Romana Blaskovic was born in Sumber, Istria, Croatia (at the time, Italy) on July 6, 1941. She was the second youngest child of Franica and Marin Blaskovic.

Romana attended a small elementary school in Sumber before her family moved to Pula. She attended high school in Pula and was by all accounts an excellent student, who enjoyed a childhood full of friendships, rivalries with her siblings, household chore obligations and school dances (for which she had to borrow her sister Elda's nice dresses).

After graduating from high school, Romana earned a scholarship to study chemical engineering at the University of Zagreb. Upon graduating, she obtained employment in Plaski, Yugoslavia, working in a laboratory and subsequently moved to Belgrade, where she worked as a welding engineer leading a team of technicians for the national airline, JAT Airways.

In 1975, Romana gave birth in Pula to her daughter Sabina. They stayed in Pula for a year before returning to Belgrade, where she continued working for JAT. In addition to having a demanding job and being a single mother, Romana learnt English and represented the airline at conferences all over the world.

In 1979, Romana and Sabina moved to Venezuela, where Romana learnt Spanish, her third language, and obtained work as an engineer in charge of water quality control at a paper factory.

In 1983, Romana and Sabina moved to Florida where Romana worked illegally as the manager of five hotels in South Beach. In 1984, after learning of imminent raids by the INS, Romana and Sabina left Miami and joined family members residing in Queens, New York, who provided support and help in the assimilation to New York. Romana held a number of jobs to support her and Sabina over this period, including work as an administrative assistant and as a translator.

During this period, Romana was hired as an administrative assistant at Town Food Service, Inc. in downtown Manhattan. Sabina, who was a regular visitor to the office, nudged Romana towards the dashing Vice President of the business, Mr. Leo Chanil. Leo had been widowed for many years and had singlehandedly raised his three daughters in Bellerose, Queens.

The love connection was definitely not immediate (Leo thought Romana should not have been hired to answer phones due to her strong accent when speaking English, and Romana was not exactly impressed with Leo’s attitude). But love finds a way and on April 24, 1994, surrounded by family and friends, they were married and the two families were joined in a beautiful ceremony at The Swan Club, in Roslyn, NY.

Romana and Leo spent the first years of their marriage living in Bellerose before eventually moving to a ranch house in Bergenfield, New Jersey. There, they built a warm and comfortable home that was always a welcoming sanctuary to their family and friends. Leo, an avid reader, spent much of his retirement remodelling the house, researching and following the stock market, and cherishing time with his family, all endeavours that he enjoyed until his death in April 2017. Romana worked on landscaping the property and spent many hours watering the garden, pruning her lovely plants and flowers, and picking and eating sweet figs from her tree. She also enjoyed spending time with her family and good friends and loved attending performances at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera.

During their marriage, Leo introduced Romana to the rest of the United States and Romana introduced Leo to the rest of the world. They enjoyed many long road trips all over the United States as well as holidays in Europe and South America.

After obtaining her American citizenship, Romana resigned from Town Food Service and went back to school, obtaining a Master’s degree in Public Health from Columbia University. Subsequently, she obtained a position as a Health Inspector with the New York City Department of Health, and soon after she joined the Health Academy as an Instructor. There, Romana joined yet another family – a team of colleagues so close and devoted to each other that they shared more than simply a workplace. Romana’s time at the Academy and her role as Instructor filled her with much joy and pride, and she was famous for her strict but caring and engaging teaching style.

Romana was diagnosed with glioblastoma in May 2016, less than a year before Leo passed away. Despite these events, Romana remained resilient and underwent two brain surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy, in steadfast refusal to succumb to the disease. She stayed remarkably positive, continued working after her first operation, and was able to travel to Croatia to visit her family home, swim in the Adriatic and spend time with her siblings and extended family members.

Romana retired from the Health Academy in February 2018 and moved to Alexandria, Virginia in August 2018 to be closer to Sabina and her son-in-law Michael. She remained in close contact with her family and friends in New York.

After a recurrence of her brain cancer in 2020, and complications that arose after the second operation, Romana passed away peacefully at home on June 1, 2020.

Romana came from very humble beginnings but had the drive and commitment to obtain a degree in chemical engineering. She singlehandedly raised her daughter and, in her quest to carve out a better life for herself and her daughter, she moved continents twice, learnt two new languages, and obtained a Master’s degree from an Ivy League University. She was a remarkable woman and a role model.

She is survived by her beloved siblings, Elda, Mario and Marica, her daughter and step-daughters Sabina (Michael), Elayne (Ross), Lisa (Mark), and Debra, step-grandchildren Justin (Ali), Sarah, Adam and Sam, step-great-grandchildren Olivia and Lucas, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and beloved friends and colleagues who formed her second family.

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Romana Blašković rođena je u Šumberu, tada u Italiji, 6. srpnja 1941. Bila je drugo najmlađe dijete Franice i Marina Blaškovića.

Prije nego što se njezina obitelj preselila u Pulu, Romana je pohađala malu osnovnu školu u Šumberu. Srednju školu pohađala je u Puli i bila izvrsna učenica. Uživala je u djetinjstvu prepunom prijateljstava, suparništva s braćom i sestrama, kućanskih obaveza i školskih plesova (za što je morala posuditi lijepe haljine svoje sestre Elde).

Nakon završene srednje škole, Romana je stekla stipendiju za studij kemijskog inženjerstva na Sveučilištu u Zagrebu. Po završetku studija zaposlila se u laboratoriju Plaškom, u Jugoslaviji. Zatim se preselila u Beograd, gdje je radila kao inženjer zavarivanja i vodila tim tehničara za nacionalnu zrakoplovnu tvrtku JAT Airways.

Godine 1975. Romana je u Puli rodila kćer Sabinu. U Puli su ostali godinu dana da bi se potom vratila u Beograd i nastavila raditi u JAT-u. Iako je imala zahtjevan posao i bila samohrana majka, Romana je naučila engleski pa je svoju kompaniju predstavljala na konferencijama diljem svijeta.

Godine 1979. Romana i Sabina preselile su se u Venezuelu, gdje je Romana naučila španjolski, svoj treći jezik, i zaposlila se kao inženjer kontrole kvalitete vode u tvornici papira.

Godine 1983. Romana i Sabina preselile su se na Floridu, gdje je Romana ilegalno radila kao upraviteljica pet hotela u South Beachu. Godine 1984., u strahu od akcija tada svemoćnog INS-a, Romana i Sabina napustile su Miami i pridružile se članovima obitelji u Queensu, koji su im pomogli da se snađu u New Yorku. Romana je radila razne poslove kako bi podigla Sabinu; između ostalog bila je tajnica i prevoditeljica.

U tom se razdoblju Romana zaposlila kao tajnica u kompaniji Town Food Service u središtu Manhattana. Sabina je redovito navraćala mami u ured i tako su se upoznali s poletnim potpredsjednikom tvrtke, gospodinom Leom Chanilom. Leo je dugi niz godina bio udovac i samostalno je odgajao svoje tri kćeri u Belleroseu, u četvrti Queens.

Ljubav se nije dogodila preko noći; Leo je smatrao da se Romana ne bi trebala javljati na telefone zbog snažnog naglaska kada govori engleski, a ni Romana nije bila baš impresionirana Leovim stavom. No, ljubav se s vremenom rasplamsala i oni su se 24. travnja 1994. vjenčali okruženi obitelji i prijateljima. Dvije su se obitelji spojile na prekrasnoj svadbi u njujorškom klubu The Swan u Roslynu.

Prvih godina braka Romana i Leo živjeli su u Belleroseu, da bi se potom preselili na imanje u Bergenfieldu, u New Jerseyju. Tamo su izgradili topao i udoban dom koji je uvijek bio utočište za njihovu obitelj i prijatelje. Leo je veći dio svog umirovljenja proveo preuređujući kuću, istražujući i prateći burzu te njegujući odnose s članovima obitelji, sve do svoje smrti u travnju 2017. Romana se brinula za posjed i provodila mnoge sate zalijevajući vrt, obrezujući dražesne biljke i cvijeće te brala i jela slatke plodove sa svoje smokve. Voljela je provoditi vrijeme sa svojom obitelji i dobrim prijateljima i posjećivati predstave u Carnegie Hallu i Metropolitan operi.

Tijekom njihova braka, Leo je upoznao Romanu s ostatkom Sjedinjenih Država, a Romana je upoznala Lea s ostatkom svijeta. Uživali su u mnogim dugim putovanjima diljem Sjedinjenih Država i na odmorima u Europi i Južnoj Americi.

Nakon što je stekla američko državljanstvo, Romana je dala otkaz u Town Food Serviceu i vratila se u školu, stekavši magisterij iz javnog zdravstva na Sveučilištu Columbia. Nakon toga postala je zdravstveni inspektor u njujorškom Ministarstvu zdravstva, a ubrzo nakon toga pridružila se Zdravstvenoj akademiji kao instruktorica. Tamo je Romana stekla još jednu obitelj - timu kolega toliko bliskih i posvećenih jedno drugome da su dijelili više od običnog radnog mjesta. Vrijeme provedeno na Akademiji i njena uloga instruktora Romanu su ispunili radošću i ponosom, a bila je poznata po svom strogom, ali brižnom i angažiranom stilu poučavanja.

U svibnju 2016., manje od godinu dana prije nego što će preminuti Leo, Romani je dijagnosticiran glioblastom. Unatoč svemu, Romana se nije predavala; podvrgnula se dvjema operacijama mozga, zračenju i kemoterapiji, čvrsto odlučivši da se neće predati bolesti. Ostala je iznimno pozitivna i nastavila raditi nakon prve operacije. Otputovala je u Hrvatsku kako bi posjetila svoju obiteljsku kuću, plivala u Jadranskom moru i provodila vrijeme sa svojom braćom i sestrama te članovima šire obitelji.

Romana se u veljači 2018. povukla iz Zdravstvene akademije, a u kolovozu iste godine preselila se u Aleksandriju, u Virginiji, kako bi bila bliže Sabini i njezinu zetu Michaelu. Ostala je u bliskom kontaktu sa svojom obitelji i prijateljima u New Yorku.

Nakon što joj se 2020. godine vratio raka mozga i komplikacija nastalih nakon druge operacije, Romana je mirno preminula u svom domu 1. lipnja 2020. godine.

Počela je skromno, ali je željela steći diplomu kemijskog inženjera i predano je radila na tome. Samostalno je odgajala svoju kćer i u potrazi za boljim životom dva puta se selila s kontinenta na kontinent. Pritom je naučila dva nova jezika i usput magistrirala na Sveučilištu Ivy League. Romana je bila izuzetna i uzorna žena.

Iza nje su ostali njezini voljeni braća i sestre, Elda, Mario i Marica, njezina kći i pastorke Sabina (Michael), Elayne (Ross), Lisa (Mark) i Debra, unuci Justin (Ali), Sarah, Sam i Adam, praunuci Olivia i Lucas, i brojne nećakinje, nećaci, rođaci, prijatelji i voljene kolege koji su bili njena druga obitelj.