CENTRALIA — Joan D. Wszelaki, 98 of Centralia, Illinois, passed away peacefully Tuesday, December 20, 2022, at Centralia Manor with her daughter, a niece and nephew by her side.
Joan was born September 20, 1924, in Jefferson County Illinois, the daughter of Troy and Fern (Fouts) Baldridge. She married Roman G. Wszelaki on August 6, 1949, and he preceded her in death on August 15, 1984.
Joan is survived by her daughter: Linda Fiock (Thomas Fiock), nieces Diana Freeman, Michele Girardot, Vanessa Baldridge, Diane Blake), nephews (Mike Girardot, Troy, Braxton, Vincent, Garth and Kyle Baldridge), several great-grand and great-great-grand nieces and nephews.
Joan was preceded in death by her parents: Troy and Fern Baldridge, her husband, Roman G. Wszelaki, brothers, Vaughn, Kenneth, Eugene, and Oral Lee Baldridge, sister, Joyce Gerst and niece Sheila Johnson.
Illinois was home to Joan most of her life. She graduated from Pana High School in 1942, second in her class of 98, and immediately applied to Washington University nursing school in St. Louis, Missouri. Joan received a full scholarship and began nursing school in February of 1943. She graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1946 and accepted a position with the Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital in Maywood, Illinois. In 1948, Joan met Roman (Laki) at Hines when he was recovering from being injured as a paratrooper on the island of Luzan during the war. On August 6, 1949, Joan and Laki were married in Wisconsin and begin their life together.
Caring for her husband and daughter full-time, Joan was also a very devout Catholic and had been an active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. When she wasn’t caring for someone, she enjoyed walking, sewing, quilting and other needlework. She had a love for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team and the Centralia Orphans basketball team. During her later years of life, Joan traveled extensively, twice a year to Colorado to visit her daughter and son-in-law, throughout the US and Canada, Europe, Egypt and Israel. She also attended bible study classes, and the Illinois Extension Service, volunteered at community blood drives and participated in the Centralia Cultural Society.
Joan was a loving wife, mother, aunt and friend, she will be dearly missed by those who knew her.
Burial and graveside service for Joan D. Wszelaki will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 14, 2022, at the Fouts Cemetery near Irvington, Illinois. Memorial donations can be made to either St. Mary’s Catholic Church, St. Mary’s School, or Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and can be accepted at Sutherland-Garnier Funeral Home at 235 N. Sycamore Street, Centralia, IL 62801, 618-532-3523, who is honored to be of service to the Wszelaki family.
Online condolences may be made to the family by visiting sutherlandfuneralhome.com and the Sutherland-Garnier Funeral Home Facebook page.
A celebration of life and memorial Mass at St. Mary’s will be held in April 2023, details to be determined later.