
Maria Turczyniak served as the President of the Ladies’ Circles’ Central Board between 1983 and 1989. She was born in the Lublin area, where she finished elementary and high school, got married, and gave birth to her first son Zbigniew.
She came to Canada with her husband and son, after obtained the proper documents that had been applied for by her husband Franciszek’s family. They settled in Oakville, Ontario. There, she gave birth to her second son Stanislaw and, a few years later, to her third son Marek.
Maria first worked for General Electric Co. From nearly the beginning of her stay in Canada, Maria had wanted to belong to some Polish organization.
In 1966, she joined PAC Branch 29’s Ladies’ Circle, in which she filled many volunteer positions. She was Financial Secretary, Organizer and Vice-president.
In 1976, for the 15th anniversary of PAC Branch 29’s Ladies’ Circle, she was elected President and remained it until 1979. At the XXI Ladies’ Circles’ Delegates’ Assembly, she became the third Vice-president of the Central Board; at the XXII Ladies’ Circles’ Delegates’ Assembly in 1983, she was elected President of the Central Board.
Maria Turczyniak became a member of PAC Branch 29 in 1971 and was its Financial Secretary between 1979 and 1980.
After having moved her entire family to Hamilton and having joined PAC Branch 2 in 1983, Maria Turczyniak became known as a hard-working and devoted Alliance volunteer. In 1989, she was elected PAC Branch 2’s President and filled this position until 1999.
Maria Turczyniak also worked in the PAC Head Executive Board at the time, fulfilling the functions of Vice-president (Aleksander Bicz was President at the time).
In 2000, she resigned completely from Alliance work.