Bernice T. Rosewicz October 22, 1926 - May 19, 2024
moved back to Wyandotte County, KS, and joined in the nationwide Baby Boom. They raised seven children in an enclave of homes designed and built by “Chet” on North 48th Street near Welborn Lake. Because relatives bought a half dozen of the homes, the dead-end street swarmed with cousins who all attended Christ the King School. It was a life centered on family, faith and simple pleasures: birthday and religious celebrations with relatives; homemade ice-cream and driveway fireworks on the 4th of July; whiffle ball and yard games with cousins; and polka dancing. As empty nesters, Bernice and Chester became groupies of the Don Lipovac Orchestra, taking bus trips with friends to see their favorite local polka band perform.
Bernice never wanted to be the center of attention, but she was undeniably the center of her family of seven children, their spouses, her 14 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren who knew her as “Pra-Babka,” two great-great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews who called her “Ciocia Bernice.” She is survived by all her children and their spouses, whom Bernice treated as her own: Richard and Linda Sue (Richardson) Rosewicz; Christine (Rosewicz) and Cliff Benedict; Barbara Rosewicz and Jerry Seib; Kevin Rosewicz; Linda (Rosewicz) and Mike Crosthwait; Tom and Ronni (Curtis) Rosewicz; and Tim and Mary Pat (Simmons) Rosewicz.
All of the grandchildren’s latest school photos hung en masse on her livingroom wall: Brian Rosewicz, Angela Rosewicz, Stephanie (Benedict) Erker, Beth (Benedict) Borders, Joseph Seib, Jacob Seib, Luke Seib, Colin Rosewicz, Christopher Murphy, Megan (Murphy) Finley, Jodee (Crosthwait) White, Trevor Rosewicz, Quintin Rosewicz and Andrew Rosewicz.
Their inheritance from Bernice includes a rich tradition of Polish customs, such as oplatki wafers on Christmas Eve and the blessing of Easter food baskets known as swieconka; a love of polka music; memories of miraculously overstuffed stockings on Christmas morning; anything-goes-at-Babka’s-house rules for grandkids; povitica nutbread on special occasions. Family traditions were important to Bernice and Chester, both descendants of Polish immigrants who grew up in bilingual Polish-English households.
Over all this she liberally sprinkled her Catholic faith -- and literally a dousing of holy water before you left on a road trip. Even what might have sounded like a Polish curse when things didn’t go right -- “Boze kochany” was literally a prayer to “Dear God.”
Ever unselfish, Bernice delighted in finding small ways to help people. You never left her home without a goody bag. Hers was the most popular house on the block on trash collection days because she would leave cold water bottles and Little Debbie cakes for the workers.
One burden of a long life is that Bernice lived through the loss of so many loved ones: her parents, Joseph and Rose (Bartkoski) Washick; siblings Anna Manczuk, Mary Stimetz, Alvin Washick, Rose Washick and Leona Rosewicz, and their spouses, all of Kansas City, KS; her husband’s parents, siblings and their spouses, mostly from Southwest Missouri; and beloved nieces and nephews who were younger than her. She lost Chester in 2004.
Bernice lived independently in the house that Chester built until 2023, when the kind caregivers at CareHaven Homes in Johnson County helped her live with a failing memory, and through her final months, with the aid of the angels from Ascend Hospice.
Family will receive friends at a visitation 4-6 pm Tuesday, May 28, at Christ the King Church, 3024 N. 53rd St. in KCK. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 am Wednesday, May 29, at Christ the King, followed by a luncheon at the church and burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 12700 Parallel Parkway. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to Christ the King Church.