Native Mahwah Widow Dies After 7-Year Battle With Breast Cancer

MAHWAH, NJ — The community is rallying around two local siblings whose mother died of breast cancer Tuesday.

Polakowski was a former Mahwah and Hasbrouck Heights resident. She was an alumnus of Mahwah High School. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012.

Desiree Polakowski's children, Collin and Reese, survive her and her husband, Mark. More than $6,200 has been donated to them through a GoFundMe campaign that went live Wednesday morning. Polakowski died Tuesday morning, her obituary by VanderPlaat Funeral Home.

Donors expressed their condolences to the siblings on the GoFundMe page.

"May God grant you peace and strength during this difficult time. We are here for you," the Mirkovic family wrote.

Polakowski's husband Mark died of a massive heart attack in December 2010. He was 38.

Polakowski and her children often talked about Mark, keeping his memory alive. She told Patch shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer of the "amazing love" she and Mark shared.

After her husband died, Polakowski worried about her children. She asked herself: Will they be okay? Will they be normal?

"When it gets a little hard I think about Mark and I know he'd want me to fight," Polakowski told Patch in 2012. "I think about my kids and I know they've already lost so much. They need their mom."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Desiree Polakowski and her children, Collin and Reese (Courtesy of GoFundMe, a promotional partner with Patch)