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Text replacement - "Courtesy of Adirondack Daily Enterprise," to "''Adirondack Daily Enterprise'',"

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	[[File:Dana Fast.jpg\|alt=Dana Fast\|thumb\|Dana Fast. ~~Courtesy of~~ Adirondack Daily Enterprise, May 22, 2025.]]		[[File:Dana Fast.jpg\|alt=Dana Fast\|thumb\|Dana Fast. ''[[Adirondack Daily Enterprise]]'', May 22, 2025.]]
	'''Born''': March 30, 1931		'''Born''': March 30, 1931

Ellie Hoyt: created, added ADE obituary & other article

2026-08-06T15:00:48Z

created, added ADE obituary & other article

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[[File:Dana Fast.jpg|alt=Dana Fast|thumb|Dana Fast. Courtesy of Adirondack Daily Enterprise, May 22, 2025.]]
'''Born''': March 30, 1931

'''Died''':

'''Married''': Janusz Sowa, George Fast

'''Children''': Yvonne "Yvona" Fast
'''Dana Fast'''
----''[[Adirondack Daily Enterprise]]'', May 22, 2025

'''Dana Fast'''

Dana Fast, 94, of Lake Clear, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, May 17, in her home. She was born March 30, 1931, in Warsaw, Poland. Most of her relatives perished in the Holocaust, but she, her mother, brother and some cousins survived. Dana’s heartwarming survival story is published in the memoir, “Good in the Midst of Evil” (Rise/Clearfork, 2022).

Dana earned advanced degrees in Chemistry from Warsaw Polytechnic. Her first work was with polymers and plastics. She lived a whirlwind life as an adult, leaving Poland for Israel in October 1962 and emigrating to the U.S. in July 1964. Here, she could not find work in her field because of her gender. She switched to biochemical research and worked at the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania and Upstate Medical Center. After moving to the Adirondacks in 1974, she worked at [[Trudeau Institute]] and the W.A. Jones Cell Science Center until she retired.

She enjoyed traveling with her husband to national parks, Hawaii, Greece and other places, but her favorite place on earth was the Adirondacks. Over the span of decades, she hosted many loved ones in her home, many of whom still call her Grandma Fast. She was always ready to share stories about her wilderness adventures.

After she retired, Dana became even more active in her community through various volunteer efforts, including working with school groups at the [[Visitor Interpretive Center|VIC]], staffing the Butterfly House and gardening with the [[Saranac Lake Village Improvement Society]]. She became a master gardener volunteer through the Cornell Cooperative Extension, gave talks about gardening and manned an information table at the farmers’ market. She taught how to press cabbage into kraut and other culinary and gardening skills through the Adirondack Green Circle and Local Living Venture. She helped with the native plant garden at the Paul Smiths VIC and helped start the Common Ground Community Garden in Saranac Lake. The large vegetable garden at her home provided food for the entire year, stored in the freezer during the winter. She also had lots of flowers.

Dana devoted her life to protecting God’s natural world. This led her on many outdoor adventures, including hiking all 46 Adirondack Peaks and the Coast to Coast Walk in England from Saint Bees to Robin Hoods Bay. In the last three years of her life, back pain limited her mobility. She mourned the fact that she could no longer hike in the forest, paddle the lakes, snowshoe, cross-country ski or swim. But she still loved sharing stories about her wilderness adventures.

Dana’s life is marked by remarkable resilience. Her fortitude, love, kindness, wisdom, drive and determination are an inspiration to many. She will be remembered for her crystal-clear vision on difficult life questions, her witty and grounded sense of humor, her warm laughter, her strength and pragmatism.

She is survived by her daughter, Yvona (Yvonne) Fast, her brother Jerry Miron and his wife Joanna, her niece Sophie Miron and her nephew Michael Miron, as well as several cousins. She was predeceased by both of her husbands, Janusz Sowa and George Fast, as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Funeral arrangements are in care of the [[Fortune-Keough Funeral Home]] in Saranac Lake. Please join us for a celebration of Dana’s life at the Paul Smiths VIC on Monday, May 26th at 5:30 PM.

Donations in Dana’s memory may be made to the Cornell Cooperative Extension (either Essex or Franklin County), the Adirondack Mountain Club and the Local Living Venture of Canton in care of the funeral home.

Family and friends can share condolences and memories online at fortunekeoughfuneralhome.com.
----''Adirondack Daily Enterprise,'' March 24, 2022

'''Local Polish WWII survivor Dana Fast reflects on war in Ukraine'''

When Dana Fast was eight years old, her world was upended. Fast was living in an upper-middle-class secular Jewish family in Warsaw, Poland when World War II began.

“I was a pampered girl and all of the sudden I was in the war,” Fast said.

She and her family moved to the infamous Warsaw ghetto and later went into hiding for years during the Holocaust. Fast’s father was killed by Nazis in 1943. She had nightmares for years about that time in her life.

Fast eventually moved to the US in the 1960s, living in Chicago and Philadephia before settling in the Adirondacks. From her home in Lake Clear, she’s been watching in recent weeks as the war has unfolded in Ukraine, with Russian forces killing Ukrainian troops and civilians, destroying the homeland of millions of people.

“I really feel so much for the people in Ukraine,” Fast said.

Similar to what happened in World War II, families are being torn apart, towns and homes are being bombed, and for Fast, some of the war is unfolding in what used to be her homeland.

“So many cities that I’m seeing now on the news, they were Polish cities at the time,” Fast said. “They are talking about Lvov and they call it Lviv. This was the big Polish city.”

Lvov was part of Poland until 1939. The Soviet Union then annexed the city in 1939 at the start of the Second World War. Decades later, it became part of Ukraine when the nation declared independence from the Soviets in 1991.

There’s a long history of battles over borders in Eastern Europe. Dana Fast’s daughter, Yvona, said the memories of those who lived through World War II should be preserved.

“It’s an important part of history, particularly with what’s going on in Ukraine,” Yvona said. “We see history repeating itself and I think people need to know about this.”

Ten years ago, Yvona helped her mother write a memoir about her time during the war, which the two are now republishing under a new title, ‘Good in the Midst of Evil.’ On a sunny day in Saranac Lake, Fast sits at a local restaurant overlooking [[Lake Flower]]. Friends and family are gathering as an early birthday celebration for Fast, who turns 91 on March 30.

Fast said this latest chapter of her life, in the Adirondacks, is completely different from the life she led in Poland. It’s a happy chapter.

Sitting with one of her friends, Fast looks over old photos of them out in the woods. “This is on snowshoes but I was a lot on cross country skies,” Fast said.

She loved to ski by moonlight in the Adirondacks, “and boy it was cold,” Fast recalled. “I remember one winter, we were sitting in the lean-to and I always carried a thermos of hot cocoa, because it was good. And I was pouring the hot cocoa and it froze.”

As she approaches her 91st birthday, Fast has been reflecting on the arc of her life. She went from a pampered girl in Poland, to a war refugee fearing death during the Holocaust, and finally to a life full of happiness and adventure in the Adirondacks.

“This is the place that I want to end my life,” Fast said. “I came to the Adirondacks and this was the place that I [didn’t] want to move out of anymore.”
----

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Dana Fast - Revision history

MWanner: Text replacement - "Courtesy of Adirondack Daily Enterprise," to "''Adirondack Daily Enterprise'',"

Ellie Hoyt: created, added ADE obituary & other article