Violet Magdziarz Jurek
October 27, 1910 – January 10, 1994

Violet Magdziarz was born on October 27, 1910, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, to Polish immigrants Mathew Magdziarz and Marianna Labak. She was baptized three days later at St. Casimir Church on South Whipple Street by Rev. N.M. Czajka.

She was one of ten children, six of whom survived into adulthood. During her teen years, Violet worked hard on her father’s farm, where she became skilled with horses and accustomed to physical labor. This early experience shaped much of her practical approach to life.

At age 22, she married Bernard “Bennie” Jurek on September 4, 1933, in Pine County, Minnesota. Together, they raised five children over a period of 16 years. Their first child, Larraine, and their youngest, Gordon “Gordy,” were born 16 years apart.

Violet was a capable homemaker who enjoyed cooking and baking bread and her infamous sugar cookies. She liked to play cards and listen and dance to polka music. She was also an experienced sewer and knitter, known for making sweaters, hats, and handmade Christmas stockings which have become treasured heirlooms by her children and grandchildren.

She lived most of her adult life in Duluth Minnesota and died on January 10, 1994, in Duluth at the age of 83. Violet was buried alongside her husband in the Polish Catholic Cemetery in Arnold, St. Louis County, Minnesota.

Click here for Violet’s famous Sugar Cookie Recipe! https://ourcolorfulroots.com/grandma-violet-jureks-babcia-sugar-cookie-recipe/