Elżbieta Rogala

BIOGRAPHY

Elżbieta Rogala was born in Zamość, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, on 3 November 1911, to parents Wincenty Rekowski (1858–1913) and Teodora Derdowska (1880–1959). Her early years were spent in the village of Krostkowo in Greater Poland, where her family moved from their original home in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in search of better opportunities. In 1937, she married Franciszek Rogala (1906–1945), a gardener employed by the Bydgoszcz city council, and they settled in Bydgoszcz. The outbreak of World War II brought hardship, including the deportation of her husband to forced labor, leaving her to raise three children (a son and two daughters) on her own. Her husband returned in 1943, but died two years later. After the war, she initially lived off her husband’s pension. In 1956, she started working at the Bydgoszcz Graphic Works.

Throughout her life, she found comfort in gardening, especially tending to potted flowers, a passion she maintained even in her later years. She resided at a nursing home in Chełmno, managed by the Daughters of Charity, where she was well-cared for and celebrated her 110th birthday. In early 2021, despite contracting COVID-19, she made a full recovery.

Elżbieta Rogala passed away in Chełmno, Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, on 23 March 2022, at the age of 110 years, 140 days.