Natalie Pyatak's Obituary
Natalie Pyatak passed away peacefully at her home in Fort Myers Florida on May 8, 2025, surrounded by the love of family. She was 95.
Born in Poland on September 4, 1929, she was raised by her loving grandparents after her young mother died while giving birth to a little brother. He passed away at the same time. Natalie held a very deep love for her “grandma” and continued to speak of her often, right thru her final days.
As a little girl, Natalie experienced the horrific invasion of Poland during WWII. She had a multitude of frightening stories to tell. Those exposures contributed to her strong and tough nature which allowed her to share recollections of those traumatic events in a more lighthearted fashion. She was extremely independent and an amusingly feisty and stubborn character until the end.
At the age of 20, Natalie legally emigrated to the United States to join her father, who legally immigrated, beforehand, to establish a living in Connecticut. After a brief stay with her father, she moved near her step-sister in Brooklyn to find work in New York.
Natalie was extremely creative and a self-taught master seamstress. She learned to sew as a little girl in Poland on a sewing machine that her neighbor allowed her use. By a young age, she was making her own special dresses for church and even made “pretty dresses” for everyday wear and while helping her grandparents on their farm. She always loved getting compliments on original clothes that made her feel special.
In the US, Natalie easily found work in the NY garment district and worked for many top designers as a head-seamstress. Her skills were unmatched and she was always asked to sew the difficult things that others couldn’t do well. She was able to make everything from meticulously detailed wedding gowns to men’s blue jeans and flannel shirts. Natalie also had the ability to create patterns for clothes just by looking at a picture or even briefly seeing people wear them. She was very proud of the successful career she established through her passion. She also enjoyed sewing accessories for her home and clothes for her family throughout her life.
Natalie met the love of her life, Peter (“Pete”), who was just honorably discharged from the Navy, at a Polish dance hall in Somerville NJ. While they barely spoke each other’s languages, he asked her to dance and they soon fell in love. They married in 1955 and moved near Pete’s family in Elizabeth, NJ, where they built their own home and lovingly raised a son and daughter that they were very proud of.
Natalie continued to work as a seamstress and enjoyed doing creative projects in her free time. Her husband was also very talented and together they were always working on projects for their home. They even designed and built some beautiful furniture, including tables, benches, book cases, cabinets and more than a few sofas and chairs that Natalie professionally upholstered herself. She also maintained a green thumb and always loved keeping beautiful flowers, abundant vegetable gardens and varieties of fruit trees in their big back yard.
Pete worked as a firefighter until they both retired in 1982 and moved to the Flemington area where Natalie continued the gardening and sewing that she loved. After several more years, they eventually downsized and moved to Barnegat, NJ, for a short time before permanently moving close to their daughter in Fort Myers Florida in 2006.
Natalie lost her husband in 2019 after 65 years of being together and she remained heartbroken thereafter. While she stayed mostly independent in her own home and continued her passions of gardening and sewing for herself and family, she missed Pete dearly and looked forward to the time that God would reunite her with him and her Grandma in Heaven.
Natalie is survived by her daughter Eileen (Dr. Mark Monaco), son Dr. Peter Steven (Michele) and 3 grandchildren, Ryan, Olivia and Grace.
While her family deeply misses her, they are happy that her heart is full again and they find peace in knowing they will all be together again one day.
Visitation, church services and entombment will be held on Thursday, May 15, 2025 , for immediate family only, at Fort Myers Memorial Gardens Cemetery and St Columbkille Catholic Church, where Natalie was a member.
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