Julia A. Steuer, 96
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Julia A. Steuer, 96, of 74 Chestnut St. died peacefully on Monday, Feb. 15, 2010, at home.
Born in Adams on Jan 22, 1914, daughter of Joseph Kruszyna and Justyna Izyk Kruszyna Durda, her father died when she was 2 and she was raised by her stepfathe, John S. Durda. She attended local schools and resided in Greenfield from 1934 until 1937, when she moved Williamstown and then to North Adams in 1940.
Mrs. Steuer was employed in school cafeterias at Greylock and Drury and as a sales clerk at Pizzi's Dress Shop and Kwalitee Gift Shoppe until those stores closed. She first worked in the former Berkshire Mills in Adams and was a Red Cross bandage instructor during World War II.
A sought-after seamstress, she made clothes and slipcovers for many local clients. She also hooked and braided rugs, and a quilt she made and her biography were included in "Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth" published in March 2009. Although afflicted by glaucoma in her 50s, causing her to cut back on sewing for others, she continued to make outfits for her granddaughter and to supply her church with baptismal bibs until her eyesight failed completely.
She was active in the community, serving as president of the former Mark Hopkins Parent-Teacher Association, vice president of the Visiting Nurse Association, on the citywide Parent Group Council, as co-chairman of a five-year American Cancer Society study collected for charitable organizations and as regent of Court Margaret 629 Catholic Daughters of the Americas, attending many state and national conventions. Mrs. Steuer was a founding member of the St. Francis Fryers and belonged to the St. Francis Rosary Society. She won numerous ribbons for sewing at the Cummington Fair over the years and placed annually in the apple pie contest. She was noted locally for her butter cookies. She was active until suffering a stroke in July 2005.
Her husband, Edward G. Steuer, a longtime teacher at Drury High who also taught in the Greenfield and former Williamstown high schools, died March 5, 1966. They were married in the former St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Adams on Aug. 18, 1934.
She leaves her daughter, Justyna Carlson and her husband, Gene, of North Adams; a granddaughter, Marissa Carlson of Lowell; nieces Doris McAndrews, Mary Frances Petropulos and Nancy Cwalinski, all of the state of Florida, and Doris Alibozek of Adams, and nephews Douglas Burnett of Adams, Paul John Durda of Needham and Jon Peter Durda of Hinesburg, Vt.
She was predeceased by her brothers Frank Krusna and Joseph Durda and sisters Sophie Leary, Mary Parker and Mildred Burnett.
FUNERAL NOTICE — A Liturgy of Christian Burial for Mrs. Steuer will be held on Friday, Feb. 19, at 11 a.m. at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church. Burial will follow in Bellevue Cemetery in Adams.
Calling hours will be Thursday, Feb. 18, from 4 to 7 on Thursday, Feb. 18, at Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, Central Chapels, 74 Marshall St., North Adams. Donations are suggested to Elder Services, VNA & Hospice of Northern Berkshire or to St. Elizabeth's Church through the funeral home.
The family thanks Elder Services and VNA & Hospice for assisting with her home care. Special thanks to Julie and Linda, her night caregivers, and to Ellen, Mary Ann, Sandy, Sheena and Pam.