Sympathy Sentiments

Byline: Yolanda Simonsis Associate Publisher/Editor

The shock of learning about my dear friend Rich’s death was crushing, as I know it will be for the faithful readers of his monthly PFFC column, “Material Science.”

Dr. Richard Martin Podhajny passed away from a massive heart attack on Saturday, July 16, only three weeks after the death of his loving wife, Susan Caryl Glass Podhajny, who died following a three-month battle with metastasized breast cancer.

Rich and Susie are survived by their three grown children, Debra, David, and Daniel, along with six grandchildren, all of whom Rich and Susie doted on proudly. Rich’s life reads like a drama that no Hollywood screenwriter could have imagined. When I asked his youngest son Daniel to share some memories, I knew they contained the kind of victorious stories from which others could learn and be thankful for their good fortune.

From infancy, Rich’s life was beset by trial and tribulation. Rich was born as the only son of Mary and Michael Podhajny on July 27, 1940, near Soviet Union-occupied Lvov, Poland. After the Nazi Germany betrayal of the German – Soviet Pact in June 1941, Rich managed to stay with his mother throughout the subsequent turmoil but lost contact with his father.

During the interveninig years, Rich experienced horrific conditions, particularly under Nazi rule, as he recalled at the age of two, running with one leg numb from the cold and limping to catch up with his mother, from whom he had become separated. He also remembered at least twice being lined up at gunpoint to be shot. The first time he was saved by Russian planes swooping down and scattering Nazi troops to allow Rich and his mother to escape. A second time, both Rich and mother were again lined up against a wall to be shot when Mary managed to produce evidence that her father had served in the German army in Austria during WWI. Instead they were placed on a train and sent to western Germany in early ‘42 to live in a Nazi work camp that shared a fence with an infamous concentration camp. Rich vividly recalled attempting to pass a piece of bread through the fence to a starving Jewish child when a Nazi guard started shooting at him.

….can be very difficult, especially if you were not extremely close to the person. Following are a few quick tips to help get you started, which can be the most difficult part. Once you start writing and remembering, thing seem to flow more easily.

The best way to express your condolences would be to send a handwritten, card or a brief letter, addressed to the person in the family to whom you are closest, or to the entire family. Basically, along the lines of: “I was terribly sorry to learn about the death of (person’s name) . May you find comfort in knowing that so many people care and are thinking of you and your family at this time. ”

To make your notes extra special, add a little note that refers to how special that person was, by either sharing a personal story/memory of the deceased or by noting their admirable qualities. If you can offer any assistance (and be prepared to make good on that offer), do so.

Try to keep your message as brief as possible, limiting yourself to about one page, as the person/family will be receiving many expressions of sympathy and will be emotionally drained.