Olga B. Perra

Olga Bianca Reznak Perra, beloved mother, grandmother, devoted teacher, and lifelong yard-sale enthusiast and antique hunter, passed away on October 4, 2026.

Bia was born on May 19, 1937, in Bratislava, in what was then Czechoslovakia. Her stories and photographs paint a happy childhood with her parents, Josef and Anna (Endlicher) Reznak, her cousin and best friend, Marta, and her German shepherd, Schatzi. The Nazi occupation drove the family from Czechoslovakia. They left because the border was closing; other families were meant to go with them but were too late and remained behind through the war and the communist years that followed. Bia and her parents spent the rest of the war in Germany. Bia later recounted the daily hour-long train ride to school and back, and some awful stories of wartime life. They raised chickens and grew tobacco, selling cigarettes to make ends meet.

As the war drew to a close, Josef, planning ahead, made sure they were in an American zone. On November 29, 1947, they left as displaced persons for the United States on the SS Marine Flasher, courtesy of the Church World Service. The small family arrived in New York Harbor on December 12, 1947.

Although ten-year-old Bia spoke three languages, none was English. She was placed back a grade at school but quickly caught up and excelled. Her parents worked first in New York City and eventually on Long Island, as chauffeur and housekeeper-cook. Bia attended high school in Great Neck and went on to graduate from the University of New Hampshire, where she met her future husband, Salvatore Perra. She later received a master’s in education from Northeastern University and continued her studies overtime, stopping two credits shy of her doctorate.

After teaching for a year in Hampton, New Hampshire, Bia began her almost 35-year career as a fifth-grade teacher at the Franklin School in Wakefield, Massachusetts. There she met her mentor and dear friend Jean Mulloy, who became family.

The Perras moved to Wakefield in 1974, joined by Bia’s mother, “Wawa”; her father, “Opa,” had already died. Next-door neighbor Mimi Broding welcomed them with a cake. It began a lifelong friendship of adventures and, in later years, puzzle and wine sessions. Bia and Salvy eventually divorced, but they shared and adored their four children.

Bia loved being a teacher. She was firm, but kind. Many former students have described the lasting difference she made (and the extra credit she awarded for correctly spelling Czechoslovakia).

Retirement allowed Bia to devote herself to her grandchildren. A new book, puzzle, project, or Hot Wheels car awaited them on the kitchen bench each visit, usually a find from her yard sales (“but I only go to houses where I know the family!”). Grammie Bia was a proud - and vocal - presence at sporting events. She expertly knitted mittens, ponchos, sweaters, and blankets for all. In the countless books she gave her family, her signature smiley face still waits inside, ready to bring an answering smile for many years to come.

Bia cooked with both talent and love. Her Thanksgiving gravy is legendary, and so are her Christmas morning buffets, with cookies and pies alongside quiche, homemade corned beef, and currant mustard. She loved driving all over New England, jaunts that often included antiquing, and cherished trips with Mimi to the Brodings’ vacation home in Maine. On the slopes at King Ridge, or at the beach on the Cape or in Nahant, Bia’s face was always turned up to the sun.

In recent years dementia gradually limited these pleasures, but she so enjoyed being in her beautiful home, and remained her loving Grammie self throughout.

Bia is survived by daughter Andrea Antonucci, her husband Kenny, and their children Nicholas, Kenneth, Sofia, Bianca, Lucia, and Christian; daughter Christina Leonowert and her sons Matthew and Michael; son John and his partner Alice; daughter Gina Richardson, her husband Douglas, and their three sons, Owen, Max, and Alex; and cats Speedy and Toddy, who miss her very much.

Visitation for relatives and friends will be held at MacDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Avenue in Wakefield on October 14, 2026, from 4 to 7 p.m. Her funeral Mass will be at St. Joseph’s Church, 173 Albion Street in Wakefield on October 15, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Care Dimensions, a wonderful hospice program that helped Bia and her family immeasurably, at giving@CareDimensions.org.