NADA RADOJKOVIC 1926 — 2017
On Nada’s last day, she was surrounded by members of her family, young and old, who showed their love to her until her last breath.
Nada was born on June 15, 1926 in a mid-sized city called Nis, in what was then Yugoslavia, and today, Serbia. It was a different world then, automobiles were rare, while horses and oxen still predominated. It was uncommon for a woman to get an education but she finished mid-school, or our equivalent of high school. Her mother died when she was quite young and her father re-married. She was the youngest of four, having a sister and two brothers. She went through the terrible Second World War, surviving bombings and occupation by the Axis powers.
She married Bata (John) Radojkovic in 1948, during Communist rule. He was a math professor and they moved in at first into his parents’ household that our grandfather built in 1939. The building still stands.
John got a job teaching in Zeleznice, a suburb of Belgrade, where Jon (Jovan), their first son was born in 1952. There was a lot of political turmoil at that time and John ended up in political jail twice. They decided to escape out of the country. John was a mountain climber, so he left first, climbing one of the highest mountains in the Alps into Austria and then a few months later, Nada, with her seven year old, escaped into Austria as well. That took a lot of courage.
From there they immigrated to Canada, landing at the Montreal airport on December 31, 1959.
A new life, and many more challenges for Nada. They had nothing when they came here, but soon, John landed a job as an engineer, and they moved into a nice apartment in the suburb of Lachine. Her second son, Ron, was born there in 1962.
In 1967 they moved to Toronto and purchased a house near the lake in the old suburb of New Toronto.
Nada loved to cook, still making mostly Serbian type meals, and the aroma of her wonderful dishes permeated the house. She was very social and many friends and couples came every week-end to partake in her tasty food. She also loved to dance, and was the party girl at weddings and celebrations Nada and John attended.
In 1971 she got a job at Robertshaw, an electronics production factory and eventually became the floor manager. She was much loved there by her co-workers, some of whom still kept in contact with her. Twenty years later the factory moved to Mexico and Nada and John purchased a small property in Sullivan Township, a few miles from Chesley, where they both retired. They built a house and Nada again made many friends, and was quite socially active. Her cooking and baking attracted a lot of neighbours to exotic foods.
She always longed for Toronto’s variety of stores, as she loved shopping, but soon found out about the malls in Owen Sound and Hanover.
John passed away in 2000 and Nada found out that she could tackle life by herself and still enjoy it. She eventually settled in Hanover, took trips with friends to Florida, and drove to Barrie and Toronto, during her seventies and eighties, to visit her family and many friends. She was fearless, that way.
She always told us to work hard but take time out to enjoy life. We’ll all miss her very much.
Nadezda “Nada” Radojkovic of Chesley, passed away peacefully at Elgin Abbey, Chesley on Sunday, February 5, 2017 in her 91st year.
Loving mother of Jon and his wife Lillian Burgess of R.R. #4 Chesley and Ron and his wife Erin Monaghan of Barrie. Cherished grandmother of Skyler (Brenda), Ian, Misha (Brittany), Jenayr (Cody), Bronte, Andrea, Michael and Patrick. Nada was predeceased by her husband John, two brothers and one sister.
Visitation will be held at Rhody Family Funeral Home, Chesley on Sunday, February 12, 2017 from 1 – 4 p.m. Memories will be shared at 2 p.m. Inurnment in Chesley Cemetery in the spring.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Chesley Hospital Foundation would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.
