|
Weddding Day
for Stephen
& Pauline
Rondomanski,
April 9,
1945
Stephen &
Pauline
during a
1962 cruise
Pauline as a
nurse
graduate of
the Joseph
Lawrence
School of
Nursing. |
Stephen and
Pauline
Rondomanski
had a love
of a
lifetime.
And that
love was
expressed
with a
goodbye kiss
every day
when he
dropped her
off at
Lawrence &
Memorial
Hospital
where she
was the
Nurse
Supervisor
of five
floors of
Medical-Surgical
Units. That
love was
also
expressed
when he gave
the majority
of his
estate to
the Hospital
in her
memory upon
his passing
at the age
of 87 in
November
2003, 28
years after
her death in
1975.
The
Rondomanskis—Stephen
and Pauline,
as well as
other family
members,
Cecelia,
William,
Bernard, Joe
and
Anastacia—were
well-known
in the
community.
Cecelia was
also a nurse
at L&M,
while
Bernard
worked at EB
and Joe at
CL&P.
Stephen was
born in New
London in
1915 to
Julian and
Julia
Rondomanski.
He attended
Bulkeley
School for
Boys but
dropped out
at age 16 to
go to work
at The Day
newspaper,
where he
worked for
over 50
years,
eventually
becoming the
pressroom
manager.
Stephen was
a World War
II veteran
who was
honorably
discharged
in 1943
after
contracting
pneumonia,
typhus and
cholera on
Ascension
Island. He
married
Pauline
Kaminski in
1945. By
then,
Pauline, a
graduate of
the Norwich
Free Academy
in 1933, the
Joseph
Lawrence
School of
Nursing in
1938, and
winner of
the Marjorie
Winthrop
Scholarship
for
post-graduate
work in
medical and
surgical
nursing at
New York
Hospital,
was already
working at
L&M. Pauline
worked at
the Hospital
until her
retirement
in 1975.
“Both had
such
wonderful
values,”
says Carol
Eastham,
president of
the Joseph
Lawrence
School of
Nursing
Alumni
Association.
“They were
good
honorable
people.
Pauline was
always
professional
at the
Hospital,
and she
served as a
great role
model for
younger
nurses. I
remember her
preparing
the stiffly
starched
caps for all
the newly
graduating
nurses. A
tall,
stately,
gracious
woman, she
was proud of
being Polish
and was very
involved
with her
church, Our
Lady of
Perpetual
Help in
Quaker Hill.
Both were
committed—to
their
family,
their jobs,
their church
and the
community.”
Al Almeida,
who served
as General
Manager of
The Day
while
Stephen was
the
pressroom
foreman,
remembers “Shep,”
as he was
known, as an
astute
engineer
with a great
mind for
problem-solving.
“It’s no
wonder that
Steve left a
sizeable
bequest to
the
Hospital. He
adored
Pauline and
he was very
proud of her
position at
the
Hospital.
She was a
strong woman
who reached
a very high
level of
responsibility
at a time
when women
generally
were not
given
leadership
positions. I
think he had
a lot of
respect and
affection
for the
opportunity
that the
Hospital
afforded
Pauline.
“The bequest
was a
tribute to
Pauline’s
memory, a
thank you to
the Hospital
for allowing
her to reach
her
professional
potential,
and a
recognition
of the
importance
of the
Hospital in
this
community,”
Almeida
said. |
