Stella Harubin, gifted artist who 'never wavered' in her faith, dies at 108

Stella Cecilia Puk Harubin’s Catholic faith was the foundation of her life, leading her to always find the light in the darkness, her family said.

"She never once wavered in her faith or love," said her granddaughter Emily Harubin, of Simsbury Connecticut. "She used this to be a force of strength for herself and family, keeping a steady pace, loving heart, and always moving forward even in the most difficult of times."

Harubin, 108 and a Huntington Station resident for 74 years, died Aug. 27 of natural causes at a hospice in East Northport.

Born July 18, 1916, in Brooklyn to Julia Dengler and John Puk, she grew up there with her sisters: Helen, Julia, Vicky, Lottie, Emily and Mamie.

She attended the Roman Catholic Parochial School, Our Lady of Consolation Parish School/Washington Irving School, her family said. She later worked in the New York City garment industry as a textile designer.

During World War II Harubin worked at the gum production company Chiclets in Queens on K rations for the war effort.

She met her husband in the early 1940s at a relative’s wedding in Brooklyn. The couple and their oldest child, Julia, moved from Brooklyn to Huntington Station in 1950. The following year they had a son, Ted, followed by Kathy in 1953, Ben in 1956, and their youngest, David in 1959.

She was widowed Dec. 20, 1970, after 24 years of marriage.

Emily Harubin said her grandmother’s service to others was a cornerstone of her life.

"She spent over 70 years at St. Hugh of Lincoln R.C. Church in Huntington Station, where she served on the Rosary Altar Society and as a Eucharist minister taking Communion to those unable to attend church," she said. "She also gave 34 years of service to the Carillon Nursing Home in Huntington Station, where she was committed to giving to others."

But her faith, family and service to others were not the only things that kept Harubin busy. Emily Harubin said her grandmother spent her entire life creating beauty.

"She was a gifted textile artist and sewer who made beautiful quilts and clothing," she said. "She was also talented at making hook rugs, crocheting, painting and gardening."

Her garden, created along with her son Teddy at their Huntington Station home, "is a work of art," Emily Harubin said.

Harubin's son David, of Center Tuftonboro, New Hampshire, remembered her as someone who always prioritized her children. In 10th grade he started auto shop without any tools. For Christmas, she took him shopping, and despite being on a tight budget and a single mom, she gave him a pair of pliers and a screwdriver.

"I still have them both and think of her, and that time, every time I use them," he said.

Harubin also had a sense of humor and a competitive streak. She hosted a weekly card game for her friends into her 90s. She would also regularly play Skip-Bo with her family up until she was 106 when she lost her vision.

"As kind, gentle, and loving as this woman always was, she played a cutthroat game of cards," Emily Harubin said. "She would never let us win," Emily Harubin said, and that her grandmother always found joy when all there was left to do was laugh.

"Up until the end, Stella greeted life with a healthy dose of humor, choosing to see the light of life even in the darkest of moments," Emily Harubin said.

In addition to her granddaughter and son David, she is survived by her children Julia Jurkiewicz, of Marshfield, Vermont, Ted Harubin, of Huntington Station, Kathy Koeppel, of Fort White, Florida, Ben Harubin of Pine Lake, Georgia, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

A funeral was held Sept. 3, at St. Hugh Of Lincoln R. C. Church in Huntington Station. She was interred at Long Island National Cemetery in Pinelawn.