Tamara Warrick of Morgan Hill passed away on Nov. 25, 2011, at the age of 89. She was born in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia on Jan. 8, 1922.
Tamara lived a hard life and was an example of a self-determined woman arising from the Great Depression and surviving the hardships of WWII. Tamara lost her entire family and village in 1938 during early hostilities in Europe and became part of the vast migration of displaced persons during WW2. She lived and worked in Germany throughout WWII, working as virtual “slave” labor in an ammunitions factory.
At the end of the war she met and married Sergeant Fred Justice of the US Army. In 1949, they were transferred to Ohmaha Nebraska so that their child Juliette Jean could be born in America.
Fred remained in the Army until his death in 1958 at which time the family was stationed in Mannheim, Germany. Tamara and Juliette moved back to the US and lived in Albuquerque, NM. She learned to drive, learned English and became a beautician.
She then met and married NM John Warrick, a Marine from Ohio. In 1960, they had a daughter, Jacqueline Theresa. As a military family, they were transferred and moved throughout the US for the next nine years until John’s retirement in 1969.
In 1970 Tamara, John and Jackie moved to San Jose and shortly thereafter Tamara and John divorced. Tamara then became employed at the Emporium department store at the Almaden Plaza, where she stayed for 25+ years working in retail sales.
Tamara moved to the Pine Tree Villas Senior Development in Morgan Hill, CA in 1993 and retired from the Emporium in 1996 at the age of 74. She spent the remaining years in Morgan Hill actively caring for her grandchildren Michelle and Neal Bretschneider and as a member of the St. Catherine Church and Morgan Hill Flower Lovers Club. She often went on an annual travel tour, mostly outside of the US. This encompassed most of the European countries, all along the Mediterranean, England, Eastern Europe, Russia, and China. She loved going to the Santa Cruz beaches and Lake Tahoe, CA where she annually went on trips to the lake and the casinos.
For 20 years, starting in the 1980’s, Tamara took art classes, first from West Valley Jr. College and then from Gavilan Jr. College. This included charcoal sketching, water color, oil, and acrylic painting, and sculpturing, including stone carving, clay and bronze casting.
Tamara was a vivacious, energetic woman who worked hard and was able to make a good life for her family with little support or resources.
She was always optimistic that she would have a better tomorrow and her hard work and attitude made that come true. Tamara’s legacy of love, attitudes, work ethic, and dreams live on in her two daughters, Juliette Schick of Madison, WI and Jackie Bretschneider of San Martin, CA, two sons-in-law (Karl Schick and Ron Bretschneider) and five grandchildren (Fritz, Hans and Peter Schick; Michelle and Neal Bretschneider).
Although Tamara is gone, her love of life and love for her family lives on in our hearts and guides us into the future.
A Memorial Mass will take place on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Morgan Hill with a reception to follow at the Pine Tree Villas Clubhouse in Morgan Hill.
