Obituary of Catherine Czarnomski

Czarnomski, Catherine, 86, of Huntington Station, on January 8, 2018. Beloved mother of Michael (Susan), Stephan (Barry), Kathy Mathews (Jack), Karen Breden (Curtis), Kristine Novak (David) and Suzanne Arp. Cherished grandmother of 6. Visitation Wednesday 2-4 & 7-9 PM at M.A. Connell Funeral Home, 934 New York Ave., Huntington Station. Funeral Mass Thursday 9:30 AM at St. Hugh’s Church, Huntington Station.

Catherine Theresa Czarnomski left us on January 8, 2017.  Her strong will to live, unwavering faith in God and the love and prayers of family and friends carried her through almost 87 wonderful years. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to: St. Hugh of Lincoln Parish Outreach Program, 21 E. 9th Street, Huntington Station, New York 11746 in Catherine's name.

Catherine was born in Brooklyn, on January 19, 1931 New York to Peter and Nora Carden.  Her family included three sisters Ardis, Elizabeth (Betty) and Marguerite (Margie) as well as three brothers Dennis, Edward and Peter.  Catherine married Walter “Buddy” Czarnomski in 1951    and together had 5 children, Michael, Stephan, Kathy, Karen, and Kristine.  After Buddy passed away in 1971, Catherine moved the family to Long Island to be closer to her sisters.  This created a wealth of aunts, uncles, and cousins who became our extended family and helped us all become the interesting bunch of adults we are now.  With the daunting task of being a widow of limited income (family joke), she took on different jobs to support the family.  The Tally Ho Diner became our place as the staff mainly consisted of members of our family where we even got a new sister Suzanne.  To this day, people remember her from her time at King Kullen as one of the nicest people to ever work the register. They always smile and remember her kindness to them.  While raising her children, she instilled in them many qualities: love of family, leave a list of chores for your kids everyday, fashion critic, world’s best chef of her stuffing and biscuits for the holidays, buy hallmark cards and make sure you underline most of the words, and an incredible sense of strength and work ethic.  Of course, while growing up, she always managed to make us laugh and create great family memories.    A favorite phrase on the weekends was “put on the Greek station”. Catherine had more energy than anyone and as her health started to falter, showed us many times her miracle ability to bounce back and continue her reign even from a hospital bed.  

One of the great joys of her life was to spend time with her grandchildren who all loved hearing the stories of their parent's youth, who got in trouble.  Celebrating holidays and birthdays was always made special by Nana, and we most of the time had a Carvel Ice Cream Cake or her famous vanilla cake with homemade whipped cream and mandarin oranges.

One of the things Catherine loved best was shopping.  Most times it was for someone else, but she always liked to come along and offer her “valuable” opinion. 

Gardening and flowers brought her joy and we (her children)  guess she started gardening to clear her head and get away from all those kids….(LOL).

In closing, Catherine could not have been a better mother, grandmother, relative or friend.  She was a generous person opening up her home to family, friends, co-workers, and friends of her children. She had a heart of gold and was one of the strongest women we will ever know.  She was a believer in the power of prayer especially to Mary and the Hail Mary was her favorite.  She always said ‘Remember her when you recite it and make sure you do it every day. Pray to Mary, she will help you.’