Lucille E. Jesik

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Lucille (Ercul) Jesik, 92, of Pueblo, died on Sunday, September 2, 2018. Lucille was born September 30,1925. She was preceded in death by husband, Joseph; daughter, Nancy, parents, Louis and Mary Ercul; brother, Lewis Ercul; sisters, Elsie Tezak and Lilly Dunham.

She enjoyed her family traditions and spent her life caring for others. She graduated from Central High School in 1943, Minnequa School of Nursing in 1946, and So. Colorado State College in 1968. She practiced nursing for the remainder of her life.

She was instrumental in reviving the Preseren Choir, a member of KSKJ St. Joe's #7, SNPJ, St. Mary's Church and The Queen of the Rooty Tooters.

She is survived by children, Judy (Skip) Chandler, Joe (Debbie) Jesik, Bernie (Kathi) Jesik, Mary Lou Henson, Donald (Juanita Cisneros) Jesik, Loretta (Regis) Opferman, Mark (Theresa) Jesik, Cindy (Joe) Miller, Chuck (Dee) Jesik, Beth (Kelly) Johnson, Ken (Vivian) Jesik, Annette (Rob) Purkey; 28 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Dorothy Redabaugh; numerous nieces & nephews, and special friend, Bill Jackson.

Mass of the Resurrection will be held at St. Mary's Help of Christians Catholic Church on Friday, September 7, 2018. The Rosary will be said at 9:30 a.m., followed with the Mass at 10:00 a.m. Memorials in Lucy's Honor may be made to PAWS for Life in care of TG McCarthy Funeral Home. A live streaming of the service will be online for anyone who is unable to attend.

Lucille was so very proud of her large family and she treated each one equally. She was the mother of 13 children and many others who called her “Mom”. She never judged and allowed all her children to make their own decisions to do what they wanted to do.

Her grandchildren include Kristie (Steve) Cervi, Kerrie (Danny) Studen and Kurt Chandler; Andy and Kim Jesik, Lynne (Chris) Rice; Steve (Shaynee) Jesik, Kevin (Trish) Jesik; Jason (Shawnett) Henson, Geoff (Kim) Henson, Jeremy (Melissa Gillis) Henson; Buster Jesik; Nicole (Chris) Valencia, Renee (Doug) Dillmuth; Mark and David Jesik, Jacque (Shayne) Holowaty; Megan (Jeffrey)Hagio, Amanda (Kevin) Eitel;Kendra Jesik, Brad (Danielle Briedenback); Celeste (Ernie) Garduno, Miranda and Sean Johnson; Jonathan and Matthew Jesik; Jake and Luke Purkey. Her great grandchildren include Michael, Nick and Christopher Cervi; Benjamin Studen; Corey and Conner Rice; Emma Jesik-Vigil and Mia Jesik; Kaitlyn Jesik, Jaelah and Karsyn Jesik; Jordan and Shailee Henson, Allie and Dillon Henson, Juliet Henson and J.J. Jurek; Ethan and Reagan Valencia, Jaxon and Tyler Dillmuth; Cody and Austin Holowaty; Paige Eitel; Taylor, Brett and Alexis Briedenbach.

She was very proud of her Slovenian heritage and loved to celebrate the holidays. Her favorite holiday was Christmas. On Christmas Eve she gathered all of the clan together. We had the traditional food of klobasi, sauerkraut, sour potatoes, along with potica and many other dishes. She always made sure that after our holiday dinner, we said the rosary together, the kids did a play, and Santa would arrive. It is a tradition that will always live on in her family. She taught us how to make potica and other traditional foods. She even grew and ground her own horseradish. She loved dogs and spoiled them rotten. When her kids grew up and she couldn’t dress them up for Halloween, she dressed herself up. We went trick or treating at her house, just to see her outrageous costumes. She continued to do this into her 90’s. We delighted in seeing her and had so much fun.

She enjoyed traveling and mostly finding her relatives in her homeland of Slovenia and making connections with them. Last year she met some of her cousins on her mother’s side of the family in Canada. Also discovered her father’s birthplace and some first cousins in Slovenia. There was never a person who met her who didn’t love her. She made lasting connections and friendships with everyone she met through the years.

She was an icon in the nursing profession. She began as a cadet nurse during World War II and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She worked at St. Mary-Corwin Hospital, State Home and Training School and the State Hospital. She was a nursing instructor in medical surgical nursing at Southern Colorado State College and then returned to the university and earned her BSN degree in 1981. She was instrumental in establishing the Associate Degree Program for registered nursing at Pueblo Community College and retired as the director of the nursing program in 1986. Recently one said, anyone with grey hair in the nursing profession knew the name Lucille Jesik. Her teaching and training created many wonderful nurses. She believed in caring for others which she continued to do after her career ended. She was a convert to the Catholic Church in her early adult years. She practiced her faith in a quiet way and her faith sustained her throughout the years. She was a member of St. Mary’s Help of Christians Church and attended Mass on a regular basis. Praying the rosary was something she just did. She remained strong in her belief in God and Jesus Christ. She had many special friends in her Central High School Class of 1943, organized many class reunions and still had breakfast at the Village Inn on free pie day. She was instrumental in keeping the Minnequa School of Nursing alumni together and keeping up on the history of all the members. Some of her best friends were her nursing alumni buddies.

She loved the outdoors and enjoyed camping with the family. On her honeymoon she went hunting and even shot a rabbit. She was adventurous and kept up with the kids and tried almost everything. She gave the greatest gift ever to her children on “her” 90th birthday. She wrote a book entitled To All My Children. It included information about her grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins, aunts uncles, and searching for her roots. She described her years growing up, her school years, embarking on her career, her life with her spouse, building two homes with her husband and stories of many other family members. This was the greatest gift she could leave to her children so they could understand and appreciate who she was.