In September, Seguin Services, a local nonprofit charity serving people with developmental disabilities, was the recipient of an unanticipated $50,000 bequest from the late Dolores Nowicki. This gift will assist greatly in the construction of a new group home to serve people with developmental disabilities. As her dear friend Dolores Kaczmarek of Elmwood Park explains, she was a wonderful woman who lived every day with joy and generosity in her heart.

The Dolores I Knew & Loved, By Dolores Kaczmarek

My friend Dolores Nowicki died Christmas Eve 2010. She was a wonderful friend and a wonderful person. I wish you and many others had known her.

I met Dolores when my family moved from Wisconsin, during my junior year of high school at St. Stanislaus Kostka School in Chicago. Dolores was an only child so she surrounded herself with many friends. I felt fortunate she befriended me and we remained lifelong friends.

Dolores was a person full of life with a hearty laugh. She was always ready to go dancing, to church events, sporting events or places her friends suggested—she was always game. There was never a dull moment with Dolores and she was the main attraction with her charming, joyful personality. Although Dolores was popular, and had steady beaus, she never married. She would have loved to have married, but just didn’t find the RIGHT ONE. The one fellow whom she might have married was killed during the Korean War and she never got over him, speaking of him so often.

Nevertheless, Dolores led a very Christian Life, while always being happy and full of laughter. She was frugal with money and never thought of herself. She was always concerned about other people. She did not believe in material things and proved it by not having the conveniences that you and I enjoy every day. Her mind was occupied with helping other people. She lived without an air conditioner, cable TV, or a telephone with call waiting or an answering service. In fact, she finally gave up her television altogether. She had the money to buy a car, but she always said they were too expensive. So she took public transportation or paid people to take her places that she couldn‘t reach by bus. She was concerned about people with disabilities, among others, and their needs especially seemed to break her heart. She would always talk about the places she visited where people with disabilities worked. So she always donated money to such causes that were so dear to her heart.

Dolores took care of both of her parents when they became ill in their home. Although it was extremely difficult, she refused all the offers for others to help her. She wanted to do things for everyone, but didn't want anyone to do anything for her. When both her parents were gone, she volunteered at Thrift Stores or Senior Clubs, and by babysitting for parents who were working and by sitting with elderly people who could not be left alone while their children worked. If anyone in her neighborhood needed someone to take care of an elderly or sick parent, or if someone needed medication and couldn’t afford it, she immediately stepped in to meet these needs. Dolores traveled on buses to visit sick people she knew who were in the hospital and nursing homes. Even in Chicago, the weather was never a problem for Dolores. She would dress up warmly and venture out to help someone in need. I always admired her for the way she sacrificed so many conveniences only to use her resources to help someone who may have needed help in someway or another.

During the last seven years of her life, she met a fellow named Ernie and spent a great deal of time with him. He was widowed with two children and had a giant flower garden in his back yard that he shared with her. She became very fond of him and his two daughters and their families. She decided to spend all her Holidays with Ernie and his family. Ernie provided her with love and that special family atmosphere that she so badly craved since her parents were gone and she was alone. This was a real blessing when she became ill and he allowed her to stay at his home in November of 2010. She felt comfortable for the first time in her lifetime to have someone take care of her. Ernie came into her life and he made her last seven years very happy ones.

Since Dolores always considered herself so very healthy, it was such a shock when she became ill. She was my dear lifelong friend. Since we had spent holidays and vacations together over the years, my children were very close to her as well. We thought of one another as family. She will be remembered in our family and my home. Her pictures in our house keep her memory alive.

Thanks for letting me tell you about Dolores. Honestly, she was a good person in every sense of the word, and she showed that by honoring Seguin with a large bequest. Today, we have Dolores in our hearts and GOD HAS DOLORES IN HIS KEEPING.

For more information, please call Dawneen Suriano at 708.222.4251 or visit www.seguin.org.

Seguin Services is a charitable not-for-profit agency serving metropolitan Chicago, always striving to integrate, enrich, and empower people with disabilities. Seguin lives its mission of “supporting adults and children with disabilities and other special needs, enabling them to be productive, valued members of society.” Seguin creates job opportunities and housing options that lead to greater independence, so that men and women with developmental disabilities can live, work, and socialize as their neighbors do. In addition, Seguin provides safe and loving homes for children who have disabilities and serious medical or emotional conditions.