B. Olga Stankaitis

STANKAITIS, B. Olga B. Olga Stankaitis, of Wethersfield, died on Saturday, (October 21, 2006) after a short illness, in the comfort of her family. She was born in 1918 in Rochester, NY, the fourth and last child of Juozas and Prane Mocejunas, Lithuanian immigrants who had come through Ellis Island at the turn of the last century and who owned several businesses in Rochester over the years. She was the widow of Dr. Alfonsas P. Stankaitis, to whom she was married for 48 years; the mother of Dr. Joseph A. Stankaitis and his wife Vickie of Honeyoye Falls, NY; Jean S. Zdanys and her husband Jonas of North Haven; and Regina F. Stankaitis of Wethersfield, with whom she resided; and grandmother to seven granddaughters; Kristina and Joanna Zdanys of North Haven and Emily, Margaret, Caroline, Kathryn, and Elizabeth Stankaitis of Honeyoye Falls, NY. After attending Catholic schools in Rochester, NY, she was awarded a music scholarship to Nazareth College in Rochester, where she was invited to study piano and violin. She had a great interest in science as well and chose to study chemistry at Nazareth College instead, graduating with a BS in 1940. She was accepted into Cornell University Medical School but, because of the various pressures of World War II, became a medical technologist and did hematological research. Her discovery of a color test for Vitamin D was published in a medical journal and helped advance diagnostic procedures. After World War II, she and her parents were very active in helping Lithuanian refugees to settle in Rochester. Her parents were among the founders of St. George's Church in Rochester, which served as a focal point of their effort to help the new arrivals in that city. One of those new arrivals was Dr. Alfonsas Stankaitis, whom she met at the church and whom she married in 1951. She actively helped in his career, teaching him English, helping him obtain American citizenship, and being of assistance as he eventually rose to become head of the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Quality Service for New England. She also devoted her life to her family, to the arts and cultural organizations and activities, and to the cause of Lithuanian independence, which she helped to realize through frequent letters and calls to political figures, television stations, and newspapers as well as through participation in public demonstrations. She had a deep commitment to her children and especially to her seven granddaughters, attending every concert, play, sports event, and awards ceremony she could. She was a quiet but joyful presence and will be missed at those times in the future and in all of the settings in which she participated for so many years with such grace and delight. Funeral services will leave Wednesday October 25 at 9 a.m. from the D'Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Blvd, Wethersfield for a 10 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial in Holy Trinity Church, Hartford. Burial will follow in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford. Calling hours are Tuesday from 4-7 p.m. at the funeral chapel. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Holy Trinity Church, 53 Capitol Ave. Hartford, 06106. For on-line expressions of sympathy please visit www.desopo.com.