Darlene B. Lijewski

Lijewski, Darlene B. Born to Eternal Life November 7, 2021 at the age of 74. Loving sister of Shirley (Al) Lijewski. Sister-in-law of Donna (the late Tom) Pelkowski. Further survived by loving cousins, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Preceded in death by her parents Theodore and Alice Lijewski. Darlene graduated from Bay View HS and immediately took a position in Washington DC in the Social Security Administration where she worked for over 28 years. While in DC she took night classes at Georgetown University in stenography, court reporting, and medical and legal terminology. While working at the SSA she received many awards, one being the highest government award given to an SSA employee. Darlene worked in the budget department personnel files, keeping track of all SSA employees in the US. Included in her work was time keeping, typing, hearing assistant, decision writing and supervising employees. While in DC she met a wonderful young service man Lawrence Smith. He and Darlene were engaged before he left for his second tour of duty in Vietnam but before he could return was killed in action. Then Darlene moved to Virginia and then back to Milwaukee. She continued working for the SSA in the Milwaukee office. She took hearings for attorneys and supervised the office staff. She developed life-long friendships with Paul and Pat Ogren, Terry Butterfield and many more people at the SSA. Darlene also remained close with her grade school buddy Corinne Megow. She loved children, her family and pets. She enjoyed gardening, cooking, baby-sitting, watching the Packers play, reading, going to craft fairs, music, shopping and spending time with friends and family. She will be dearly missed. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Disabled Veterans, Diabetes Association or the American Heart Association would be preferred.