Danka Ciesielczyk Memorial Fund

On April 25, 2018, our dear friend Danka Ciesielczyk (Danica Sedlakova) lost her life to cancer at the age of 43. Danka was an unbelievably strong person and until the day she died, none of us were aware she was battling cancer. Danka was diagnosed with breast cancer about a year ago and put up a big fight, as she wanted to get well and be around to see her little son grow up. For months, she was doing and feeling great, but a short time ago, she was diagnosed with cancer again—this time it was much more aggressive and, in a matter of weeks, it took her life.


She was a great friend, beloved wife, and an amazing mother to 3-year-old Warren. Her husband Michael lost the love of his life and Warren is missing his mommy. Danka grew up in Slovakia in Central Europe and moved to the United States after she and Mike (native of Ohio) got married. She was a loving and caring person, a very good painter, a skilled baker—she amazed everybody with her beautiful creations—and had a big heart for abandoned and mistreated animals.

Her son Warren, is a smart and sweet little boy. It was very important for Danka that he speak both English and Slovak—her mother tongue—so she spent a great amount of time and effort to teach him. At the age of 3, Warren is bilingual and already a skilled translator for his dad. However, bringing up a bilingual child is not an easy task and without regular lessons and interactions in Slovak, Warren might soon forget his mom’s language.


While Michael does not speak Slovak, in the memory of his wife, he wants to make sure that Warren has an opportunity to stay fluent in in both, English and Slovak. He wants to find a way (perhaps a tutor or a Slovak nanny/au pair) for Warren to keep learning and master this beautiful but very difficult language.

Michael and Warren were hit very hard emotionally and financially and while we, her friends, are trying to help as much as we can, the need is beyond our means. Michael is a great father but will face some big challenges. Neither Danka nor Michael have any family in Texas. Warren will need to start going to daycare full time, so Michael can get back to work, but the cost of daycare will put severe strain on their finances as they lost Danka’s income.


This fund was set up to help Michael cover the loss of Danka’s income, her end-of-life expenses, daycare for Warren, Warren’s opportunity to keep learning Slovak, and to kick start Michael’s difficult journey as a single father.

Any donations—including international donations—will be greatly appreciated. (Major credit or debit cards are accepted for donations from countries other than the United States.)



 Thank you,
Austin Czech and Slovak community