Marlene F Bratach

On Saturday, February 5, 2022. Marlene (Ficzko) Bratach, loving mother of four children, passed away quietly at home at the age of 84. Marlene was born on October 28, 1937 in Irvington, New Jersey, the eldest child of Walter and Anna (Struck) Ficzko. She graduated from Irvington High School in 1955 and attended a year of secretarial school. On July 12, 1958, she married Bohdan Bratach and raised a daughter, Anne, and three sons, John, Paul and Peter. Marlene was no ordinary wife and mother. She returned to the working world at age 32, starting out as a secretary at Mutual Benefit Life and working her way up to Business Systems Analyst at AIG. She might not have had a college degree, but she earned the admiration and respect of her colleagues. She retired in 2003. Marlene's energy and enthusiasm led to a lifelong passion for knowledge (she appeared on Jeopardy! in the 1960s), movies (she was President of the world wide Mel Gibson Fan Club from the late 1980s to the early 1990s), and her beloved Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church and community (she was a leader in the Rosary Society for many years). She never met a stranger, befriending not only people at church and work, but also at the QiukChek, Shoprite and the CVS. Her best friend of nearly 80 years, Pat (Lynch) Dejneka, whom she met in the second grade, was the first of many deep and long lasting ties she formed in her neighborhood, at work. and even among her children's friends, becoming Supermom to a large cohort of young people who loved her back Marlene inspired in her children a zest for life, an openness to travel and adventure, and a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty of life. Traveling with friends or family, she visited among other places, Australia, Scotland, Ukraine and national parks throughout the West. She was preceded in death by her husband Bohdan and her sister Lois. She is survived by her brother, Ron, her children, three grandsons, Micah, Kayin and Conor, and several nieces and nephews. A viewing is being held this Sunday, February 13, 2022, at Union Funeral Home-Lytwyn & Grillo, 1600 Stuyvesant Ave, Union, NJ from 1:00PM to 5:00PM. A Parastas starts at 4:30PM. The funeral is Monday, February 14, 2022 starting with a Mass at St John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, 719 Sandford Ave, Newark, NJ at 9:30Am followed by the burial at Cloverleaf Memorial Park Cemetery, 931 US Hwy 1 South, Woodbridge, NJ at 11:15AM. If you wish to attend the luncheon please RSVP to Peter Bratach at (415) 214-5407. Donations may be made in Marlene's memory to St John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church.