Sophia Ann Goroski

On December 8, 2008 - just three days before what would have been her 100th birthday, Sophia Ann (Marciniak) Goroski of Wibaux made her final journey home. A resident of the Wibaux County Nursing Home, she passed away on the feast day of the Immaculate Conception. As a devout Catholic for nearly a century, she would appreciate the significance of that date. Visitation will be held from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M., Friday, December 12, 2008, at the Chapel of the Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home in Wibaux. A Vigil will be held at 7:30 P.M., Friday, December 12, 2008, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Wibaux. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 A.M., Saturday, December 13, 2008, at St. Phillip's Catholic Church in St. Phillip's with Reverend Father Joseph Ponessa officiating. Rite of Committal will follow in St. Phillip's Cemetery. Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home of Wibaux is entrusted with arrangements. Sophia was born December 11, 1908, in Greenbush, Minnesota, the daughter of John and Pauline (Efta) Marciniak. The family moved west to Montana's Wibaux County the next year. Pauline Marciniak died during the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918, leaving her husband and six young children. In 1919, John Marciniak married Verna Efta, and the family eventually expanded with seven more children. All the children spoke Polish. As a child, Sophia survived severe bouts of diphtheria and whooping cough. Sophia learned the English language while attending rural school. She graduated from the 8th grade, then spent a year at home caring for her younger siblings. She graduated from Wibaux County High School with the class of 1928. Farm labor was a precious commodity. She learned how to cook at an early age, as well as help work in the fields with her father doing farm chores. During a country dance, she met the man she would marry, Stephen Goroski. There was a special chemistry between them, especially during waltzes. They were married June 30, 1931, and began farming seven miles west of Carlyle between Wibaux and Baker. They lived in a two-room house built by Steve and his father. Steve and Sophia were a team for 54 years, until his death on June 5, 1985. Faith and hard work helped them endure the Great Depression, when grain prices were low and cattle feed was scarce and dust storms scoured the plains. The Goroskis eventually became parents of six children: Teresa (1932), Jean (1934), Robert (1936), Gerald (1941), Raymond (1943), and Marianne (1947). As America prospered after World War II, so did Steve and Sophia. He eventually became a Wibaux County Commissioner. Sophia was active in St. Phillip Catholic Church and entered fresh produce and canned goods at the Wibaux County Fair, where she consistently won ribbons for excellence. With Steve's retirement from everyday farming in 1980, they moved from the farm to Wibaux. Even in Wibaux, Sophia maintained an intensive garden - from carrots to corn to cabbages. Failing health forced her to move to the Wibaux County Nursing Home in March of 2008. Sophia was preceded in death by her parents; husband Stephen (1985); son Robert (1994); grandsons Lawrence Goroski and Pat Nistler; great granddaughter Lauren Goroski; sisters Helen Bruski, Pauline Dobrowski, Cecelia Marciniak, Rosie Granet, John Marciniak, Jr., and Ray Marciniak. Sophia is survived by three daughters, Teresa Garneau of Plentywood, Montana; Jean Wolff and her husband Bill of Bismarck, North Dakota and Marianne Knapp and her husband Robert of Colorado; two sons, Gerald and his wife Kathleen of the family farm and Ray of Miles City, Montana; and her daughter-in-law, Betty Goroski of Wahpeton, North Dakota; She is also survived by 31 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren, 1 great-great grandchild, as well as 5 sisters: Teresa Dobrowski, Verna Sokoloski, Elizabeth Susa, Anna Maronik, and Marian Wosepka.

Sophia Ann Goroski

December 11, 1908 - December 13, 2008

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Sophia Ann Goroski

December 11, 1908 - December 13, 2008

What We Do

Flowers & Gifts

Plan Ahead

About Us

Resources

Obituaries

Grief & Healing

Contact Information

365 Days of Grief Support