Janina Desjardins

Janina DesJardins was born in Vilnius, Poland in 1931. Known to all as Jan, she was the last living member of the Bala family who immigrated to the United States in 1949 after World War II. The Balas, from Krakow, Poland had lost their father, a member of the Polish military, when he was captured by Russian troops and sentenced to life in Siberia at the outbreak of World War II. The senior Victor Bala eventually escaped the gulag, made his way to England, and joined the Allied fighting forces of General Anders Army. He was wounded at the Battle of Monte Casino in Italy, and died in a military hospital in Egypt on September 11, 1946.

Jan and her siblings spent the early war years in a Catholic boarding school in Krakow. Attempting to flee to the West, the family found themselves stranded in a Polish community in Hohenfels, Germany, where food was scarce and bombing raids were common. Unable to return to communist Poland after the War ended, Jan and her sister Irene sailed to America aboard the U.S.S. Taylor in 1949, settling in Cleveland, OH. Jan continued her education there, learning bookkeeping and secretarial skills.

In 1953, Jan moved to Fargo, North Dakota to join her mother, Tamara, who had immigrated with Jan’s younger siblings Barbara and Michael. Jan’s older brothers, Victor and Jerzy, had immigrated to England after the war and joined the family in Fargo in 1954. Jan’s mother eventually married Joseph Prosby, the man who sponsored her immigration after the War. They gave Jan a sister, Mary Ann Prosby Hodge.

Jan enjoyed life in Fargo, working as a secretary and spending weekends picnicking, swimming in nearby lakes and going to dances. In a twist of fate, Jan met the nephew of the Felton, Minnesota Postmaster who had met Jan’s mother at the train station when she first arrived in Minnesota. The nephew, Aaron DesJardins of Felton, Minnesota, courted Jan, and they married in 1956. Between 1957-1962, they had five children – Mary Jane, Wesley, Jeanne, Michael, and Linda. Jan took up square dancing, became an avid gardener, and immersed herself in family life. She canned, made jam and wine, and sewed her own curtains. Once a lady who sported a pearl necklace and white gloves, in 1980 Jan traded her white gloves for work gloves when she and Aaron became full-fledged partners on their beloved Double AA Ranch in Morris, MN. Jan loved nature and animals, and the farm was their paradise. After Aaron passed away in 2000, Jan moved to Piedmont, South Dakota. Her beloved dogs, always adopted from the Humane Society, were close and constant companions.

Jan was an adventurer and traveled widely, accompanying Jeanne and her family on memorable trips to Mexico, Poland, Russia, and Egypt. Jan possessed a warrior spirit and was fiercely independent. She prized self-reliance which she made a priority to teach her children. Always a staunch patriot of the United States, Jan knew firsthand the horrors that communism had imposed on Poland, and she cherished the freedom and democracy of United States. Jan reminded her children often how lucky they were to be Americans.

Jan witnessed history, came to the United States with courage and lived a life dedicated to her family. She is survived by her sister Mary Ann Hodge Jerry of Little Rock, Arkansas, her children Mary Jane O’Connor Tom of Rockford, Illinois; Wesley DesJardins of Fargo, North Dakota; Jeanne Czarnetzky Ron of Amman, Jordan; Michael DesJardins of Riverside, California, and Linda Kowalski Dennis of Pittsboro, North Carolina. She also leaves five adoring grandsons, Dylan Robinson, Aaron and Adam DesJardins, and Jack and Adam Czarnetzky. Numerous nieces, nephews and extended family survive her and share the joy of knowing her.

Visitation: Thursday, March 9, 2017 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. with a prayer service at 7:00 p.m. in Wright Funeral Home, Moorhead, MN.

Funeral Service: Friday, March 10, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. in Wright Funeral Home, Moorhead, MN.

Interment: Felton Cemetery, Felton, MN.