Zofia (Czerwinska) Porzuczek, 92, of Lower Macungie Township, died Oct. 28, 2023, at St. Luke’s - Sacred Heart Hospital, Allentown. She was the wife of the late Jan Porzuczek. They were married for nearly 70 years. Born in Podluby, Poland, she was the daughter of the late Franciszek Czerwinski and Jozefa (Biernat) Czerwinska.

Like many of the “Greatest Generation,” she faced hardships with courage and perseverance. At the onset of World War II, she was deported to a Siberian hard labor camp by the Soviets where she was later orphaned. She was fortunate to fall under the British Protectorate and traveled through Uzbekistan, Iran, India, Pakistan and Kenya to ultimately settle in a refugee camp in Uganda. Europe’s postwar reorganization left her without a home and country and she settled in Cirencester, England, where other Polish refugees organized. It was there she met her husband, married and had her children. They resided there until 1958 when they immigrated to the United States. They lived in Brooklyn, N.Y. and later owned and operated European Meat Products in Binghamton, N.Y. until relocating to the Lehigh Valley in 1983. She was a fierce defender of family and gentle soul of firm faith who helped many.

She is survived by a daughter, Teresa Porzuczek-Melin and her husband, Robert; granddaughter, Dr. Alyson Melin and her husband, Dr. Andrew Heckman; great-granddaughter, Sophia Heckman, her namesake; great-grandson, Robert Jan Heckman. She was predeceased by a son, Peter, in 2014.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Luke’s - Sacred Heart Hospital, Allentown.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:30 a.m. Nov. 6 at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 1040 Flexer Ave., Allentown. A viewing will be held 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church. Arrangements were made by the Bachman, Kulik & Reinsmith Funeral Home, Emmaus.