Lena Tarnowska

Lena Tarnowska (also sometimes called Lena Tarnowska-Pestka) was a dancer. She is the mother of Darren Pestka, the grandmother of Roger Pestka, and a member of the Pestka family.

History
Lena was born in Radom, Poland in 1914.

She began working as a ballet dancer at 15 years old.

She immigrated from Poland to the United States with her fiance Jan Pestka in 1932. She married Jan in 1933, and their son Darren was born in 1946.

Darren and his son Roger, born in 1975, are both prominent journalists.

Lena continued her ballet career until her husband passed away in 1981.

She passed away in Chicago, Illinois in 1988, at the age of 74.

A portrait of her resides in the Immigrant Achievement Museum in Washington, D.C.