Galina Leksina, 74, of Houston, Texas, passed away May 13, 2019. She was born in Korolev (Kaliningrad), Moscow Region, Russia, on March 10, 1945 to Olga Vasilyevna and Sergey Mikhailovich Yermolayev. She was married to Vladislav Leksin for 25 years.
Galina had a career in electrical engineering at the Central Science and Research Institute of Industrial Engineering in Korolev, Moscow Region, Russia. She had a passion for music, ballet and art.
She loved to read and to spend time with her family, especially her grandchildren, Alexandra and Genevieve, and her favorite dog, Jessie.
She was preceded in death by her father, Sergey Mikhailovich Yermolayev; her mother, Olga Vasilyevna Yermolayeva; and her sister, Svetlana.
She is survived by daughter, Elena Vladislavovna Lexina and her family; and her brother Victor.
Galina was born in Korolev, near Moscow, as World War II was ending, and grew up in Soviet Russia. She was the middle child in a family of 3 kids.
As a young girl she learned to play piano, which developed into her lifelong appreciation of music, art and theater. She really enjoyed ballet, and as the story goes, she was offered a training opportunity at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, but had to turn it down because her parents did not have the means to help her pursue it.
She always had a goal to receive higher education and obtained a degree in Electrical Engineering, since, at the time, engineering was a promising professional field. Upon receiving her degree, she worked at the Central Science and Research Institute of Industrial Engineering in Korolev, the institute well known by its Russian acronym, “TsNIIMash”.
She married Vladislav Leksin at 21 and had one daughter, Elena, who she loved and cared for deeply. She was a wonderful mother who actively supported all of Elena's activities and pursuits, as well as the whole community. To this day, Elena's friends refer to her as their "second mother". After a long marriage, she divorced from her husband and raised Elena with the help of her own mother, Olga Vasilyevna. She was ultimately forced to stop working due to a heart attack at the very young age of 59. She nonetheless continued with the devoted care of her mother, who sadly passed away in 2009.
She loved to spend time in the countryside at the family dacha where they grew apples, plums, strawberries, beans, squash, flowers, and many other kinds of vegetables and berries that were harvested and preserved every year to be served at the family table as lovely jams and pickled delicacies. One year, a prized squash and pumpkin were exhibited in Moscow at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (VDNKh). She had a particular fondness for roses, which were her mother's favorite flower, and such a battle to grow in Russia, but delightfully easy in Texas.
Galina loved to travel any chance she had — by bus, boat, and train all over Eastern Europe, and together with Elena, to Australia, France, and many places in the U.S. and Canada.
Galina visited Texas often. This started after Elena married a Canadian transplant, Brian Rishikof, in Houston, and she became a “babushka” (grandmother). Babushka loved being Babushka and wanted to spend as much time as she could with her granddaughters, Alexandra and Genevieve (Gigi) — Sasha and Zhenia — and to spoil them, especially with Russian candies and treats, and homemade “borsch”, “ploff”, “yozhiki" and "salat Olivier." She also loved to help the girls with their music, spending countless hours at the piano “making" them learn to play. She enthusiastically supported all their activities and was proud to watch them perform at concerts, recitals, and ballet every time.
She also gained a wonderful new companion here in Houston, our rescue dog, Jessie. This was her first pet. They shared a special bond and enjoyed spending their mornings in the backyard sharing a coffee and banana.
Galina recently became a U.S. permanent resident and had plans to stay with the family to support her granddaughters and watch them grow up.
Galina’s nature was always to put others first and to offer help in any way she could. We will miss her kindness, her smile, her gentle guidance, her patience, and her love.
In lieu of flowers, please honor Galina’s memory with a donation to the American Heart Association or the Houston SPCA.
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