Obituary of Stella H. Melfe

Stella H. Melfe Stella H. Melfe, 82, of Wappingers Falls, passed away Monday, March 7, 2011 at Vassar Brothers Medical Center after a short illness with her family by her bedside. Born November 30, 1928 in Poland, she was the daughter of the late Alexander and Cecylia Lewandowski. In 1939 at the age of 11, her family was forced from their farm and became refugees. Taken to Siberia, Pakistan, India, Iran, Australia, New Zealand and San Francisco before being accepted by Mexico where she attended school for five years. In 1948, she was sponsored by Walter Milczewski and Smith Brothers to come to Poughkeepsie. She began work immediately upon arriving to the United States as a seamstress at Gottlieb in Poughkeepsie while taking classes at night to learn English. She was employed at IBM in East Fishkill until her retirement. On July 28, 1952 she married Anthony J. Melfe of Beacon. He preceded her in death on August 1, 2007. She is survived by her sons, Daniel and Kenneth of Wappingers Falls; daughters, Renee Melfe of Poughkeepsie, Elaine Murphy of Red Hook and Alicia Sereda and her husband, Ave of Highland; her sister, Stephanie Sokolowski of Poughkeepsie; her brother, Chester Milczewski of Hyde Park and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her brothers, William and Ted Lewandowski and sister, Josephine Milczewski. Her family was her life. Stella loved to cook, garden and play bingo. She will be truly missed. Family will receive their friends and family Friday, March 11, 2011 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Straub, Catalano & Halvey Funeral Home, 55 East Main Street, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590. A funeral service will follow at 1 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment will be in Wappingers Rural Cemetery, West Main Street, Wappingers Falls. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations on Stella's behalf may be made to your favorite charity. For directions to the funeral home or to send the family a personal condolence, please visit our website at www.StraubCatalanoHalvey.com.