Josephine Klos OBITUARY
Josephine Klos OBITUARY
Josephine (Petryk) Klos of Glastonbury, most beloved mother to Czeslava Klos Ferrino and Matthew Klos passed away peacefully at home with her daughter and her dog Lola by her side. She was predeceased by her husband Bronislaw Klos and her son-in-law Nicholas Ferrino.
She was born in Zborow, Poland in 1925 to Rosalia (Jaworska) and Onufry Petryk. Josephine and her husband were taken to Germany as slave labor during WWII. She may be one of the few to walk out of Auschwitz’s gas chambers because they had run out of gas. During the war, while forced into labor at a dairy, she would regularly steal milk to feed her baby born in 1943. In 1945, at the war’s end, the family lived in a British zoned refugee camp where Josephine trained as a nurse and worked in the camp’s hospital. The family came to Harford in June of 1949. Josephine was the owner and operator of Colt Park Market with her son, Matthew in Hartford’s South End until she retired at age 66. She cared for her husband, who had suffered a stroke, at home until his death in 1996. The same year, Josephine was recognized as The Hartford Courant’s Regional Mother of the Year. In an article published on Mother’s Day, Czeslava wrote, “My mother deserves special recognition and a great deal of consideration, not just on Mother’s Day but every day. What could you say about a woman who, for 30 years, six days a week, from early morning until evening, worked in her ‘mom and pop’ (later to become mother and brother) grocery store because her customers in Dutch Point relied on her to be there for them, 2 feet of snow or not. She gave them credit when they needed it. Ordered specialty items, and in general was what a good neighborhood grocer should be. Never a day off, she bathed, shaved and cared for my father like he was the most precious person in her life. She never complained, never shirred what she considered her duty by the one she swore to be with ‘till death do us part’. Due to her excellent care, my dad lived to see his only grandson, born just three years ago, a true gift of love. Their union was forged at the beginning of World War II, in Poland, and survived imprisonment by the Russians, escape, German labor camps, near death for both of them so many times from bombs, abuse by violent German soldiers, her pneumonia, and Allied bombings. My mamma took care of me the best she could. She stole milk to feed me, sheltered me in the middle of the night as bombs fell and refused to sell me to a German couple who had lost four sons on the Bismarck battleship. She and my father brought me to safety and the land of boundless opportunity, America. Today, she still takes care of me. Both widowed, we share a home. She takes my dogs for walks, makes my lunches, makes sure I get to work on time and in general spoils me rotten. My brother and his wife have blessed her with two grandchildren and she cares for the two little ones, when called upon, with joy and loving enthusiasm. There are many other anecdotes of her life and her bravery and devotion that they could fill a book. But for now, I say she should shine because her steadfastness family values and lover of family have made all her of those touched by her very fortunate, Happy Mother’s Day, Babbi.”
Josephine is survived by her daughter Czeslava and her son Matthew Klos, his wife Sharon Tobias Klos, grandson Matthew Klos and his wife Monica, and great-granddaughter, Caroline; and grandaughter, Allison Lybass and her husband Michael, and her new great-grandaughter, Katherine Lybass.
A Graveside Service honoring Josephine’s life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, January 20, 2025 at Green Cemetery, 99 Hubbard Street, Glastonbury. For more information, or to leave a condolence, please visit FarleySullivan.com.
