Henrietta E Kapalczynski Kocy

Henrietta Kocy, 92, passed away peacefully Tuesday, September 16th after a busy and productive life getting things done. A lifelong resident and tireless booster of South Bend, Henrietta was born on April 10, 1922 to Joseph and Kathryn (Pawlak) Kapalczynski. She was preceded in death by her sister Irene (Wcisel) and survived by her brother Ralph (Angelina; St. Joseph, MI).

She grew up on the West Side where she attended St. Stanaslaus School and was graduated from Central High School in 1941. Upon graduation she went to work at Bendix helping produce rubber coats for U.S. soldiers during World War II.

In 1947 she married Joseph Kocy Jr. (d. 1981). Although she described herself as Catholic and a housewife during the years she and Joe raised their three children Joseph (Elizabeth Rushing), Catherine (Minneapolis, MN), and Mary Louise (John Rusk; New York City), Henreitta’s True Religion was politics and her life’s work was devoted to helping get things done in South Bend wherever she spotted a need or room-for-improvement. Her commitment to the causes she believed in was wholehearted and relentless and she expected no less from the candidates she supported.

She joined Congressman John Brademas’s re-election campaign in 1967, phoning voters alongside Mr. Brademas’s mother in the campaign office. From that time through 2013 she worked as a volunteer on local, state and national campaigns in every election year including those of Sheriff Mike Grzegorick, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and President Barack Obama. During those years she could be found inside the Farmers Market debating another customer about the track record of a sitting President or about the personal qualities of a mayoral candidate; noticed at various church fish fries collaring potential voters; or spotted along the streets of South Bend driving the stakes of campaign signs for ‘her candidate’ into the front yards of home owners. Wherever she was, Henrietta was identified as the little old lady wearing the black tam and nice shoes. Little surprise as Henrietta’s first language was Style, and she understood the importance of proper attire.

Henrietta’s passion for politics was rivalled only by her love for her granddaughters Lillian (Brooklyn, NY) and Eve (London, England) with whom she consulted on clothing; cajoled through first crushes and heartbreak; complained about the parents; and cheated at cards. Henrietta was known by first and last name at the local UPS office, thanks to the many boxes of play clothes and party dresses; caramel corn from the Farmers Market; Christmas ornaments; toys and Claey’s Charlie Chaplin candy she sent to the girls throughout their childhood.

In addition to these activities, Henrietta was a volunteer at the Food Bank and created numerous private projects to help residents of South Bend in need, whenever a compelling situation was brought to her attention. Although she frequently took solace at morning Mass at St. Matthews Cathedral and at the Grotto at Notre Dame, her headquarters and locus of strength for these activities and all others was her house, built for her to her specifications by her husband and where she lived throughout her adult life, raising her family, hosting extended family dinners and welcoming friends for visits and rounds of euchre, tonk and 7-card rummy .

She was employed by Miles (Bayer) Laboratories from 1977 until 1992 when she retired. Afterwards, she joined the staff of the South Bend Tribune in the circulation and sales department where she worked until 2002.

In 2013 Henrietta retired from politics to commit herself to one last campaign: supporting the transition of Lillian from college to an independent and engaging adult life and to support Eve as she prepared to enter college to study art and fashion design, Henrietta’s own dream career. In her senior yearbook, she was nicknamed Fifth Avenue Buyer.

Henrietta travelled Western Europe and Russia and made two trips to Mexico and Thailand. But she always returned eagerly to South Bend, the place she proudly and wholeheartedly embraced as home and the center of the universe, hers and ours.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew, 1701 Miami St. South Bend, IN. Graveside services and burial will follow at Southlawn Cemetery, South Bend. Friends may visit with the family from 4:00-7:00 p.m. Monday at the Palmer Funeral Home-Guisinger Chapel, 3718 S. Michigan St. South Bend, IN where a rosary will be recited at 4:30 p.m.

Contributions in memory of Henrietta E. Kocy may be offered to the Hospice Foundation, 501 Comfort Place, Mishawaka, IN 46545. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.palmerfuneralhomes.com

07/25/2022 EJS