Regine Holewinski

Regine was still baking at 101 years old. If someone was visiting, they got a tart as big as a large pizza with a hand-rolled butter crust and sliced fruit, whatever was in season. Nothing was going to stop her – not age, not pleas from family to take it easy. That is Regine in a nutshell – a genius in handiwork, driven to make you eat, and vigorous (or stubborn) to the last. Regine was born in Metz, France, to immigrant parents from Poland after World War I. Regine, her sisters Helen, Lucie, and her brothers Chester and Felix, labored too with household chores, gardening for their food, sewing and mending, and – eventually – forced work for the Germans when they occupied the north of France in the late 30s. Regine was remarkable with languages. The Germans had her translate with the French, and of course she knew Polish too from her parents. While out looking for food during desperate times, she and Helen would ride bicycles along fields they knew were littered with landmines. Regine was a young adult by the time the Americans arrived and set up a base in Metz near her small hometown. She took a job there as a typist. It was good work and fair pay, though she had constant spats with one of the GIs in the office – a tall, skinny American named Stanley Holewinski. One night, they danced to a polka in the mess hall. A year later their first son Stanley Errol was born, and the new family boarded ships -- one passenger, one military -- to America. A factory in Manville, New Jersey, was looking for returning men for labor. Stanley became a metal machinist, and the family settled in one of the track houses being built on Jackson Avenue. Robert was born next, then Michele (now Mic). Regine was a court clerk and a secretary, a voracious reader, a dedicated wife and mother. She didn't have a dryer, instead hanging the clothes out back in the nice seasons or in the basement in the winter. She cared for the backyard garden with Stan, using every last bit of it until winter. Regine's magical talents were making clothes, knitting, and crochet. Clothes for the children, clothes for herself, sweaters for everyone -- she worked at her sewing machine or with her needles late into the night. When she became a grandmother, she taught the kids to appreciate making something out of nothing, whether with fabric and string or the runt ends of vegetables. Her great granddaughter, age 6, wears a gorgeous sweater knit for her mother forty years before. After Stan retired, they traveled to Hawaii and Alaska, to see her sister Helen in Arizona, and annually to Indian Rocks Shore in Florida. They didn’t have much, but they did a lot with what they had. Regine’s husband Stan passed last April, and her firstborn passed years ago from medical complications. She is survived by her son Robert, his wife Deb, daughter Mic, and her husband Aaron. Her grandchildren are Sarah, Rebecca, and Trevor. Her great grandchildren Logan and Lilah were lucky enough to get to know someone like Regine. The visitation will be on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM at the Ketusky Funeral Home, 1310 Brooks Blvd., Manville, NJ 08835. The graveside service and burial will follow at 10:00 AM at Sacred Heart Cemetery, 1096 Millstone River Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844.

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Regine Holewinski

July 28, 1922 - April 3, 2024