Janina Miksys of Leicester passed away Wednesday, February 6, 2013.
She was the daughter of Stasys Dvoreckis and Veronika Makareviciute Dvoreckis. Janina was predeceased by her husband, Petras Miksys who died in 1997. She is survived by her two sons, Linas and Rimvydas; two grandchildren, Tanya and Andrew; and one great granddaughter, Livija Marija.
     Janina was born Dec. 7, 1919 in Kaunas, Lithuania. In the final year of World War II, she and her husband and two year old son Rimvydas fled Lithuania to escape deportation to Siberia. The family survived the final months of the war in Germany only to find that they could not return to Russian-occupied Lithuania after the war. They spent four years in a refugee camp in Scheinfeld, Germany.
     The family emigrated to the United States in 1949. After living the first few years in New Jersey and Vermont, Petras and Janina bought a neighborhood grocery store. Their second son Linas was born in 1954 in Worcester.
      In time the Woodland Superette became a neighborhood institution. The immigrant couple identified with people going through a hard time and would often extend credit until people recovered from a layoff or a family emergency. This was a time long before credit cards.
When they retired in July of 1980, their neighbors held a block party and the mayor presented a plaque honoring their “outstanding and uniting efforts to the Woodland Street Community.”
After Lithuania regained its independence in 1990 the couple was able to visit their homeland several times and reunite with relatives. After Janina’s dear husband died, she lived out her final years with her son Linas.
     The family would like to express their thanks to the entire staff of Summit Elder Care for their kind care and support for the past eight years.
     The funeral service will be held on Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 11 A.M. in Howard C. Allen Funeral Home, Inc., 653 Main St., Shrewsbury. There are no calling hours. Burial will be in Worcester County Memorial Park, Paxton.