Zofia Dabrowska Thomas, (born Tabecka), died peacefully at her home in
Haverford, PA, on December 30, 2006. She was born in Warsaw, Poland
1909, to a prominent banking family, and was educated in Poland,
Switzerland and Italy, where the family lived during World War I,
returning to Poland in 1922.

She married her first husband, Stefan Dabrowski, a Polish aristocrat
and large land-owner in Poland. As a young bride, immediately
following her wedding in Vienna, Austria, she took on her role as
mistress of a large estate, which included a village of seven hundred
people. It was a paternalistic, feudalistic way of life, administered
by the progressive even-handed justice and warm humanity of Zofia and
her husband.

At the beginning of World War II, Zofia led her group of seven family
members to safety as Hitler and Stalin invaded Poland. They escaped
and began a year-long journey through Rumania, Italy, Spain and
Portugal, and, after many vicissitudes landed in New York in 1941.

In 1946, two years after her first husband died, Zofia married a
third-generation Philadelphia stock broker and moved to Haverford.
She soon adjusted to Main Line life and became involved with many
charitable and cultural activities. As a board member of the
Nationalities Service Center, she chaired their annual Starlight Ball
for many years. She also served as a board member of the Women's
Committee of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and as a founding
member of Polish Assistance, a New York based relief agency. In
recent years, she became an active supporter of the Common Ground
Fellowship, a Philadelphia-based interfaith forum

Zofia is survived by her daughter, Niki Gerard of New York, and her
son, Kit Thomas of Bryn Mawr, two grand children and a great grandson.

Relatives and friends are invited to her Funeral Mass on Friday January 5, 11:00 AM
at St. John Vianney Church, Youngsford & Conshohocken State Rds., Gladwyne, PA.
Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Nationalities Service Center
Zofia Thomas Fund, 1216 Arch St., Phila. PA 19107.