FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Doreen M. Kowalczewski Dies; Was Born in London

Doreen Mary Thurlow Kowalczewski

Doreen Mary Thurlow was born on May 5, 1926, in London, England. Her father, George Thurlow, was an engineer and her mother managed a commercial laundry.

Her mother had eight brothers and sisters so there were many cousins to play with. In fact, Doreen later said she never had to learn to make friends because she was always surrounded by family.

Doreen was 13 when World War II started. Most children her age were sent to the country for safety but Doreen chose to stay in London. She told stories about the bomb shelters and other realities of war time life, including taking food and blankets to the soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk who spent days in train cars parked on the railroad tracks near Doreen’s house.

Doreen’s education ended at 16. She had planned to go on to college but the war made that impossible. So she went to work for the BBC as a secretary. Because her typing was fast and accurate she was assigned to transcribe Winston Churchill’s speeches as he gave them; she was always proud of that.

At 18 she met a Polish Air Force officer named Witold Kowalczewski and they married shortly after the war ended. Over the next five years they had three children: Christina, Janet and Stephen. Witold decided that they should emigrate to Canada where he could get a better job. He traveled to Toronto to look for work and Doreen followed him a few months later with two toddlers and a newborn baby.

In 1956 the family moved to Inkster, a suburb of Detroit. Shortly after this Doreen and Witold divorced and the children remained with Doreen. She had been working as a secretary even before the divorce and continued now to work full time as an office manager for an insurance company.

Over the next three decades her work took her to New Jersey, New York, Michigan and finally Chicago, where she was involved in software development, first for the company she worked for, then with her own business.

In 1993, at the age of 67, she moved to Sitka, to help her son with his family. He was divorced and had two young children – Shannon and Joshua – to care for. A few years later they moved to Seattle where Doreen continued to live with them and care for the children while Steve worked.

In 2012 Doreen moved back to Sitka. Her daughter Chris and her husband had decided to retire there and they invited Doreen and Steve to join them. Doreen became active in the local Ocean Wave Quilt Guild and chaired the scholarship committee. She also participated in programs for the homeless and tutored young readers at the library. She enjoyed attending concerts, dance performances, and other cultural opportunities in Sitka. At the age of 93 she volunteered to work at the Pioneers Home gift shop, where she was older than many of the residents.

Doreen enjoyed her final years, living with her family and with her cats, needlework, and books.

She stayed in touch with her grandchildren and her brother in England. She also stayed in touch with the world, closely following the news right to the end.

Doreen was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in the summer of 2020. Treatment options were limited by her age. Home healthcare services made it possible for her to remain comfortably at home and to be with her family at the end. She died peacefully on December 9, 2020.

Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law, Chris Kowalczewski and Bruce Gazaway, and her son, Stephen Kowalczewski, all of Sitka; and grandchildren Shannon Kowalczewski and Joshua Kowalczewski, and great-grandson Samuel McKeeman, all of Seattle; and brother Peter Thurlow of London.

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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