Vlasta Pavelkova Valcik

Vlasta Pavelkova Valcik, age 90, of Abingdon, MD, passed on March 24, 2010. Born in Kvacice, Czechoslovakia, she was the daughter of the late Mathew and Anna Kerakova Pavelka. A resident of Harford County since 1939, she had worked for Bata Shoe Company for 18 years, including six years at the Czechoslovakian operation, initially. She was a member, since 1940, of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church where she had served as secretary. She had also been a member, since she was 10 years old, of the SOKOL Gymnastic Organization. As a homemaker, she raised three children and also volunteered at the Red Cross, where she felt an affiliation, since during WWII, they were instrumental in rejoining her with her family. She always demonstrated great love for her family. In addition, she devoted much time to volunteer activities and helping people in need.

Mrs. Valcik is survived by her husband, Jerry Frank Valcik of Abingdon, MD; son, Jerry A. Valcik of Ormond Beach, FL; daughter, Alma V. McComas of Abingdon, MD; six grandchildren, Howard K. McComas IV, Holly McComas Pennington, Michael F. McComas, Amy Elizabeth Valcik, Amanda Leigh Valcik, and Victor Valcik; and three great-grandchildren, Howard K. McComas V (Quentin), Reagan Porter McComas, and Brody Austin McComas. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her son, Sidney Valcik and her brother, Miroslav Pavelka.

Those who desire may contribute to the American Red Cross, Central Maryland Chapter, P.O. Box 630020, Baltimore, MD 21263-0020, or to St. Francis de Sales Church.

Mom,
You know we are all here – at least in spirit, if not physically…your beloved husband Jaroslav, known to so many as Jerry…a loving husband of 69 years, your entire family, and so many, many friends.
What a wonderful opportunity we have, not so much to mourn your passing, but, moreso, to celebrate your life.
We remember that you were born to Anna Pavelkova and Mataeu Pavel. In a small village – Kvacice, in the eastern part of what used to be Moravia, and now a part of the Czech Republic. What a beautiful, pastoral, rolling countryside it is…and what a wonderful remembrance depicted in the paintings hanging in your living room.
We remember you and your younger brother Miros were raised by your mother, since your father left when you were young. What a stalwart woman your mother was with her strong moral fiber, working in the fields sun-up to sundown, digging potatoes and beets, and having only meager food – potatoes fixed every which way possible with maybe an egg a week, especially during the Depression! And your brother, who was the personification of mischief!
We remember after graduation from high school at age 14, that you, of your own volition, pursued the greatest opportunity available for a better life – you met the rigid "cream of the crop"requirements to be accepted into the Bata organization! There, in the Bata-built city of Zlin, you lived, worked, and were schooled with the brightest of your country's youth, in the Bata philosophy of making shoes for "common" folks throughout the world! And, your destiny as a part of the Bata expansion worldwide.
We remember that you attracted the boys! Especially the bright Bohus Brabltz, who corresponded with you for over some 70 years. What a pick of a chic you were! But, Dad was the one who won your heart!
We remember the darkening clouds of war, the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939, which compelled you to leave at your mother's insistence and with her blessing. What a heart-wrenching, courageous, and daunting thing to do! How many of us would leave our homeland for a strange, new land, if we were faced with the same circumstances? And, the great difficulty you had as many "displaced persons" did at the end of 1939 in being bounced from country to country in trying to get here just before the outbreak of World War II. We recall the dramatization of the plight of so many displaced persons at this time portrayed in the movie "Exodus".
We remember you came here into the 2000-acre Bata Belcamp community with Faunda Kotras and Lillian Sonberg to begin a new life in our "free" country. The three bachelorettes. And your courtship with Dad. And being told of your impending deportation to a Bata activity in South America since all of you "foreign" non-citizens with strange accents were considered to be a potential threat to national security…i.e., many thought you were "spies". So you up and married Dad, a US citizen, by a justice of the peace in the local marriage mill in Elkton! Smart move that all of us as your offspring will continue to appreciate forever! And later, when pregnant, after talking with a priest who "understood", in a manner of speaking, you remarried in the Church, which was so important to you.
We remember that you were so proud of your heritage and your homeland that you never "Americanized" your first name of Vlasta. The root word "vlast" meaning homeland.
We remember your living at House Number 32, a duplex in Belcamp, the self-sufficient community…with Dad, raising a family, working in the factory, loving to dance, especially the Polka, and participating avidly in the Czech-originated SOKOL organization to maintain physical fitness and health; and how fitness and good health continued to be a mainstay in your life.
We remember your having Sid, Alma, and me, each exactly one year apart in the same month! What timing! And, raising us. The little things we especially remember: telling us "Cover your mouth" as we walked to the school bus stop at the hotel against a bitter winter wind so we wouldn't get sick; your going to night school in Aberdeen studying to become a citizen; regularly sending your mother "care" packages during the war and for decades thereafter; telling Sid and me to let Alma go with us on our daily fishing adventures to the Bush River every time we said "Alma, go home!"; ferociously defending Sid and me to another mother because we beat the "living stuff" out of her son for attacking Alma; and being a staunch advocate for us at times like during the middle '50's when I really wanted a pair of "penny loafers" to be "cool" among my high school peers and Dad strongly disagreeing, saying "The only good shoes are lace-up shoes!" You won that one.
We remember how vital it was for you to see that we always had enough to eat…in contrast to your being so hungry so often when you were growing up especially during the Depression years. Your daily soups…especially the liver ball one, your heralded sauerkraut, your Czech pastries, not the least of which was the paper thin crust apple strudel…and your sumptuous Sunday dinners! We felt the most renown of chefs couldn't match your cooking. Rest assured, we have all of your recipes!
We remember your working at the shoe factory cutting leather pieces for shoes to save enough money to build your own home with Dad on Long Bar Harbor from the time the youngest of us started school until finishing high school…especially in the 95-100 degree summers, without any air conditioning, when you only wanted to drink enough water and eat salt tablets to stay hydrated enough to be able operate the cutting machine.
We remember your being integrated moreso into our American culture, by going to PTA meetings to talk with our teachers…to see if Sid and I were causing any trouble – no more comment on this point, except that I leave open the question "Was Alma ever a troublemaker, or was it always Sid and I who caused trouble?"
We remember how overjoyed you were when Alma and Howard married! And that you consider Howard to be more like a son rather than a son-in-law! And then, when your first grandchildren – young Howard, Holly, and Michael - came! And when Sid married Kathy! And their son Victor, who you have never forgotten, always trying to stay in touch with him. And when Carole and I married! It took some time, but eventually you accepted Carole, realizing I wasn't going to marry a Czech girl. And when our daughters Amy and Amanda came! How you loved caring for Amanda so that Carole could continue her career as an educator! And when Holly married Steve, and young Howard married Cheryl! And when grandsons Quentin and Reagan came along! How you loved setting aside special time on Sunday mornings to be with these grandsons! And then when Michael married Brittany, and Brody came along! How you loved your entire family. How proud you were. You were always available to listen and to try to help any of us. You were always so understanding, so helpful, and especially so loving.
We remember you let each of us pursue our own interests…Sid eventually in police work, Alma in marriage, and me in my career. What a wonderful sounding board you were when I was in graduate school, an extremely intense experience!
We remember your unstinting charity to others, really blossoming after you stopped working at the factory, to use your free time moreso in service to others. Working at the county health clinic in Bel Air for years, the Red Cross, and serving as the administrative secretary at Saint Francis Church for a decade…you even had a Church telephone extension in your home, to readily answer calls 24/7! Did Dad ever love this ! In your later years, caring for aging members of the local Czech community, helping to meet their daily and medical needs, and just to be there to talk with them in their increasing isolation. We can all learn from the marvelous example you set in your charity toward others.

We remember you going back to Czechoslovakia to see your mother and brother whenever you could on several extended occasions during the '50's and into the '70's. How tragic was the separation caused by the Iron Curtain, one of the greater tragedies in our time. And, taking your grandson Victor once so he could better understand your homeland and its way of life.
We remember you were so very unassuming and humble, even after Howard and Alma had a room in the new Saint Francis educational center named in your honor as well as Dad's, and young Howard having the County Council declare you, as well as Dad, "living legends".
We remember you enjoyed your later years…always wanting to know what your whole family was doing… having your own space and time especially when Dad was helping at the funeral home…keeping your treasured weekly appointments at the hair dressers, your shopping excursions to department stores and the Giant in Edgewood, your regular appointments with your doctors, the wonderful continuing care your received from Alma, the entire McComas family and Funeral Home folk, Bernie Mullaney, Mary Moulsdale and Kay Petrovic, and, how you enjoyed your next most important companion after Dad – Dewey, "the smartest cat ever", that Holly gave you. What a wonderful symbiotic relationship.
We remember how your Catholic faith underpinned your life…instilling Catholicity in us…your many years of service to the Saint Francis community…helping the parish to function and improve…and praying daily, certainly for all of us as well.
We remember your later years…when you were challenged with the "elder" issues so many are experiencing in this time of increased longevity…the decreased ability to do things you loved, being limited in going to places you wanted to, your increasing health concerns, and your decreasing short-term memory – by the way, "Carole have you seen my car keys?" And how overjoyed and how happy you always were to see anyone from your family when they stopped by to see you.
We see your life has unquestionably been one of great motivation, great courage, great love, great devotion, great support, great care of not only your family but also those in need who came into your sphere of life, a deep religious conviction, and a life in your latter years enhanced by Dewey, the smartest cat in the world. You could not have been a better example for us to live by. We see that to paraphrase St. Francis de Sales, you did not wish to be anything but what you were, and tried to do that perfectly. Well done, Mom.
We note too that you were certainly preparing for your transition to your next life with our Lord. In addition to your prayers, one clear indication was the following poem which you had taped to a kitchen cabinet:

DON'T GRIEVE FOR ME, FOR NOW I'M FREE
I'M FOLLOWING THE PATH GOD LAID FOR ME
I TOOK HIS HAND WHEN I HEARD HIM CALL,
I TURNED MY BACK AND LEFT IT ALL.

I COULD NOT STAY ANOTHER DAY
TO LAUGH, TO LIVE, TO WORK, OR PLAY.
TASKS LEFT UNDONE MUST STAY THAT WAY.
I FOUND THAT PLACE AT CLOSE OF DAY.

IF PARTING HAS LEFT A VOID,
THEN FILL IT WITH REMEMBERED JOY.
A FRIENDSHIP SHARED, A LAUGH, A KISS,
OH YES, THESE THINGS I TOO WILL MISS.

BE NOT BURDENED WITH TIMES OF SORROW,
I WISH YOU THE SUNSHINE OF TOMORROW.
MY LIFE'S BEEN FULL, I'VE SAVORED MUCH,
GOOD FRIENDS, GOOD TIMES,
A LOVED ONE'S TOUCH.

PERHAPS MY TIME SEEMED ALL TOO BRIEF
DON'T LENGTHEN IT NOW WITH UNDUE GRIEF.
LIFT UP YOUR HEART AND SHARE WITH ME.

GOD WANTED ME NOW, HE SET ME FREE.

Many of you may know the title…"I Am Free".
Mom, may you enjoy your heavenly reward, which you so richly deserve, much more than you ever hoped for.
We look forward to the day when we can all be together again, continue to share our unbounded reciprocal love, and experience eternal happiness with you.

Delivered by Son Jerry at the end of the Funeral Mass. Prepared by Son Jerry, Carole, Amy, and Amanda




"I and my entire family extend to each and every one of you our profound appreciation and thank you for all of your support and prayers during the time of Vlasta's passing. You have helped make Vlasta's passing easier. May God bless all of you."
Jerry F. Valcik