Obituary for Vera Kutil
Vera was born on October 27, 1923, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the youngest of three children of Marie (nee Rejmanova) and František Cvikr. She lived a full life. She died on January 21, 2021, at the age of 97 years.
During the period before WWII, she prepared to study fashion design in Paris. But, like many at that time and whose fate was far worse, the war put an end to her plans. Undeterred, she and her older sister Manka (Stark) worked together, establishing a new fashion business in Prague. She married Josef Kutil in 1951, and raised her two boys, Paul and Peter. In 1968, fearing the future and looking for a better life, she emigrated to America with her family, including her elderly mother in tow. The family settled in Forest Hills, N.Y. She took good care of her family, and her elderly mom until her death in 1980. She did this all and worked full-time as a fashion sample maker up to 1988, when she retired from her Fashion (7th) Avenue job as a shop steward for her Union. In 1986, she was widowed when her husband Joe died. She saw her sons marry, she nurtured her 3 grandkids, and she spent her time in retirement going to her Czech Church in Astoria, seeing her friends, and going to the beach at Silver Point with friends she made there.
She was proud of her father, one of the directors of Praga, a Czech car company, who gave her permission to drive the family car at a young age. She only stopped driving at 92, after 75 plus years of driving. She was independent, and strong to the end. She did not stop. And, only after her recent fall in her Forest Hills home, a broken hip, an operation, and a short hospital stay, her heart stopped at the age of 97, early morning on January 21, 2021 at Booth Memorial Hospital in Flushing, NY.
Funeral arrangements will be private. A memorial mass will be held once the pandemic restrictions end. The family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to their favorite charity in Vera’s name, or to Vera’s charity, to celebrate her life and help others that came to this Country from foreign lands:
Czech Catholic Mission in NYC, Inc.
c/o Rev Antonin Kocurek
110-06 Queens Blvd.
Forest Hills, N.Y. 11375
Vera is survived by her sons, Paul and Peter, and their spouses Hana and Donna, and her grandchildren Monica, Eric, and Christopher, her nephew Peter Stark and his wife Lois, overseas, her nieces Hana and Daša, her nephew Vlada and her extended family and her friends.
During the period before WWII, she prepared to study fashion design in Paris. But, like many at that time and whose fate was far worse, the war put an end to her plans. Undeterred, she and her older sister Manka (Stark) worked together, establishing a new fashion business in Prague. She married Josef Kutil in 1951, and raised her two boys, Paul and Peter. In 1968, fearing the future and looking for a better life, she emigrated to America with her family, including her elderly mother in tow. The family settled in Forest Hills, N.Y. She took good care of her family, and her elderly mom until her death in 1980. She did this all and worked full-time as a fashion sample maker up to 1988, when she retired from her Fashion (7th) Avenue job as a shop steward for her Union. In 1986, she was widowed when her husband Joe died. She saw her sons marry, she nurtured her 3 grandkids, and she spent her time in retirement going to her Czech Church in Astoria, seeing her friends, and going to the beach at Silver Point with friends she made there.
She was proud of her father, one of the directors of Praga, a Czech car company, who gave her permission to drive the family car at a young age. She only stopped driving at 92, after 75 plus years of driving. She was independent, and strong to the end. She did not stop. And, only after her recent fall in her Forest Hills home, a broken hip, an operation, and a short hospital stay, her heart stopped at the age of 97, early morning on January 21, 2021 at Booth Memorial Hospital in Flushing, NY.
Funeral arrangements will be private. A memorial mass will be held once the pandemic restrictions end. The family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to their favorite charity in Vera’s name, or to Vera’s charity, to celebrate her life and help others that came to this Country from foreign lands:
Czech Catholic Mission in NYC, Inc.
c/o Rev Antonin Kocurek
110-06 Queens Blvd.
Forest Hills, N.Y. 11375
Vera is survived by her sons, Paul and Peter, and their spouses Hana and Donna, and her grandchildren Monica, Eric, and Christopher, her nephew Peter Stark and his wife Lois, overseas, her nieces Hana and Daša, her nephew Vlada and her extended family and her friends.