Joan Brudzinska (26 Sep 1927 - 10 May 2016)

In loving memory of Joan Brudzinska who sadly passed away on 10th May 2016

Joan was born on the 26th September 1927 at 3, Arundel Drive, Mansfield, the only child of Joseph (Joe) and Hilda Hart. Joan often spoke of her time growing up in the area with fondness in particular about her friends and her close friendship with her cousin Jack. Local history was a passion of Joan’s and throughout her life and she could often be heard talking about the old days to family and friends.

She was educated first at Broomhill Lane School and later at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School for Girls until she was 18. During the war years Joan would go with friends to work on one of the local farms to help with the war effort.

After leaving school with numerous qualifications Joan worked as a secretary for Lipton’s, firstly in Nottingham and later, for a short time, in London.

After returning to Mansfield Joan enjoyed attending weekly dances which were held at local venues such as the Mansfield Palais and Abbot Road hostel which was the home to many foreign soldiers who had remained in England after the war. It was during one of these visits that she was to meet Stefan who she fell in love with and went on to marry on December 17th 1949 at St Philips Roman Catholic Church in Mansfield.

Shortly after their wedding they moved into their first home together on Stone Crescent on Mansfield’s Ladybrook estate where they lived for a couple of years before purchasing some land on Villiers Road and it was here they had their own home built. This was to remain the family home for the rest of their lives.

Joan was married to Stefan for over 50 years until his death in May 2000 and during that time they had eleven (11) children together: Kathryn, Christina, Halina, Stefan, Rosalind, Anna, Fiona, Edmund, Patrick, Brendan and Louisa. In addition to her sons and daughters Joan had 31 grandchildren, 38 great grandchildren and 1 great great grandchild.

With such a large family Joan was always kept busy around the home. She loved making new clothes for her children and could often be found knitting or sewing. She also loved being in her garden where her and Stefan grew a variety of fruit, vegetables and flowers. Chickens and rabbits were also kept and would often end up on the dinner table. When the children were in bed Joan loved to relax by reading and listening to music, in her younger years she was a member of the Batchelor’s fan club.

Joan only ever met one of her extended family from Poland but would regularly send parcels to her in-laws which would contain clothing and items which were unobtainable in the eastern block at that time.
Whilst the children were younger the family would often be found spending days out at local parks such as the racecourse, Titchfield and Berry Hill parks and at Joan’s favourite local locations Newstead Abbey and Chatsworth. Day trips to the east coast were also on the agenda which back then was a real treat for the children.

Joan developed a love of the East Coast and as the family grew up they continued to visit her favourite place, Chapel St Leonards, several times a year. Joan would often be the first person to be up in the morning and would walk her dog Ben to Chapel Point where she would stop for a cuppa and a cigarette before heading back. As her children grew up, got married and had families of their own they too would holiday in Chapel with Joan and Stefan and it wasn’t unusual for the family to occupy several caravans together on the same site.

Joan was always proud of her family and was often complimented on their good behaviour and how well dressed they were (mainly in their younger years of course)

Joan had many friends and loved socialising and would regularly join Stefan at their local pub the Ravensdale. They would often return home at weekends after a night out with friends in tow and the evening socialising would continue into the early hours. Joan also enjoyed Special dances at the Polish club and hospital functions. It’s no secret that Joan loved a good party and Christmas and New Year’s Eve were particular favourites of hers. These would often consist of large family gatherings and sometimes continued well into the next day with Joan often being the last man standing.

Joan liked many different sports. She enjoyed watching her children participating and loved watching the big events such as the World Cup, Wimbledon, the Grand National and Olympic Games. She also enjoyed her and Stefan’s annual trips to Royal Ascot.

Following the birth of her youngest child Joan began to think about returning to work and soon started working as an auxiliary nurse at the Mansfield General hospital a couple of nights a week. She enjoyed the work so much that after a couple of years she made the decision to do her nurses training. Joan carried out her training at local hospitals and the Mansfield General nurses training college. During this time, she also learnt to drive. She was taught predominantly by Stefan who would regularly get Joan up at the crack of dawn at weekends to take her on long drives while the traffic was light much to Joan’s bemusement, however it paid off, as she passed her test first time.

Joan loved working as a nurse. The majority of her career was spent on Lister Ward and later on Blandy Ward, the children’s ward, at Kings Mill Hospital where she remained until her retirement. As much as she loved nursing, her career didn’t get off to a great start. She would often tell her grandchildren of the day when she was asked to look after a particular patient who Joan had some difficulty locating. She spent several hours searching the hospital in a panic but there was no trace of the patient with the unusual name of LIRPA LOOF. Joan was not amused when it was pointed out to her that this was of course April Fool spelt backwards.
After retiring Joan remained in contact with many of her former colleagues who had become close friends and she would often meet up with them in town for a coffee and a catch-up.

Joan and Stefan spent many happy years together following their retirement with much of their time spent enjoying their garden and their ever growing family.

In later years Joan had several stokes and subsequently developed dementia. Although her condition deteriorated over the years she would often point to photographs of her grandchildren when they were visiting her and tell them "I might forget your name but I’ll never forget your face.”
Joan had several spells in hospital but was able to return to her much loved home where, with the help of carers and family members, she was able to remain until she passed away on the 10th May.