More Old Neighborhood Sadness

As the process of emptying and selling my mother Sheila's suburban house gathers momentum, another sad event came to my former neighborhood.
Mary Ann Prusakowski, the wife of Paul Prusakowski and neighbors to my mother, late father Edward and family since the early 1970s, died in Hospice care last week. While suffering the debilitating effects from advanced multiple sclerosis for years, she recently fell ill and never recovered.
Mrs. Prusakowski (it is hard to call your adult neighbors starting almost 40 years ago by their first names; we were raised to respect our elders) was a loving, caring mother and wife, and she always had a smile and a kind word for neighbors, including us no doubt frequently annoying kids. The Prusakowskis were also long-time parishioners of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church in Depew, of which my parents were founding members.
Paul, er, Mr. Prusakowski, is an amazingly generous, caring, giving man and was a wonderful husband to Mrs. Prusakowski, always being there for her needs and transportation and never giving in to self-pity or bitterness. A U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War as well as a churchgoer, he obviously took to heart the notion of service to others. He is a retired television station chief engineer.
This service to others was also more than amply demonstrated in the help he gave my mother, and before that mother and father, over the years, especially since my mother was widowed in 2004. In so many big and little ways, Mr. Prusakowski looked out for my mother and helped her, and has continued to do so since she entered assisted living last year.
Mr. Prusakowski, Paul, would just kind of pshaw this blog entry if he ever read it, because he never looked for thanks yous or credit, but looked out for the welfare of others. He truly demonstrated, and still demonstrates, how to be a good neighbor, and I join many others in offering my deepest sympathies for his loss.