Edwiga Stacia Rafalowska Peppler, 91, of Winter Springs, FL, formerly of Ansonia, entered into rest on Nov. 9, 2010. She was the wife of the late Leonard Peppler.
Mrs. Peppler was born in Ansonia on May 5, 1919, to Polish immigrants, Antoni and Aleksandra Rafalowski, the fourth of six children. She was Valedictorian of Ansonia High School, graduated from St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford in 1936 and earned the first Masters of Nursing from Yale University in 1943. She served in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps and met her future husband while stationed in Hawaii during WWII. She married Leonard Peppler, a Pearl Harbor survivor in San Francisco, CA, on Feb. 2, 1946. While raising four sons as a Navy wife, she worked as a registered nurse in six states. Among her many accomplishments, she established the Practical Nurse Education Program at Onslow Technical Ins., Jacksonville, NC, where the “Edwig Peppler Award” is given yearly, to an outstanding graduate who best exemplifies her bedside manner. Her last years of teaching were spent as Assistant Professor of Nursing at Pensacola Junior College. During this period, she was appointed by the Governor to the Florida Nursing Home Ombudsman Committee-an advocacy group that worked to protect patients from nursing home abuses. She retired in 1986 and moved with “Pep” to Winter Springs. “Eddy” lived in seven states, two foreign countries and personally met two Presidents and a First Lady. Of all her accomplishments in life, she was most proud of her family.
She is survived by three sons, Thomas Peppler (Helen) of Oviedo, FL, Stephen Peppler (Cindy) of Virginia Beach, VA, and Kenneth Peppler (Tracey) of Winter Springs, two sisters, Wanda Zyskoski of Seymour and Alma Roginel of Derby, grandchildren, Stephanie Swope MD (Matthew), Adam Peppler, Michelle Peppler, Nathan Peppler (Stephanie), Lindsay Deaver (Justin), Tori Peppler MD, Kyle Peppler, Keegan Peppler, and seven great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a son Michael Peppler MD, sisters, Gladys Androski and Helen Potkay and a brother Arthur Raffey.
Friends and relatives are invited to attend a Memorial Mass on Saturday Dec. 4, 2010, at 10:00 am at St. Joseph’s Church, 32 Jewett Street in Ansonia. She will be laid to rest with military honors in St. Michael’s Cemetery in Derby. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Joseph’s College, 1678 Asylum Ave., West Hartford, CT 06119. The SPINELLI-RICCIUTI/BEDNAR-OSIECKI FUNERAL HOME, 62 Beaver Street in Ansonia, has been privileged to assist with the arrangements. To send an online condolence, please visit http://www.spinellifuneralhome.com.
