Stephanie Wloch, 93, ran candy store

Stephanie Pelechaty Wloch, 93, who sold candy and treats to generations of children from her storefront home in Port Richmond, died at home Monday, Jan. 17, of heart failure.

Mrs. Wloch grew up in Bridesburg. Her Polish immigrant father worked in the Delaware River sugar refinery that is the site of SugarHouse Casino.

She married Edward Wloch in 1942. They had met in Atlantic City. He worked at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and then in construction. Because he had a heart condition, Mrs. Wloch decided that he needed a less-physical lifestyle and that she needed a guaranteed source of income should anything happen to him, said their daughter Janice.

In 1952, the couple opened a store in Port Richmond. Jars of penny candy lined a counter, and in the summer Mrs. Wloch made water ice and chocolate-covered frozen bananas. She and her husband sold ice cream cones dipped in jimmies, and radio balls, which were fruit-flavored water ice topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The store also stocked such sundries as hair spray and anything a customer couldn't find at the corner grocery. There were no supermarkets in the area at the time, their daughter said.

She said her mother had always been kind to children. Mrs. Wloch broke up many a kid fight and sewed buttons on the winter coat of a child who had 11 siblings and a very busy mother.

She and her husband closed the store in 1987. He died two years later. She continued to live in the building, converting the store area into a family room and bath.

Everywhere she went, former customers and their children greeted her and shared memories of how much fun it had been to pick out the penny candy, her daughter said.

Mrs. Wloch earned her GED in her 40s and later took college courses. She acquired her driver's license in her 60s. She allowed her husband to continue to be her chauffeur, but she wanted to be able to drive if he became ill, their daughter said.

After closing the store, Mrs. Wloch enjoyed going to neighborhood senior centers several times a week and loved cooking Polish cuisine. In her 80s, she was still making vegetable soup for her grandchildren.

In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Wloch is survived by another daughter, Gloria Fine; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Daughter Linda Breslin died of breast cancer in 2009.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 12, at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, 2535 E. Allegheny Ave., where friends may call after 9. Burial will be in St. Dominic Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Donor Services, Box 650309, Dallas, Texas 75265.