Tamara Antonova

SPRINGFIELD-Tamara Antonova, 84 passed away on Friday, November 18, 2016 at Wingate at East Longmeadow in East Longmeadow, MA.  Tamara Antonova was born on July 28, 1932 in St. Petersburg, Russia (then Leningrad). Her early childhood before World War II was a relatively happy one, she spent a lot of that time with her older sister Clara and beloved grandmother Alexandra on a countryside, near the town of Pskov. World War II started when she was almost 8 and her childhood was over. She went through many hard things during that time: constant hunger, German occupation, bombing and death. After the war was over the Russian Soviet Government no longer considered her to be a child and she was sent to work at a heavy machinery plant even thought she was barely 12 years old and only 45kg.  But Tamara never gave up, she went to night school and then night college where she completed her BA in Engineering and worked as a Quality Control Engineer at the same plant till her retirement. She worked a total 50 years at the Leningrad Mechanic Plant. After the war and her hard work she had a lot of health issues and was advised by doctors against motherhood. By her early 40’s she was able to improve her health by taking care of herself through sports and a healthy lifestyle. At age 41 she gave birth to her only daughter, Alexandra (Sasha) Heiney and she raised her alone, completely devoting herself to her daughter. She was always there for her daughter and Alexandra had a happy childhood never missing the absence of a father. Sasha had graduated from College with a MA in Allied Economics, got married to her husband, Garry, became a US citizen and moved to the United States in 2002. Tamara joined her daughter in 2007 and has been living with Sasha and her family since then, now devoting herself to her grand daughters, Elizabeth and Christina, they called her Toma. Shortly before her death, Tamara had accepted Jesus Christ, and now she is with the Lord.  Tamara is and will be always remembered and missed by her family.  Avalon Life Celebration Center & Cremation Services, LLC 691 College Hwy., Southwick, MA has been entrusted with end of life arrangements.  The family will hold a funeral service on Cape Cod.  To express a condolence please visit Tamara’s memorial page at www.avaloncelebrations.com

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