Submitted by: Dan Rich

Theresa M. Plonski

Jan. 17, 1919 - June 27, 2008

South Bend Tribune 6/30/2008
SOUTH BEND - Theresa M. Plonski, 89, formerly of the Park Jefferson Apartments, South Bend, Indiana, died June 27, 2008, in the Sunnybrook Nursing Home, Raleigh, North Carolina. She had moved to Raleigh in 1998. She was born January 17, 1919, in New York City, coming to South Bend as a toddler. Her parents, Stanley and Helen Kaminski, owned a grocery on West Thomas Street for many years. Theresa graduated from the former St. Hedwig High School in 1937.

On November 24, 1938, she married Chester Plonski in St. Hedwig Catholic Church. He died in August 1991. A son, Paul, died in infancy. Mrs. Plonski is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Patricia and Donald Allen of Raleigh. She also leaves four grandchildren, Nancy Allen LaPointe (Mark) and children, Andrew and Kristin of Raleigh, Barbara Due (Steve) of Durham, NC, James Allen (Meigo) of Austin, TX, and David Allen (Sandra) and daughter, Jennifer of West Lafayette, IN. Surviving also are brothers-in-law, Al Plonski of South Bend and Gene Plonski of Mishawaka, IN. She held several office positions throughout her life, retiring from the Social Security Administration in South Bend in 1982. Theresa was a volunteer at the Red Cross Chapter House for many years, a member of St. Anthony's Catholic Church and its Harvest House, and PWA Group 65 while in South Bend. In Raleigh she was a parishioner of St. Luke's Catholic Church and participated in its bereavement ministry. Theresa is registered at the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America, Inc., in Concordia, KS, as coming from the New York Foundling Hospital, being one of the last several hundred train riders (1865 to 1926). The society uses funds for educational and historical preservation of that era and maintains a museum.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:30 a.m. on July 2, 2008, at St. Anthony Catholic Church, corner of Ironwood and Jefferson Blvd. Visitation will be one hour before Mass at St. Anthony's Catholic Church. Burial afterwards at St. Joseph Cemetery, South Bend. In lieu of flowers, Masses can be offered. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Vincent de Paul Society, 3408 Ardmore Trail, South Bend, IN 46628; or to the St. Augustine Parish Soup Kitchen, P.O. Box 3198, South Bend, IN 46619. McGann Hay Forest G. Hay Funeral Homes are assisting with arrangements