SALEM, NH - Anna Firek, 91, passed away peacefully on Monday, December 30, 2024, at home surrounded by her loving family. She lived a life of hard work, commitment to her family, and strong faith in God.

She was born on April 25, 1933, to Walenty and Anna Piwowarcyzk in a small village of Brzezowa, Poland. Anna was a young girl at the onset of World War II when the German army invaded Poland and established their base in nearby Krakow. When many fled, Anna stayed behind to care for her mother and the farm.  After the war, she endured many difficult years of life under Soviet occupation.  In her early twenties, she met and married a young farmer named Stanislaw, the love of her life, to whom she was married to for fifty-two years and whose sister later sponsored them to immigrate to the United States where they soon joined the growing Polish community in Haverhill.

In addition to raising her large family, Anna brought her strong farm-like work ethic to the jobs that she worked. She was first employed in the Haverhill shoe shops as a stitcher and later was employed as an assembler at Western Electric (Lucent) until her retirement. During her work career, she was praised for the quality of her work and the countless hours of overtime that she volunteered to work. She was a parishioner of All Saints Parish and the former St. Michael's Church in Haverhill for many years. She was well known for her cooking, especially the Polish dishes that she had learned to make as a young girl. In addition to cooking, she enjoyed farming and gardening and spending time with friends, most of which have long since passed. She also loved taking trips to the beach and Foxwoods Casino. Anna was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, who took great pride in caring for her loved ones. She cared for her husband during his final years of declining health. She helped to care for and raise her grandchildren. In turn, she was cared for in her daughter's home by hospice and her daughter's family over the past three years.

She was predeceased by her loving husband Stanley and her nine siblings. Anna will be sadly missed by sons John Firek and his partner Patty Burrill of Haverhill, MA Joseph Firek of Deerfield Beach, FL, Chester Firek and his wife Crystal of Haverhill, MA, Stanley Firek and his wife Maria of Haverhill, MA, and daughter Alice Salamanca and her husband David of Salem, NH; as well as her grandchildren: Stas, Peter, Trevor, Christina and Connor Firek, Laura and David Salamanca, and Gino Parolisi. Anna is also survived by nieces Valerie Sendra and her husband Tony of Lemont, Ill, and Christine Polonka of Atkinson, NH, as well as many other nieces and nephews in Poland.

Relatives and friends are invited to the calling hours to be held on Tuesday, January 7 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at Berube-Comeau Funeral Home, 47 Broadway, Haverhill, MA. Her funeral mass will follow at All Saints Parish, 120 Bellevue Avenue, Haverhill, MA, at 1:00 pm. Burial in St. Patrick's Cemetery, 395 N. Broadway, Haverhill, MA. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in memory of Anna to High Pointe Hospice House, 360 North Ave, Haverhill, MA 01830. To send a message of condolence to the family or to share a cherished memory, please visit: berubecomeau.com