Margaret Malinowski; 1948-2013: Science instructor taught at Lourdes

12/26/2013

Margaret Malinowski, who for 17 years was a lead technician and instructor at Lourdes University’s Life Lab, died Saturday in Flower Hospital at age 65.

Mrs. Malinowski died of kidney and liver disease, said her husband of 37 years, Gary.

As lead technician, Mrs. Malinowski took care of all of Life Lab’s animals and taught visiting teachers and schoolchildren about natural science issues involving plants, animals, and ecosystems, Mr. Malinowski said. After Life Lab’s closing last year, she continued her work at Lourdes, focusing on adult education in natural sciences, he said.

Before that, she worked for the former Ohio Bell Telephone Co. from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s.

“First and foremost, she was dedicated to her family and her children,” Mr. Malinowski said. “She was a tremendous mother. She was probably one of the most caring and thoughtful people that I knew. She had a big heart and she was willing to help anyone. She will be missed in so many ways.”

Kristyn Malinowski, her daughter, said Mrs. Malinowski was “dedicated to sharing her knowledge of science with everyone possible and truly cared about every living thing, small or large.”

“My mother was self-taught,” Ms. Malinowski said. “She loved to read on the subject of natural science. And she learned a lot from her colleagues.”

Mrs. Malinowski had reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, butterflies, and other insects in the lab, her daughter said.

Born Jan. 26, 1948, in Toledo, Mrs. Malinowski graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1966. She then went to work for Ohio Bell.

“We grew up in a Polish Catholic family in North Toledo,” said her sister Joan Torzewski. “She was my older sister, and I very much looked up to her. She cared a lot about people and animals. She was very outgoing. And we never had an argument.”

Throughout her life and most recently during her two-year battle with illness, Mrs. Malinowski was determined, courageous, and always optimistic, her husband said.

In her free time, Mrs. Malinowski enjoyed raising dogs, and she was a certified master gardener, her daughter said. She was a longtime member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Sylvania.

Surviving are her husband, Gary; sister Joan Torzewski; daughter Kristyn Malinowski, and son Kevin.

Visitation will begin at 2 p.m. today at Sujkowski Funeral Home Northpointe, 114 E. Alexis Rd., with a Rosary to be recited at 7 p.m. Services will be at 10:15 a.m. Friday in the mortuary, followed at 11 a.m. by a funeral Mass in St. Joseph.

The family suggests tributes to the Sierra Club, Nature’s Nursery, or a charity of the donor’s choice.

Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com, 419-724-6089, or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.