Antoinette Basch

Antoinette Basch - Antoinette (Toni) Basch, our beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother peacefully fell asleep in the Lord on February 8, 2010 surrounded by her loving family. Antoinette was born in Garfield, NJ on October 26, 1923 to Michael and Anna Zmudsky, both from Russia. Toni and her five brothers and sisters grew up in the Garfield area. After graduating from high school in 1941 she began work at a New Jersey paper manufacturer. During the height of the Second World War, she enlisted in the US Navy as a WAVE, received initial training at Great Lakes Michigan and was then assigned to NAS Key West as a Storekeeper. The base was an important naval and aviation facility providing a staging area for our Nationâ??s service members and materials headed for the front lines and for those returning. After the War, she married and settled in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio and had three children Allen, Karen and Raymond. In 1960, she and the family moved first to Petaluma and then Valley Ford to raise chickens, cattle and other livestock. Toni was an active member of American Legion Post 21 in Santa Rosa. The family moved again in 1970 to Cotati where she supported her family in their higher education, was a faithful parishioner at St. Josephâ??s Catholic Church and worked in the Petaluma public schools for many years. The legacies of which she was particularly proud were her childrenâ??s college education achievements; Karenâ??s teaching career and Allen and Raymondâ??s service in the US Navy. Friends and family are invited to attend a Funeral Mass on Friday, February 12, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 150 St. Joseph Way, Cotati, CA followed by a private graveside committal at Calvary Catholic Cemetery. A gathering of family and friends will be held at the home of Raymond and Victoria at 2:00 p.m. A Panikhida will be served at St. Seraphim Orthodox Church on Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Memorial Hospice, 821 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95401 in her memory. Family assisted by Parent-Sorensen Mortuary and Crematory, 763-4131. Toni was preceded in death by Allen and is survived by her sister Helen Macksinka and her husband Andrew, Karen and her husband Owen, Raymond and his wife Victoria; her grandchildren Owen and Briana Fredericks, Erin and her husband Johannes Starke, Michael and his wife Jasmine Basch, Kathryn and her husband Russell Paine, Sophia and Larisa Basch and her great grandchildren Katarina, Julia and Benjamin Basch, Andrew, Angelica, Matthew and Titus Paine.