Life

At 95, Willieoma Roznowski reflects on years of educating, learning daily

ALPENA -- Learn something new every day, or you're not really living.

That's just one of the lessons of Willieoma Roznowski's long life. She taught elementary school for 25 years in Alpena, and she's learned daily, from others, about herself, and life.

"Nobody wants to be told what to do, for sure," Roznowski said casually at the start of an hour-long interview.

Wisdom flows from this former teacher, who turns 95 today. You may recognize her name from reading her columns in The Alpena News, or from having her as a teacher yourself several decades ago. If you see her today, wish her a Happy 95th Birthday.

Still sharp as a tack, Roznowski recalled some memories and lessons she's learned as she grew up and Alpena changed over the years.

"I've always appreciated education," Roznowski said. "I didn't know what I was going to be, but I knew I was going to be something."

Born in 1928 in Genesee County near Flint, she moved to Alpena when she was just a baby, and has lived here ever since, aside from living a short while in Durham, North Carolina.

"I have seven sons and daughters, adults," Roznowski said. "And they're all married, except one, so I have 13 children, because I count their spouses as my children."

She has at least 25 grandchildren, and quite a few great-grandchildren, too.

During the interview, she read a nice letter she received from one of her great-grandchildren, Adam, who lives in Cheboygan.

"I have a lot of descendents," she added. Her children live in Alpena, Posen, Cheboygan, Florida, and North Carolina.

She's been blessed with a large, loving family. She married her husband Clarence when she was still a teen, and they had 57 years together before he passed away in 2002. They loved each other dearly.

Roznowski was born Willieoma Bleau (pronounced "blow") to Joseph and Mabel (Johnson) Bleau. She explained how she was given the name "Willieoma."

"My mother was young, and she had had a baby boy, and he died with pneumonia, and then she had a daughter, my sister Ellen," Roznowski recalled.

Her mother was hoping for a boy, she said, and wanted to name him William Omar, so that's how Willieoma got her unique name.

After Willieoma's birth, her mother had a boy, and continued having children until the total came to 15 -- four boys and 11 girls.

"She gave them all such pretty little names, like Joanne, and Linda, and Marie, and I got Willieoma," she said with a laugh. "Well, she wanted a boy."

When she was just 15, she moved out of her parent's home and lived in a boarding house behind the restaurant that used to be in the First Federal building on 2nd Avenue downtown. That building now houses Nicolet Bank, but in the mid-1940s, a restaurant was located there. She was also attending school at St. Anne's, and the teachers and administrators were not aware of her living situation and that she was working until 10 p.m., then doing her homework before going to bed to get up at 6 a.m. for school.

Roznowski has lived in many different houses in Alpena, including three on the same block on Merchant Street. Her husband built their house at 1010 Merchant St.

"I like to move around," she said. "I don't stay in one place very long."

As a teacher, Roznowski worked at several elementary schools in Alpena, including Gordon, where the Alpena Public Schools administrative building is now located. She also taught at Sunset School and Lincoln Elementary School.

"I got a chance to teach at Lincoln, and I lived on Merchant Street, so I went there because that was so convenient," she recalled.

She has taught kindergarten through sixth grade, but spent most of her career teaching fourth and fifth grade.

"I liked fourth, because they could tie their own shoes," she said. "Now, they don't even have laces. They don't have to. They should take a class in tying knots."

She decided to become a teacher after a personal tragedy.

"There was a program called the STEP program," she said. "And I had lost a baby. She had a crib death. And I was about going crazy. I just couldn't get it together. So I went back to school."

She had completed the 10th grade at St. Anne's, and had taken additional credits above and beyond her required coursework, so she only needed three credits to graduate. She went back to school to complete the credits necessary at Alpena High School, but because she had transferred, she received her diploma from Catholic Central High School.

"I graduated from Catholic Central without ever stepping foot in that building," she said.

She said one of the joys of teaching is helping a child learn something for the first time.

"When a child is ready to do something, you have to know when they're ready," Roznowski said. "And a good example of that is if you have a little tricycle, and you have a little kid, you want them to enjoy that tricycle, but if they're not ready, that tricycle, it's just a nuisance and a bother and a pain. But, as soon as they're ready, they love it. But you can't make them ready. They have to come to that conclusion."

Roznowski started playing the violin at age 12, and continues to this day. She plays a lot of music by ear, and she enjoys it. She owns two violins -- one that her husband bought her years ago, and another that her son and daughter-in-law bought her.

"You know, the violin being played by somebody that doesn't know how to play is a terrible sound," Roznowski said. "And my mother was pregnant all the time. She had 15 children, and she did not appreciate me playing the violin. I had to go upstairs and shut the door to practice."

Roznowski also plays piano.

"If I can sing a song, if I know the melody, I can play the piano, without looking at the keys," she added.

She said learning is not limited to the classroom, and that everyone should strive to learn more every single day so they can live enriching, educated lives.

"You know what? If you don't live every day, you're dead," Roznowski said. "You have to learn something every day, because you're actually alive."