Dolores and the SX-70: the epilog
Dolores
In realms of grace, a woman’s tale,
A life well-lived, a vibrant trail.
With every step, she left a trace,
A legacy of love and grace.
Her words like melodies, sweet and clear,
Inspiring hearts and calming fears.
In laughter’s dance and joy’s embrace,
She found the magic in life’s chase.
A friend to all, both far and near,
Her warmth and wisdom, forever dear.
Now she rests in a realm above,
Her legacy, a testament of love.
In cherished memories, she lives on,
An eternal flame, never gone.
For in the hearts, she touched so deep,
Her spirit dances, a promise to keep.
By Sarah Harrower Wierzbicki
We all hoped it would never happen, but unfortunately it has, on January 19th 2024 Dolores passed after a long illness that finally won the battle.
We were blessed to have met her. She was the deal deal, a living symbol of the true Polaroid. We will miss her so much.
This is her obituary:
Dolores Konetchy Harrower Mironchik, 96, of Evergreen Woods Retirement Community, North Branford died peacefully on Friday January 19th surrounded by her family.
Born November 22, 1927 in Philadelphia, Penn. She was the daughter of Frederick and Mary Konetchy. She was raised in Amsterdam New York – was a member of St. Mary’s Auxiliary and Antlers Country Club and was a Real Estate agent there. She married her high school sweetheart, Harold Pitts Harrower, and they had three children. They moved to Milford CT in 1961, where they raised their family and she began her career as a model and later a teacher for Hanover Modeling agency. Hanover Modeling Agency lead to her position with Polaroid Corporation. As a “Polaroid Girl” she introduced the world to the famous SX 70 camera by creating a training video that was translated into many languages and sent to camera and department stores around the world. (You can Google SX-70 Camera - Dolores Harrower and watch the video.) She later was promoted to Polaroids first female Northeast Marketing Sales Rep. and worked there until she remarried and moved.
Her next chapter… she met and married her second husband Edward Mironchik, a Shell Oil Executive. They first moved to Detroit Michigan where she took up tennis and golf once again. A year or so later they moved to Houston where they settled in. They belonged to Raveneaux Country Club where they enjoyed a great social life and she played golf daily - and eventually got her “hole in one”. She was widowed in 1986 and chose to remain in Houston until 2012. While there, she traveled the world (14 cruises) and often shared the stories of her adventures with friends and family. She always said she was grateful for the great life she enjoyed and had no regrets.
Her final Chapter – she moved back to CT in 2012 to be closer to her daughters. In 2014 she moved to Evergreen Woods Retirement Community, she loved her apartment, the facility and the many wonderful friends she made there.
Survivors include her son, Hal Harrower lll and Nancy from CA, Sarah Harrower Wierzbicki, John ( predeceased) CT and her son-in-law William Fallon, Tracy ( predeceased) CT, five grandchildren, Ian Harrower, CA, Joseph Cusano IV, CT and Danielle Quimby, Michael, CT, Jessica Wierzbicki, CT, Kellie Wierzbicki, CT and seven great grandchildren Kaycee Clapp, Kristiana Amato, Amber Christopher, Abi Flores and Michael Quimby III, Parker Cornman - all from CT and Bowen Harrower, CA. and several cousins and was predeceased by her husband Edward Mironchik and by her daughter, Tracy Harrower Fallon.
And here is her eulogy:
Dolores Konetcky Harrower Mironchik
Eulogy
11/22/1927 – 1/19/2024
Mom came from humble beginnings… she was the only child of Fred & Mary Konetcky, born in Philadelphia where her father’s family lived. Not long after the family moved to Amsterdam, New York into her Maternal Grandparents house. They had a flat on the second floor and her grandparents, aunts and uncles lived on the first floor. Her mother, Mary, was the second of eight children (5 boys and 3 girls) and Mom was the first grandchild and niece. She had an incredibly happy childhood with a large gregarious family talented in both Art and Music. Her father, Fred was trained in classic violin, however he could play a Mandolin and joyfully played the fiddle. Her Uncles joined in with the accordion and flutes. After Church on Sundays everyone would pile into her Grandparents old open touring Packard with jump seats between front and back seats- (those were her favorite) and head out to Saratoga Springs. Her Gramma was always prepared with a hamper of food and blankets. They invariably had a flat tire either coming or going – the boys would jack up the car, remove the tire and rubber lining, find the problem – repair the tube, pump air into it all while the rest of the family picnicked on the blankets on the side of the road. While relaying this story to me she said “we probably looked like the Beverly Hillbillies” – but it did not stop them. They could not afford to go to the races so they would walk around watching the racehorses being trained, later they would visit a huge estate called the Yaddoo Gardens Park. The Estate was filled with beautiful gardens and a huge fountain in the center with a woman’s figure pouring water from a huge vessel. The wealthy family had a 3 yr old little girl who was fascinated with the fountain, climbed into it, and drowned. The little girl could not pronounce Shadow Gardens and that is why it is called Yaddoo gardens. Mom was always touched by this story.
In Highschool she was very involved in school she was a Drum majorette, Actress and Singer in school plays and a great student. Mom’s mother was a seamstress and made all moms clothes- she was always dressed impeccably and so began her love of fashion. She was voted “Best dressed in Highschool”.
She and our father Harold were high school sweethearts and married in 1948. My father came from a Wealthy family and Mom from a working-class family – mostly factory workers. My Mother loved her Mother-in Law and vice versa and Gramma Harrower took her under her tutorage teaching her a great deal about social skills – table settings –etiquette etc. In 1950 my brother Hal was born and two years later I arrived. We lived in the country in a house our parents built- surrounded by open fields and a farm across the street- summer days were filled with picking wild strawberries - swimming in our pool – winters were spent building snow forts – sledding, tobogganing, and skating with Mom our fearless leader – always making things fun.
In Amsterdam mom was a member of St Mary’s hospital Auxiliary – Antlers Golf Course and worked as a Real Estate Agent. Dad lost his job in 1960 around the time our kid sister Tracy was born. When Dad got a new job, we had to move to Milford CT – a stroke of luck for us as it was a beautiful place to grow up in. Mom joined the hospital Auxiliary volunteering at the Milford Hospital, joined the Newcomers club and St Mary’s Church. At age 4 our kid sister was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. My sister was sick a lot so mom spent a good amount of time caring for her. Once Tracy was stabilized, she entered Hanover Modeling Agency School where she worked as a model for years and later taught there. It was Hanover Modeling Agency that led her to her Polaroid career. At Polaroid she started as a” Polaroid girl” demonstrating cameras at Camera and Department stores.
She loved her job and worked with celebrities such as Jerry Vale, Jane Morgan, John Cameron Swazey, Skitch Henderson and her favorite singer Tony Bennett. She once introduced a new Polaroid Camera inside the Macys Store window in Times Square by taking pictures of the people outside watching her. She was filmed doing this by the famous photographer Annie Lebowitz.
When the SX-70 Camera (First Instant film Camera) came out, Polaroid chose Mom to be their spokesperson to introduce the Camera to the world. She was featured in the SX-70 training video for distributors that was used in the US and translated into many foreign languages and sent around the world.
Our parents divorced after 25 years of marriage and Mom continued to work and travel for Polaroid.
It was on one of these trips that she met her second husband, Edward. She was getting off a plane in Boston and as mom tells it…this guy came running after her telling her she was beautiful and wondered if she would grab a cup of coffee with him. Like any sensible woman she said no- but he was relentless and finally she gave him her number. He called that night, and they had a date that weekend. That date led to their marriage in 1978. She quit her job at Polaroid, and they moved to Michigan and a few years later to Houston Texas.
They had a wonderful life- they traveled, were members of Raveneau Country Club where they played tennis and Golf and enjoyed an exciting social life. We had many fun filled family reunions there and our kids have delightful memories of summer visits with Gramma. Sadly, Mom was widowed just 9 years after their wedding, but chose to stay and live in Houston as she had a good life there. She continued playing golf daily – played in and won many tournaments and got her Hole in one – a golfer’s dream! When her Macular degeneration took most of her sight, she decided to move back to CT to be close to me and my sister Tracy so we could help her.
Once here after renting an apartment for a year she chose to move to Evergreen Woods Retirement Community in North Branford and always claimed it was the best move she ever made. She had a third-floor vaulted ceiling sunny apartment she loved. She enjoyed the social life- the pool and exercise classes – but mostly she enjoyed the people. She made friends quickly and became a welcome greeter for her Sherman group. She championed the movement to have the residents dress up for Halloween- and encouraged everyone to join in on the fun.! She so enjoyed her Sherman dinners and Saturday afternoon social gatherings. She often told me how happy she was to live there and what wonderful friends she had.
That was a snapshot of mom’s life, but she was so much more than that. She was a loving and kind parent – always supportive of our many endeavors. She was our greatest cheerleader and most honest critic. She was a kind and generous daughter who adored her mother and brought her to Houston often to vacation and at the end of her mom’s life moved to Amsterdam and spent the last three months of her life caring for her. When I married my husband John, she embraced the Wierzbicki family and loved them as her own. She thought of Johns girls Jessica and Kellie as her granddaughters and Parker as her great grandson. Ian was her first Grandson, and she was over the moon for him – she was so excited to be a gramma. When my son, Jay, was born she flew in to spend the first week with me and enjoyed every minute. She came for Danielle’s birth as well. Grandparenthood suited her- she was fun to be with, full of energy and forgiving. When the first great grandchild, Kaycee, came along she was particular happy because that gave us 5 generations – her mother was still alive at age ninety and was so excited to hold her. Then came Kristiana, Amber, Abi, Parker and Michael and finally Bowen. She was so sad that she never got to actually see her latest great grandson Bowens face – I tried so many times to enlarge pictures for her but macular had robbed her of her ability to see and focus… so I would describe him to her and she would try to imagine what he looked like – I told her to picture his father’s face because he is the spittin image…
Always the positive – upbeat person – she never let life circumstances dictate her attitude- “this too shall pass” was her mantra…
These past two years were very tough for Mom – she lost her daughter – she had surgery for cancer -and finally the cancer returned. The radiation treatment was horrific and left her in constant pain. She never complained to me – she just wanted to know when the pain would end. I had no answers for her. About a week before she passed, she said to me it’s time– I have no quality of life anymore, I am ready, I am not afraid – please put me in hospice and so I did. Her last words to me were “I love you and thank you for all you have done for me…” – I will see you in Never Neverland…
We thank you Mom. for loving us unconditionally and for being the best mom anyone could ask for…
We will see you in Never Neverland…
Love you - Sarah
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