Dedicated Pharmacist

illustration of Bozena Stubican head shot by Randy Glass

Bozena Weselsky Stubican grew up in Croatia, surviving the German occupation of her country and a yearslong separation from her sweetheart, Vladimir, during World War II. They married after the war, and Stubican worked as a pharmacist in the central square of Zagreb until the couple had their first child. Then in 1958, Vladimir took a job as an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State, and Stubican, with their 10-year-old son in tow, traveled by ship to join him.

“The language learning wasn’t as daunting as being so far away from their parents and siblings, without knowing when and if they would meet again,” says daughter Julie Sjoborg. “American friends were wonderful. They taught them how to drive and get by.”

Stubican ’67 MS H&HD earned a master’s degree in food and nutrition at Penn State, but her heart always was in pharmacy. After studying for a year, she passed the Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy exam and went to work at Widmann Drug Store in Bellefonte, Pa., for more than two decades. “She was such a valued member of the community there,” Sjoborg says. “I recall how proud I was of her when I watched her at work, and many people came to ask her advice. They didn’t just come to fill their prescriptions!”

Stubican died July 19, 2022, in Sarasota, Fla., at age 98. She was preceded in death by her husband of 70 years, a professor emeritus following his retirement from Penn State in 1993. Besides her daughter, she is survived by son Miroslav ’73, ’76 MS Sci and three grandchildren. —Andy Faught