Shrewsbury – Ryda (Gaewsky) Simone, 89, a longtime Shrewsbury resident, passed away at home Sunday, Dec. 29 2013, with her beloved family gathered beside her.
Ryda was born in Worcester, one of four daughters of Lithuanian immigrants Anthony and Anna (Basy's) Gaewsky. She grew up in Worcester, graduated from Commerce High School, and in 1946 married the man she would spend the next 50 years as his wife, Bernard “Blackie” Simone, and moved to White City's Italian section of Shrewsbury, where she has lived for the last 67 years.
Ryda worked more than 20 years for the former Kings Department Store before she retired. Her husband, Blackie, passed away in 1996.
Ryda is survived by her two children, George A. Simone, with whom she lived, and Margaret A. Quaglieri of Worcester; a granddaughter, Tracey Quaglieri-Hebert; three great-grandchildren, whom she adored and whom adored her, Amanda and Cory Garry and Michael Fafard; and many nieces, nephews and extended family. Three sisters, Helen Vigneaux, Anne DeSair and Adele Kallis, all predeceased her.
Ryda was a member of St. Anne's Church, a devoted Catholic. She liked to bowl, read, and solve puzzles. Her greatest love in life was all the times she spent with her great-grandchildren. The love they shared and times enjoyed were the inspiration in her life. She was pure, graceful and loving.
Funeral services for Ryda will be held Saturday, Jan. 4, at 11:30 a.m., in the Mercadante Funeral Home and Chapel, 370 Plantation St., Worcester. Burial will follow next to her husband in Mountain View Cemetery. A period of visitation will be held from 10:30 a.m. to the time of the service in the funeral home.
