Martha Lachowska

ST. JOSEPH FRIENDS HONOR ORGANIST, 75...
By Patricia Villers - Register Staff
(New Haven Register 10-10-2000)

Martha Lachowska’s enthusiasm for things musical comes out in a variety of ways, but none is more notable than the six decades she has served as organist at St. Joseph Church.

Lachowska, 75, recently was honored at a reception in the church hall by parishioners, as well as teachers and students from St. Joseph School, 36 Jewett St.

The children made her cards, and she received a floral arrangement.

A lifelong Ansonia resident, Lachowska has been playing organ at the church since 1939,. She also was a teacher at the elementary school for 32 years, retiring in 1990.

"Now I teach singing every Monday to grades pre-K through 8, and I lead the children’s choir," said Lachowska. "That’s usually for grades 2 through 8, but this year we have a little girl in Grade 1 in choir who loves to sing."

She spoke during an interview at the Doyle Senior Center after accompanying the center’s chorus during its weekly rehearsal.

"She knows her music," said Jo Blackwell of Derby, who directs the Doyle Center chorus. Blackwell said Lachowska, who also plays piano, travels with the chorus when it performs throughout the region.

Lachowska, who never married, has devoted her life to St. Joseph Church, said the Rev. Marek Sobczak, pastor, and that’s why parishioners wanted to honor her.

"She just wants to make the liturgy more beautiful, "he said. "Whatever she has she gives back to others."

Sobczak said she even spends her own money on flowers for the church. "Martha is always happy, always smiling," he said, "You don’t meet this king (of person) today. She’s always involved in parish picnics and festivals and organizations. Her heart is always there."

St. Joseph School Principal Carmel Brown said Lachowska has taught nearly everyone who has attended the school.

"She plays the organ every day at Mass at 8:30(am)," Brown said. "The children sing at Mass the second Sunday of every month and the noon Mass on the first Friday of the month."

Lachowska taught piano lessons in her home as well as in other people’s homes for many years. When she’s not playing organ at church, Sobczak said Lachowska visits parishioners who are in nursing homes. She regularly travels to Bayside, NY to visit a retired priest in a nursing home there.

Lachowska said she was thrilled when seventh-grader Pawel Janucik of Ansonia recited a poem for her in Poland. The poem was written for her by the boy’s grandfather, who is visiting form Poland.