Visitation
Monday June 10, 2024
Landmark Funeral Home
6:00pm-9:00pm
Celebration of Life
7:00pm
Mass of the Resurrection
Tuesday June 11, 2024
Nativity Catholic Church
11:00am
Please wear vibrant colors for our incredible Mom!!
Alvina D. Wozniak, 96 years young, of Hollywood, passed away peacefully in her sleep
on June 2, 2024. Alvina born in Buffalo, NY to Sophie and Bert Dolata, moved to Hollywood,
Florida in 1964 with her husband and daughters.
Known to family and friends as Vina (or Vinka), she was a most vibrant, energetic, and
independent woman. Born at the beginning of the Great Depression, she attended Public
School #11, also working at her parents’ fruit and vegetable stand on the Broadway Market.
Valedictorian of her beloved Villa Maria Academy, Class of 1945, at her class reunion, she told
her favorite nun, Sister Pachomia, that from what they taught her there—shorthand, typing—she
was able to make a living her whole life. She had attended Business College as well, living
through World War II, religiously supporting the troops.
Vina and Lenny married in 1948 after meeting at the town dance hall the Town of Evans
on Lake Erie in Angola, New York. It was a whirlwind romance, beautiful wedding followed by a
honeymoon at the Cardozo Hotel in Miami Beach and Havana, where a cab driver informed
them of a pending revolution!! They lived and worked in Buffalo for three years, welcoming
Cindy into the fold before settling in the suburb of West Seneca and adding Suzie to complete
their family. They were active in their community, Vina in the PTA and Lennie with the Volunteer
Fire Department, as well as their parish, Saint William’s Church.
Her people skills were legendary, starting with the Workers Compensation Board in
Buffalo and for Sears, Roebuck and Company in West Seneca. Upon relocating to Hollywood,
she became a clerk for the Hollywood Police Department, making lifelong friends while working
diligently with detectives on notable cases like the Murph the Surf jewelry heist. From there, she
moved to City Hall as the Administrative Assistant to the Director of Finance, a position she held
for 37 years. Vina was honored to receive the Diamond Service Award from the City of
Hollywood for her “dedicated service excellence to the city and to the enrichment of the daily
lives of the citizens and fellow employees of Hollywood.” She focused on her daughters and her
career after becoming a widow at a very young age, joining the Widow and Widowers group at
her parish, Nativity Catholic Church and eventually compassionately counseled new members.
Anyone who met her enjoyed how she welcomed you with open arms, kindness, and good
conversations.
Vina was confident in her role as a single mom, seeing her girls through college,
careers, marriage, and families. Always a social butterfly, she attended city sponsored events,
like dances at then Hollywood Recreation Center or bus trips to special events with friends.
She enjoyed cooking Italian food, especially rigatoni with meatballs for Sunday meals with the
family, teaching her girls family recipes, even being featured as the Cook of the Week in the
local newspaper, the Hollywood Sun-Tattler. She loved dancing, having enjoyed tap and ballet
as a young girl with her twin and listening to the music of Elvis, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
She held a special bond with her grand and great grand children, proud to be their Grammy.
A longtime parishioner of Nativity Catholic Church, Vina is pre-deceased by her husband
Leonard; twin sister, Dolores (Lalle); and her brother Berchie (Bertram). She is survived by her
daughters Cynthia (Daniel) O’Linn, Suzanne (Glenn) Dodge, grandchildren Meaghan (Charles)
Sano, Timothy O’Linn, Nicholas Dodge (Dr. Logan Bearden), Katie (Chad) Lariviere, Dr. Chelsea
(Dr. Tomas) Solano and Ryan Dodge and great grandchildren Michael Sano, Elizabeth Sano, Jacob
Lariviere, Thiago Solano and Alessandra Solano; and devoted nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be Monday June 10th, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. with a Celebration of Life Service
at 7:00 p.m., all at Landmark Funeral Home, 4200 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, FL.
Funeral Mass of the Resurrection will be Tuesday, June 11th, 11:00 a.m. at Nativity Catholic
Church, 5220 Johnson Street, Hollywood, FL.
Please wear vibrant colors for our incredible Mom!!
Donations may be made to Villa Maria College, Buffalo, New York at
https://www.villa.edu/support/#donate
in honor of Alvina Dolata Wozniak
Scroll down to "Board of Trustees Scholarship Fund"
Address: 4200 Hollywood Blvd Hollywood, Florida 33021
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