Viola Louise Hojnacki, 98, of Pine Island, died February 25, 2025, after a short illness.
Born June 6, 1926, she was one of 12 children born to Polish immigrants Bronislaw and Regina Sendlak Gayewski who settled in Pine Island.
Upon graduation from Warwick Valley High School, she was employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C. where she met her husband, World War II navy veteran and Michigan native Walter Stanley Hojnacki.
The couple returned to Pine Island in the early 1950s to build a life around family and farm, growing onions, carrots, and lettuce before retiring to Leesburg, Fl. They returned to Warwick in the early 1990s to live out their days. Walter Hojnacki died Dec. 31, 2000.
She is survived by son Stanley Walter Hojnacki (Monroe, NC), sister Regina Bastek (Westtown), four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her brothers Barney and John Gayewski and sisters Apolonia Gayewski, Jean Lupinski, Mary Schreibeis, Charlotte Tomaszewski, Genevieve Tomaszewski, Frances Shaw, Stella Wesolowski, and Josephine Wesolowski.
Visitation: Thursday, February 27 from 3 to 6 p.m. at T.S. Purta Funeral Home, 690 County Route 1. Pine Island, N 10969.
Funeral Mass: Friday, February 28 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Stanislaus Church in Pine Island.
Burial will be in St. Stanislaus Cemetery, Pine Island.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-1905, or to St. Stanislaus Church c/o St. Joseph Church, 14 Glenmere Avenue, Florida, NY 10921.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the T.S. Purta Funeral Home. To send a condolence online, please go to purtafuneralhome.com.