'She was a remarkably decent human being.' Rosalie Fafinski of Farmington remembered
FARMINGTON, NY — In the weeks before she died, Rosalie (Wrobel) Fafinski did what friends and family say had come naturally to her all her life.
Mrs. Fafinski, who was the wife of Ted Fafinski, former Farmington town supervisor and chairman of the Ontario County Board of Supervisors, for 55 years and a behind-the-scenes political force of her own for many years, made a new friend.
According to Ted Fafinski, a woman who really didn’t talk to too many people saw something in his late wife and would often take her hand as they had lunch, side by side. That she was 103 and Mrs. Fafinksi, who was 81 when she died in October after a long illness, made no difference in their bond.
“She was a joy to the people there,” Ted Fafinski said. “They were good friends.”
Her mom made not only the holidays special, but every day was brightened by a compliment or a card for nearly every occasion from her, said her daughter, Rebecca Feistel, and not just family.
Actually, Mrs. Fafinski considered almost everyone family, Feistel said. There is a reason why many called her Auntie Rose.
“Family was everything to her. Family didn’t just mean blood family, but others around you,” Feistel said. “Just the sweetest, kindest heart and generosity toward others, she was out there, making everyone happy."
The Fafinskis met in Syracuse, where Rosalie was born in 1941. She worked at the Sears Roebuck department store and Fafinski, who was in the U.S. Air Force and stationed in the central New York city, applied for a part-time job.
“She used to tell everybody that she got me on the Sears Roebuck catalog,” Fafinski laughed.
After a wedding ceremony in the chapel at Hancock Air Base on a snowy day in February, they lived in Syracuse and for a time in the Philippines when he was stationed there.
While overseas, Mrs. Fafinski was the volunteer principal of a K-1 religious education program — she later would serve as a teacher’s aide in the Baldwinsville and Victor school districts — which turned out to be no small task.
“Their big goal was to get them to make their first communion. That was their mission, once a year,” Fafinski said. “That was a big deal, especially when you have 800 kids in a program like that.”
Local politics may have seemed easier by comparison.
After the Fafinskis moved to Farmington in 1986 — by then, they had two children, son Daniel and Feistel — they soon started to get involved in town activities. Feistel remembers her mother signing them up to participate in the town’s bicentennial events of 1988, which included a parade.
“From there, she kept on going,” Feistel said.
Mrs. Fafinski, who enjoyed playing piano and singing, served as the Farmington Republican Committee chair for several terms in the 1990s and managed her husband’s Farmington town supervisor campaigns. She was appointed the Ontario County Republican Committee historian and served as a constituent aide for then state Sen. Michael Nozzolio from 1995-1996.
Although she preferred to work behind the scenes, serving as her husband’s campaign manager during his runs for office, Mrs. Fafinski drew notice anyway. She received the Spirit of Lincoln Award for demonstrating outstanding Republican vision leadership and eventually, in 2012, she was named Farmington Citizen of the Year.
"She liked to be behind the scenes but liked to have her voice heard in different ways," Feistel said.
State Supreme Court Judge Craig Doran was just embarking on his political career in the early 1990s when he met the Fafinskis.
Her vigorous loyalty to her ideals remain an inspiration, Doran said, adding it’s hard to put into words how much she meant to him personally and how much her example meant to him as he tried to model his career after what he saw in her devotion and dedication to family and public service. Both of the Fafinskis rise to the top of those who have formed the foundation of his career and his journey in public service, Doran said.
“Clearly, when you got Ted and Ted’s commitment, you got Rosalie's. If you got Rosalie and Rosalie’s commitment, you got Ted’s and everything that both of them brought to bear,” Doran said. “In my experience, that commitment and devotion is unmatched by anyone. She was a remarkably decent human being and I’m so honored and humbled that I had a chance to work with her.”
Richmond Town Councilman Steve Barnhoorn has been friends with the Fafinskis since the 1990s, when the couple were managing the campaign of Doran, who was then chairman of the Ontario County Republican Committee and seeking the office of state Assembly.
“What I liked the most about both Ted and Rose was they were a strong team and loaded to the gills with political knowledge and what it took to win elections — elbow grease and wearing out shoe leather,” Barnhoorn said.
Over the years, they grew closer, with Barnhoorn, donning a former president Richard Nixon mask, helping pass out candy one Halloween from the Fafinski garage, which was converted into a temporary haunted house. Barnhoorn bonded with her over a their love of genealogy and shared laughter, and he appreciates the comfort the Fafinskis provided him when his parents passed away.
“The world seems like a much smaller place without Rosalie Fafinski. But one of the most endearing qualities she had was her positive attitude toward life,” Barnhoorn said. “She would want us all to carry on with our lives."
Fafinski said he valued her opinion on everything, and she was very important in his career, for many of the same reasons so many will remember fondly about her.
She had an amazing talent for being able to assess things and come to the right conclusions by just talking to people and understanding them, Fafinski said.
Since she passed, Fafinski has been thinking of how much she really meant to him, as well as friends and other family members.
“She used to tell me that I was the wind beneath her wings,” Fafinski said. “The more I think about it, it seems to be the other way around.”
This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Rosalie Fafinski of Farmington NY remembered
