Inga Pikielny

Inga Pikielny

Hanover, NH - We announce with deep sorrow the passing of Inga Pikielny on December 20, 2025. Inga was a loving wife, mother, and friend who exemplified humility, generosity, and a love of life. Inga was born on October 26, 1929 in ?o?dz?, Poland, daughter of Magda Hansen Barcinska, born in Denmark and Kazimierz Barcinski, from a Polish Jewish family. In 1939, when she was just 9 years old, Inga's family fled Poland hours ahead of the Nazi invaders. In addition to losing their home, friends, and all their belongings, Inga left her adored dog, Addis behind. Inga's beloved grandfather became one of the early victims of the Holocaust. Inga and her parents moved to Sa?o Paulo, Brazil to start a new life. In addition to her native Polish, and the French, and German that Inga learned as a child, she became fluent in Portuguese and English at the British high school. She adapted thoroughly to life in Brazil. After graduating high school, Inga was sponsored by her American aunt, Janka Petschek, to spend four years in the US attending Vassar College, where she majored in English. In 1953, back in Sa?o Paulo, Inga married Henryk (Henio) Pikielny, the love of her life, a Polish Jew who had survived the Holocaust, spending more than five years moving from ghetto to concentration camp to death camp. Inga and Henio had two children in the following 4 years, Karen and Claudio. In 1964, Henio was offered a tantalizing business opportunity in Paris, France. This was another difficult move for Inga, as she left behind her parents and several great friends, as well as a country and people that had warmly welcomed her and her family in their time of need. Over the years, the Pikielny family came to love life in Paris. They traveled broadly to visit family and friends on four continents, and welcomed the arrival of three grandchildren, Deborah to Karen, and Adam and Noah to Claudio. In 2015, Inga experienced the third and final uprooting of her life. By then, she had been a widow for 5 years and during a trip to visit her son Claudio, his wife Yashi, and their two boys in the US, she became gravely ill. While she recovered, she could no longer live alone in her Paris apartment, so she moved to Wheelock Terrace in Hanover, NH, where she spent the last 11 years of her life within a 10-minute drive of Claudio's family, further pursuing her love of reading, participating enthusiastically in singalongs, writing her memoir and forming deep friendships with other residents and caregivers. With each of her relocations, Inga made meaningful connections and enjoyed all that life had to offer. In her final days, Inga sang Christmas carols in her hospice bed and was so happy to meet Maisy, the family's new 9-week old puppy.

Inga is survived by her beloved daughter Karen, son-in-law Ranko Tolitch, son Claudio, daughter-in-law Yashi Ahmed, her granddaughter Deborah Atlan, and her grandsons Adam and Noah Pikielny. She shall be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation to your favorite charity.

An on-line guestbook can be found at rand-wilson.com