Maria Elizabeth Kozikowski

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Maria E. (Nowakowski) Kozikowski, 63, of New Britain. Maria passed away on Friday, January 31, 2025 with her husband of 26 years, Stanley Kozikowski, and devoted son, Richard M. Walas II, by her side.

Maria was born on May 4, 1961 in Hartford, CT to Aleksandra (Podbielski) Nowakowski and the late Boguslaw Nowakowski and lived in Newington until moving to New Britain with her family in 1970. She attended Ruth Chaffee Elementary School in Newington and Holy Cross School in New Britain. She graduated from Pulaski High School in 1979 and Central Connecticut State College in 1984. Maria was a parishioner of Holy Cross Church her entire life.

Maria began working for the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation shortly after graduation and continued to work there until her retirement. During her time with the State of Connecticut D.O.T. Maria worked in the Department of Maintenance and the Department of Aviation & Ports.

Maria loved music, especially The Blues and Rock 'n Roll, and she loved listening to her Polkas every Saturday morning. She was very proud of her Polish heritage.

Family was very important to Maria. She loved spending time with her son and her grandchildren. Seeing them enjoy their various activities made her happy and proud. She tried to always acknowledge family members' birthdays with a card or a phone call.

She loved spending time at the beach and couldn't wait for spring so she could start heading "down south" to Niantic.

Her gardens were gorgeous and filled with colorful perennials, gnomes, windchimes, and whirligigs. She could not get enough tchotchke into her garden. She would feed the birds and the squirrels and any other little creature she encountered.

Maria loved sitting on her front porch or in her backyard under the pergola that her "Stasiu" lovingly built for "his sweetheart".

In addition to her husband Stanley, son Richard, and mother Aleksandra, Maria is also survived by her beloved grandchildren, Jackson and Cosima Walas; her sister Katarzyna (Katherine) Nowakowski; her sister and brother-in-law Hanna (Anna) and Thomas Petrisko; their children, Isabella, Mary, Samuel, and Georgia Petrisko; and Richard's fiancé, Carla Rodriguez, and her nephew, Nico.

Also left to mourn her loss are her Aunt, Zofia (Nowakowski) Stanczyk, her Uncle, John Podbielski, along with both their families, as well as Maria's brother-in-law, Anthony, his wife, Kristyna and their sons Krzyszek and Pawel; her sister-in-law Irene (Kozikowski) Wozniak and her children Debbie and John; and her brother-in-law Joey Kozikowski and his sons, Sebastian and Nick.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at Holy Cross Church, 31 Biruta Street, New Britain, CT at 10 a.m.

We ask those attending the funeral to consider wearing a bit of purple. It was Maria's favorite color and we'd like to celebrate her life and the color she brought to ours.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Connecticut Food Share at ctfoodshare.org or The Salvation Army at salvationarmyusa.org