenka and Ivo worked hard in the early years of their marriage. Due to the poor economic situation in Yugoslavia, Ivo went to find work in West Germany as a plumber/sheet metal worker. Zdenka followed soon afterwards, entrusting Robert to his grandparents and aunts in Zagreb. Their goal was to work hard, save money, and build a house in Zagreb. Around 1965 they purchased land in Zagreb and started building a house while still working in West Germany. The couple visited Robert and the rest of the family on holidays. Zdenka moved back to Yugoslavia in 1966 when she was expecting her second son, Davor, who was born in January, 1967. After a few months she returned to West Germany to work and left Davor with caretakers. At the time her sister Mira lived in the U.S. and offered to sponsor the family's immigration. Mira wanted to be close to her sister and for the family to be together. Zdenka was reluctant to leave the country she had always known, especially now that the house in Zagreb was completed, but she was persuaded by her husband and by Mira. Mira continues to remind Baka's daughters-in-law, Laura and Kim, that they should be grateful, because she brought them husbands from Europe.

Zdenka's life in America began when they arrived in New York by steamship on December 5, 1969. The family of four lived with Aunt Mira and Uncle Rudy for several months, along with Rudy's niece, Dragica Francetic, before finding an apartment in Astoria, Queens. Zdenka got a job at a German Lutheran Church in Manhattan, where she cleaned and opened/closed the church for services. She kept that job for twenty years. She was a diligent and dedicated employee, and the Pastor came to rely upon her. The Pastor appreciated that Zdenka spoke German, as well as Croatian and now English. Just four years after immigrating, Zdenka and Ivo had saved enough to purchase a house in Ridgewood, Queens, largely due to Zdenka's economic prudence. Zdenka and Ivo’s sons were raised in this house that they kept through their lives.

Ivo and Zdenka embodied a Horatio Alger story. Ivo used his training in Germany to get a job in the sheet metal industry in New York, and then he bought out his boss and started AWL Industries in 1979, just a decade after arriving in this U.S. The family went months without a paycheck in the early stage to assure that the business would survive. Although Zdenka was not a risk taker, she supported her husband in his plans. Her support behind the scenes was key to Ivo's success. Robert and Davor both went into the family business, and the business is still in the family.

Zdenka valued education and social propriety. She always encouraged her boys to work hard, be respectful, kind, and polite, and to take care of their appearance and reputation. A woman of few words, her care and generosity showed her love. Zdenka became a grandmother ("Baka" in Croatian) in 1985, and from then on she was known by everyone as Baka, a loving grandmother. As her granddaughter Liz wrote, "Baka's love was fierce and unwavering, with lipstick marks all over your cheeks. She paced her days slowly and rhythmically while caring for me when I was a young child. When she hugged, she squeezed too hard, and when she laughed, she scrunched her eyes and looked like she would cry from amusement. As I reached adulthood and faced life’s struggles, she made it known that she only ever wanted was for me and others to be treated well. I felt unconditionally loved in her presence — a precious and comforting connection that one can easily take for granted." Baka and Deda loved all their grandchildren and were the happiest when they were all together.

When Ivo ("Deda" in Croatian) semi-retired, Baka and Deda spent more time in Croatia. Each summer they would invite and sponsor their family for a vacation on one of the Croatian islands. Robert and Davor took advantage of this to reconnect with them. Baka never liked the sun, and she would sit under the trees and play with the grandchildren while Deda would be lying in the blazing sun reading the political newspaper, sleeping or tossing the ball with the kids. In the evening, the three generations would all wash up, have dinner, and listen to a local band. At times Deda would show off his dancing skills by getting his wife out on the dance floor. It was beautiful to watch them together in their element.

Baka was a wonderful cook. She knew many Croatian recipes, but her cooking was also influenced by the years in Germany when she was first married. When granddaughter Liz was little she told her that she should open a restaurant, but Baka was strictly a family cook — every day and especially on the holidays. In her modest kitchen in the house in Queens she turned out amazing three course holiday feasts featuring lasagna, spaetzle, Wiener schnitzel (now Davor's specialty), fried shrimp and calamari, and stuffed cabbage ("sarma," now Hannah's specialty). For dessert there might be almond moon cookies ("kifli," now Kim's specialty) or strudel. She made the yeasty Croatian strudel dough from scratch. She would roll the dough out to cover the whole kitchen table, fill it with walnuts, apples, or poppyseeds, then roll it up and bake it. She made enough strudel in one day to be able to give it away generously. Christmas will never be the same without Baka's strudel.

As much as Baka was an old-school cook — she cracked whole walnuts to make her walnut strudel — she also embraced American convenience foods. She served corn flakes in the morning and rice-a-roni with dinner. When she babysat the grandkids, she gave them packaged ramen noodle soup for lunch so often that the kids started calling it Baka Soup.

After Ivo/Deda passed in December, 2012, Baka became more independent. She took care of the house in Zagreb, spent time with friends, and planned for the future. She continued to be involved with her sons and grandchildren, splitting her time between New York and Zagreb. She moved in with Robert's family for a few months during the Covid shutdowns and isolation. Then she went back to Zagreb under the care of her good friend Mira Falica and granddaughter Hannah. When Mira Falica became too ill herself, it was decided that Baka should return to the U.S. and have more help. Davor and his family offered to take her in, and she had been living with them since January, 2022. She was happy with all the activity at Davor's house and to be part of his family. Kim found caregivers, Yelena and Stephanie, to take care of Baka's daily needs so that her sons could just be sons. Six months ago, Baka broke a hip and then had a stroke. Davor and his family provided comfortable and loving care right to the end when she died at home surrounded by family.