Rose "Abbey" C Lejk

We feel sure that that meeting went well for all parties concerned as she put up with her husband, Rick, for all those many years. That should have eliminated the need for any time to be spent in purgatory. She was preceded in death by her parents and her older brother Andy.

Abbey was the eldest of four children born to Andrew and Teresa (Kovach) Csordas in Windber, PA. Abbey came into the world on 11 December 1934. She was followed by her brother, Andrew, Jr.; sister, Teresa "Tessie" (Jay) Croyle; and brother, John (Laura). She attended public schools in Windber, in most cases walking to her classrooms. She then attended the Nursing School at the Windber Hospital, where she graduated in 1954. She worked in hospitals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until she entered the Air Force in 1955. She completed her basic training at Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, AL. For her first assignment, she was sent to the hospital at Grand Forks AFB SD. She was then reassigned in 1957 to Ben Guerir Air Base in Morocco, which changed her life as she met Lt. Richard (Rick) Lejk, who was to become her soulmate and lifelong friend for the next 64+ years. They were married in March 1958 by the Caid of Ben Guerir, and then on 12 April by Father Michael Kennedy in the Base Chapel. They honeymooned in the Canary Islands and then returned to duty at Ben Guerir.

When she became pregnant with her first child, Abbey was sent back to the States to be processed out of the Air Force, as pregnant females were not allowed in the AF at that time. She worked awhile at the Charleston AFB Hospital as they were short of nurses, and continued to do so until she could no longer fit into a nurse’s uniform. They then processed her out of the Air Force and she returned to Windber, where she delivered her first daughter, Terese Marie (Raines). When Rick returned to the States, she joined with him, and the family then traveled to Air Force assignments in Michigan, Ohio, Alabama, Texas, Washington, DC, and Germany, where they retired and came to Charlotte, NC. While at the Air Force Logistics Command Headquarters at Wright-Patterson, OH, Abbey gave birth to her second daughter, Marcella Anne (Drake) and the third daughter, Deirdre Anne (Fanning).

After retiring to Charlotte, NC, Rick and Abbey joined St. Ann’s Catholic Church, where both became immediately active. Abbey served as an Extraordinary Minister, and Usher, and helped establish the parish library, contributing furniture, supplies, and books, as well. They sponsored one of the stained-glass windows and commemorated four of the pews in the new church.

Abbey is survived by her husband of 64+ years Rick; daughters, Terese Raines, Marcy Drake, and DeeDee (Don) Fanning; grandchildren, Jennifer (Drake) Stegemoller, Heather (Amanda) Drake; Dr. Chrissy and Ricky (Mallory) Raines; Heather (Nate) (Fanning) Nobary; Joseph, John Michael, and Katie Fanning; and great-grandchildren, Abby, Lane, and Tyler Stegemoller; Hannah Drake, CJ Penne; Max Raines, and Olivia Nobary.

There will be a Mass of Christian Burial on Thursday, 22 December 2022, at 11:00 AM at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, 3635 Park Road, Charlotte, celebrated by Father Timothy Reid, pastor, with a reception immediately thereafter in the Allen Center. Burial will private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Ann’s Catholic Church, 3635 Park Road, Charlotte, NC 28209; or to the Dr. Rick Lejk Scholarship, #H10490, c/o UNC Charlotte Foundation, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223-0001.

“For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying

That we are born to eternal life.”

From the Prayer of St. Francis

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.McEwenPinevilleChapel.com for the Lejk family.