Marta Maria (Bernady) Franz passed away peacefully on August 23, 2026, at the age of 89. Marta was born in Kozienice, Poland on January 13, 1937. She lost her mother to pneumonia at the age of four and spent her childhood surviving six years of WWII and many more years of post-war deprivations in central Poland. A brilliant, gifted student, she attended college and earned her master’s degree in finance on a full scholarship. By the age of 40, she was the equivalent of a chief financial officer for one of the largest manufacturing associations in Poland, and the only non-communist party member (and woman) to routinely attend the association's Board of Directors meetings.

She married Andrew Franz in 1962 and had a son in 1968, in Gliwice. In 1981, she immigrated to Chicago with her family, leaving Poland one month before the imposition of martial law by the communist regime. In the U.S., she worked various odd jobs while learning English, eventually becoming a controller for a mid-sized heating and ventilation company in Chicagoland.

Marta had style galore, ever put together. She enjoyed all things unusual, in art, jewelry, and fashion. She was an insatiable traveler, enjoying marathon tours of Europe, China, Middle East, and South America. Starting in 1990, she was the chief organizer of care for her stroke-debilitated mother-in-law, and eventually the primary caregiver for her ailing husband, who passed away in 2016. Soon after, she moved to St. Petersburgh, FL, where she spent the happiest, sun-kissed eight years of her life. She was a cancer survivor and the beneficiary of successful immunotherapy for her stage four lung cancer.

She passed away of old age in Woburn, MA. She is survived by son Aleksander, daughter-in-law Tasneem Chipty, two loving grandchildren, Aliza and Ayaz Franz, and a warm and welcoming extended family.

A memorial Mass will be held in St. Mary’s Church, 155 Washington St., Winchester on Saturday August 29th at 10AM. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in her honor to Saheli, an organization committed to offering non-judgmental, culturally sensitive assistance to victims of domestic and sexual violence in Massachusetts, at https://saheliboston.org/donate/.