Pauline Zabko, a Southern Maryland resident for nearly 25 years, died early Saturday the 21st of October at the MedStar St Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, MD.
Born in June of 1927 in Hammondsport, NY, the first child to be born in the United States to immigrant parents: Michal and Maria (Barabas) Lukacko. Pauline along with her eight siblings received her education and valuable life lessons in hard work on the family’s farm raising grapes for the then Taylor Wine Company. In her twenties after WWII she set out to see the world and ended up in Cleveland, Ohio. She was married in 1951 and started raising a family in Twinsburg Ohio. Pauline continued her education, received training in Nursing while raising her children in Rochester, NY.
In the early 1970’s she took a Nursing position at the Highland Hospital in Rochester, NY where she worked until her retirement in 1988.
Pauline, in her retirement moved to Great Bridge, VA where she loved spending time on Virginia Beach and helping take care of her grandsons, her plants and flower garden. Moving to Southern Maryland in the 1990’s, she enjoyed tending her bountiful vegetable garden, blueberry bushes, grapes, and raspberries. She was most proud to be self- sufficient at the age of 90 and extremely proud of the fact that she mowed her nearly two acres of grass weekly, much to the concern of her children, up to a week prior of her hospitalization.
She is survived by her children Michael (Charlyne) Zabko; Jeanne Miller, and John Zabko. Grand Children Michael (Candice) Zabko Jr, Joseph (Tracey) Zabko; Jeffery (Tammy) Zabko; Brian (Arpana) Miller; J Cameron Zabko and nine Great Grandchildren, that brought great joy to her later years also her siblings Andrew (Herta) Lukacko, Martha Elliott, and Joan (Henry) Hooper.
In addition to her parents, Pauline was predeceased by two sons, Grandson Kevin Miller, her brothers, Michael and Anthony Lukacko; her sisters, Mary Chaploney, Julia Lukacko and Helen Corona.
Interment will be private.
