There is nothing like having a Dutiful Daughter
By Betsy Witteman
Jane Wlochowski is a Dutiful Daughter.
That's also the name of her business, described as 'downsizing and content removal
specialists.'
And just like the dutiful daughter everybody wishes to have, she handles those sensitive
issues of disposing of a lifetime's contents of a house when the owner is older
and moving into smaller quarters or retirement housing. Or, when the owner has died,
and someone is needed to ready a property for sale, as part of the estate settlement.
She checks to see that valuable papers or possessions are not lost. If she discovers
jewelry or cash or other valuables, she carefully returns the items to the owner
or the estate. She is a handholder and a compassionate listener. The work she and
her family firm do is not always pretty, but they do it thoroughly and precisely.
This may extend, and has, even to raking the dirt floors of the emptied cellars
of old houses prior to sale.
"She was an angel from heaven," said Bea Van Orden of Farmington, now in a retirement
community.
"I'd lived in my house in West Hartford for over 40 years" before moving into an
assisted living facility in Farmington.
"I would recommend her wholeheartedly. Her sons were wonderful. Her husband fixed
the broken leg on my old china cabinet. They are a full-service firm," said Ms.
Van Orden, who is now happily ensconced in her new apartment.
"It's a hard job, and sometimes it's a dirty job, but it keeps our family together.
We couldn't do the business without all of us. We go to bed at night feeling good
because we've helped somebody," Ms. Wlochowski said.
Jason, Michael and Jane Wlochowski
How they work
Jane and Michael Wlochowski of Manchester, their son Aaron, also of Manchester,
and their son Jason, of the Ivoryton section of Essex, are the heart of the business.
Ms. Wlochowski is the founder and owner of the firm, with son Jason as the senior
partner. Husband Michael is also a regular co-worker. Aaron has a full-time demanding
job of his own, but helps out by doing the books.
As needed, various other family members - ranging from sisters and brothers, in-laws,
and now a 13-year-old grandson, are also pulled in to help out. In addition, Dutiful
Daughter uses a few reliable helpers on specific jobs - usually evenings and weekends
when they're available.
All wear purple shirts and - in cool weather - black polar vests with the words,
"Dutiful Daughter" enscribed on them. When you look at some of the strong men involved
in lugging furniture out of houses and then read the shirts they're wearing, you
might do a double-take.
Background
Ms. Wlochowski, 60, grew up in East Hartford and married her husband of 40 years
when she was only a couple of years out of high school. Following two years in Hawaii
when he was in the service, they returned to the area and settled in Manchester.
She said that, in a way, the many paths of her life have led to the business she
is now in.
"Since 1965 I've been going to tag sales," she said. She would get up early, take
her van, and methodically check out the tag sales in all Manchester neighborhoods.
She learned the value of items, especially jewelry and antiques. She bought and
sold. In 1986 she established a little business called Nostalgia and Lace, and sold
"lace and fancy things" at antique shows. Her business is still officially called
Nostalgia and Lace, doing business as Dutiful Daughter.
She also began to do tag sales for friends and relatives who asked for her help.
Ms. Wlochowski worked at United Technologies Corporation office in the International
Communications Department and as a Contributions Administrator for their $1.3 million
non-profit Public Giving Department from 1982-1992 and recently retired from ING
(formerly Aetna Financial Services) as Executive Assistant and Office Manager to
the CEO.
During her time at UTC, she helped organize a humongous tag sale for the benefit
of the homeless held at the Pratt & Whitney airplane hangar at Rentschler Field.
Her tag sales, her assistance with household cleanouts, her antiques shows - these
were all done on the side, nights and weekends.
Her husband was a truck driver. "This is how we know how to handle freight and move
things," she said.
Business growing
Through word-of-mouth - "I have never advertised," said Ms. Wlochowski - her business
of handling estate sales and "clean-outs" of houses was growing. She had done some
jobs for an estate lawyer, Donna Peterson, of Bolton. In one case the Wlochowski's
were cleaning out the trailer-home of an elderly couple who had suffered from dementia.
They found thousands of dollars tucked away in an old box and returned it to the
attorney.
"I've used her and her sons four or five times now. They are extremely trustworthy.
They will go through meticulously to look through documents, bank statements. They
call me to say, 'We've found this' or 'we've found that.' And they are extremely
efficient." said Ms. Peterson.
"They're truly nice people. They are a pleasure to work with," added the estate
lawyer.
Finally the opportunity to take retirement coincided with a need to be more attentive
to her growing business. Ms. Wlochowski retired from UTC in 2002 and went full-time
with Dutiful Daughter.
She said the time is ripe. Baby boomers are beginning to downsize.
At the same time, there are many older people who have no one to help them clean
out the accumulation of a lifetime so that they can move into smaller quarters or
a retirement facility.
She said often adult children are living out of state. Or, sometimes the children
are very busy themselves with jobs and young families.
"My kids are too busy. They have their own lives. I don't want to bother them,"
are expressions she has heard.
"And sometimes they have no one," added Ms. Wlochowski, who offers services that
range from simple clean-outs of houses to holding a night sale (6 to 9 p.m.) of
the contents of a house or - when warranted - a full sale that lasts all day, usually
on a Saturday.
Right after the sale is over, anything still left is bagged and disposed of by Dutiful
Daughter. The house is vacuumed, swept clean, and damp mopped, ready to be seen
by prospective buyers.
Ms. Wlochowski has a database of 400 individuals, including antiques dealers, collectors,
and people who are furnishing houses, whom she invites to such sales. She advertises
in the newspapers as well.
"We'll do anything you want us to do," said Jason Wlochowski, who joined his parents
as a full-time partner in January of this year. "I love it. It's just about customer
service," said Mr. Wlochowski, who previously worked in corporate life and also
taught school for a while.
When a house has antiques, paintings or collectible items - such as valuable sets
of dishes or glasses - Ms. Wlochowski puts the owner in touch with professional
appraisers and dealers so those items can be sold separately or auctioned off. She
never purchases anything from an estate or a home she has been hired to work on,
since that's a conflict of interest. She has a good rug dealer who assesses Oriental
rugs. She can determine the difference between costume jewelry and the real thing,
and when she finds out there is valuable jewelry, she also directs the customer
to places where it can be appropriately sold.
Sometimes items are useful if not saleable. Old towels and linens are donated to
the Bolton Veterinary Hospital to be used for animal surgeries. Books are often
given to charity book sales. In several instances, families in need have been helped
out with furniture that others don't want. The Wlochowski's hate to see things go
to waste.
They work in Manchester, but lately also have been much engaged west-of-the-river
in West Hartford, Farmington, Simsbury, Unionville. They have done jobs when requested
on Cape Cod and in western Massachussetts.
The average cost of cleaning out a house is about $2,000 she said - which includes
all their services.
"The process takes as long as they want," Ms. Wlochowski said.
An example is the situation of George and Ann Muirhead, formerly of Farmington.
The Muirheads decided to move into a retirement community in West Hartford, and
hired Dutiful Daughter to clean out their house and the accumulations of a long
marriage. But the retirement community was not to their liking, and they felt trapped
in a small apartment.
The Muirheads moved a second time, this time to an independent cottage in another
retirement community in Hartford. Dutiful Daughter handled the move.
The Muirheads still weren't happy. Now they are planning to move in with a daughter
and her business and the Wlochowski's will once again give the Muirheads help.
"She will move us again," said Mrs. Muirhead. "You feel so comfortable. It's more
of a family atmosphere. I didn't worry when they packed things up. We trusted them
to do the job."