Euphemia Budzich – The Artist Euphemia (Euphie) Budzich, 93, passed away peacefully on January 24, 2019. She was a resident of Moreland Hills, Cleveland, Ohio, for over 60 years. She spent her last seven years at Chagrin Falls Laurels, just few miles from Moreland Hills.
Euphie, or as some called her Effie, was born on 9/11/1925 in Scotland. She graduated from University of Dundee, Scotland, with a degree in Fine Arts. Painting remained her passion throughout her life; she was taking art classes, participating in workshops and exhibiting her works, well into her late eighties.
Euphie was married to Ted Budzich, a RAF (Royal Air Force) pilot she met in England during World War II when he was flying Spitfire fighters in the famous Polish squadron. Ted was awarded a Virtuti Militari – a Polish medal equivalent to the American Medal of Honor, which was presented to him by Queen Elizabeth II. After they finished their college degrees in England (Ted’s was in Engineering, Euphie’s was in Fine Arts), they moved first to Canada, and later to the USA, Cleveland, Ohio, where they made permanent residence.
Ted started an engineering business and, eventually, became a successful industrialist in pneumatics. Euphie was instrumental to the success of the business; she was handling daily operations, marketing and accounting, and public relations. During those years, she did not have time for her art; this came later, after Ted’s sudden death in the early 1990’s.
When she was young, she was mostly interested in the traditional oil on canvas paintings, but later on, in her 70’s and 80’s, she started experimenting with new techniques, focusing on watercolors, pastels, portraits, still nature, and nude drawings. In 2008, she had her portraits exhibited at the Cleveland Museum. Her works were noticed and she started selling her artwork to the broader audience.
She became and remained an active supporter of the Cleveland Museum of Arts. Euphie maintained sharp business acumen and was able to make her own financial decisions almost to the end. She had a brilliant mind and a truly English sense of humor, along with her exquisite taste for not so English foods.
She loved seafood and white wine. She enjoyed traveling and exploring new places and cuisines, was open-minded and had diverse circle of friends, but at the same time she was quite conservative and kept her views to herself. Throughout her long life Euphie enjoyed good health and was managing her affairs successfully alone, but in her late 80’s, she realized she needed to move out of her house in Moreland Hills.
She found a new place at Hamlet Village retirement community in Chagrin Falls, just a few miles from Moreland Hills. She enjoyed her 5 years at Atrium there; bingo was her favorite activity, and Hector was the best! She was liked, if not loved, by the residents and the staff, and made new friends there – Brit was one of them.
Euphie is going to be missed by many people around the world: family and relatives in England, Poland, and the USA, and friends in Canada and the USA. Many cousins and dear friends will miss her greatly. In memory of Euphie, please join us for a celebration of life reception at a date and time to be announced, 200 Hamlet Hills Dr., Chagrin Falls, OH 44022, phone: 440-247-4201.
Stroud-Lawrence Funeral Home in Chagrin Falls is assisting the family with arrangements. By, Eva Dobrowolski (Euphie’s niece in South Carolina) P.S. For everyone out there, please feel free to fill in the gaps in this obituary, correct it, and present your own version of the events/facts.
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
