It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Jadwiga Gaszynski, our beloved wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, aunt and friend. She died peacefully, surrounded by love, on July 16th, at St. Joseph’s Hospital, from cancer.

Jadwiga was born in Poland, in 1938. Her own mother passed away during the war, when Jadwiga was just 3 years old. She was raised by her mother’s sisters, her cherished aunts alongside her cousins and father. She is predeceased by her brother (Hubert Wojewoda) and her two sisters (Dżinia Wojewoda and Pelagia Kopczyńska). Her early adult life in Poland was filled with mountaineering, working as a psychologist and spending time with her many treasured friends and cousins.

Jadwiga was always full of energy and waved her hand at any hardships, always believing that things would work out. She used these gifts during her immigration to France and then to Canada. In Paris, she met a man who was exceptionally good-natured named Antoni Gaszynski. She started a doctorate program in Psychology at the Sorbonne University in Paris. It was interrupted when they immigrated to Canada and started a family. Jadwiga and Antoni created a close, supportive, loving family for their daughters Anna (Kurt Glauser) and Emily (Bruce Adams) and were married for 56 years. Jadwiga received immense joy in being a grandmother to Gabriella, Alexander, Stephanie and Paul.

Jadwiga was a psychologist and enjoyed talking about life with everyone. Her natural leadership, confidence and independent thinking helped her transform Polish Immigrant and Community Services, a small agency supporting Polish newcomers to Canada, to a large agency serving a variety of communities. It was renamed Polycultural Immigrant and Community Services, and she served as its Executive Director for many years.

She had a deep and unwavering faith in God which sustained her throughout her life and during her illness.

If Jadwiga wasn’t talking on the phone, taking care of her family, meeting with friends, or in church, she was reading a book or watching a video about current events and the history of Poland.

Jadwiga will be greatly missed and remembered for her strong moral compass, her warm greetings and ability to face all challenges with courage and tenacity.

Visitation will be held at Turner & Porter Yorke Chapel, 2357 Bloor St W, Toronto, on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, from 6-8 p.m. Prayers at 7:30 p.m.

A funeral mass will be held at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 3055 Bloor St. W, Etobicoke, on July 24th at 11:00 a.m. Reception with light refreshments in the church hall following the mass.

Jadwiga's final resting place will be in the family burial plot in Wysocice, Poland.