Birute Joana Karmazinas

Groton - Birute Joana (Mozeris) Karmazinas passed away peacefully at her home on Monday, July 22, 2013, with her caregiver Lina, lovingly at her side.

She was born at the Mozeris family homestead in Taurage, Lithuania on April 16, 1923, the daughter of Juozapas and Rozalija (Remeikyte) Mozeris.

Her parents predeceased her, as well as several of her siblings and her sons' fathers.

She is survived by her sons, Vytautas Karmazinas and his wife, Barbara (Soja/Revoet), and Rimantas Karmazinas; her grandchildren, Lucas Karmazinas and his wife, Meaghan, Anna (Karmazinas) Capobianco and her husband, John, and Nathan Karmazinas. She also leaves two step-grandchildren, Alane Revoet Apicelli and Keith Revoet; and in Lithuania, three sisters and many nieces and nephews.

Birute graduated from Taurages Mokytoju Seminarija, the Taurage teaching seminary school, in 1942. In 1944, along with her husband and infant son, Rimantas, she escaped Lithuania on foot to avoid Soviet oppression. She ultimately made it to various refugee camps in Germany, one from which she immigrated to the United States in 1949. She lived in Brooklyn and Queens, N.Y. from 1949 until 1967, when she moved with her youngest son, Vytautas, to Groton.

Birute worked at various jobs in New York, and trained as a keypunch operator in the 1960s. She was offered a keypunch position at Electric Boat in 1967 and retired from there in 1985. Her greatest love was for her family. Her home is filled with family photos as well as mementos of her homeland, Lithuania. She was a devoted gardener and took great pride in her property. She was a member of the Sacred Heart Church in Groton and the Groton Senior Center.

The family would like to thank Euro-American Connections of Berlin for finding Birute's wonderful caregiver, Lina, and the Center for Hospice Care of Southeastern Connecticut for providing everything needed for Birute's comfort in her last days.

A memorial service for Birute will be held at 11 a.m. Aug. 10, 2013, at Sacred Heart Church, 56 Sacred Heart Drive, Groton. Burial in St. Mary Cemetery will be at a later date.

Please visit www.byles.com to sign the guestbook or to share a memory.