Halina Teresa Kamienska Golicz, 86, passed away peacefully at home in Clinton on Jan. 9. She was the eldest daughter of Col. Jan Kamienski and Alina Konarzewska.

She was born in Torun, Poland, in 1936. She survived the uprising and destruction of Warsaw, eventually being smuggled out to the newly freed Italy. After the war finally ended, her family settled in the Bordeaux region of France.

She studied chemistry and higher mathematics at the Sorbonne in Paris and then finished her studies in Nuclear Chemistry at the University of Montreal in Canada after her family emigrated to the United States in 1956.

In 1958, she returned to Europe to marry the love of her life, Roman Golicz, whom she had met while attending the Sorbonne. They settled in the south of France, where her daughter Heidi was born. She returned to the United States with her new husband and three-month-old daughter on July 14, 1959 (Bastille Day). They settled in Clinton to grow and raise their family, adding two sons, Stefan and John, to the family.

Halina will be remembered for being an elegant, gracious lady to the very end. She was a hostess extraordinaire, especially known for the annual Bastille Day parties she and Roman gave as well as for her passion for gardening and reading. Many Clinton gardens are most likely graced by some of her plants, as she donated dozens of plants from her garden to the annual Old Brick House plant sale.

A loving sister, aunt, wife, mother, and grandmother, Halina was predeceased by her parents and husband. She is survived by her three children, Heidi Golicz-Miranda and her husband Carlos of Clinton, Stefan Golicz and his wife Jean of Old Saybrook, and John Golicz and his wife Julie of Branford, as well as three grandchildren, Jonathan Golicz and his wife Ariel of New Haven, Jacqueline Golicz of Somerville, Massachusetts, and Jake Golicz and his wife, Daniella, of West Hartford. She is also survived by her sister, Angela Etemad; her brother-in-law Mehran Etemad; and two nephews, Kamran Etemad and Darioush Etemad, all of Potomac, Maryland, as well as many dear friends and relatives worldwide.

A Mass in her memory will be offered at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 4, at St. Margaret’s Roman Catholic Church in Madison.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Henry Carter Hull Library, 10 Killingworth Turnpike, Clinton, CT 06413, or Forgotten Felines, 153 Horse Hill Rd, Westbrook, CT 06498.