Gracia Mae Sarisky
Obituaries
Gracia Mae Sarisky
Longtime Soldotna resident Gracia Mae Sarisky died Monday, Dec. 12, 2005, from lung cancer at Our House on the Lake Assisted Living Home in Nikiski surrounded by family and caregivers. She was 76.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Soldotna. Father Richard Tero will officiate. A reception immediately will follow the services at O’Neill Hall. Pallbearers will include Michael Sarisky, Charles Carpenter, Paul Smith, Patrick Carpenter and Nathan and Justin Smith. Her ashes will be scattered by her family at a later date.
Mrs. Sarisky was born May 29, 1929, in Cleveland, where she was raised. She graduated from Cleveland Heights High School and furthered her education by attending Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.
She was primarily a homemaker for her family. She had been a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church since 1977. Mrs. Sarisky was a longtime member of the Catholic Daughters of America and of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority. She also volunteered for several years with the Campfire Girls and at Heritage Place in Soldotna.
She enjoyed shopping, games, puzzles, cooking, baking, sewing, quilting, berry picking and adding to her many “collections.”
“Our Mom lived her life with grace, dignity and determination, beginning at the age of 11 when she became a national speed skating champion. It continued with the fulfillment of a many years’ dream of hers and Dads, of settling their young family in Alaska. They arrived in Anchorage in 1969 after an adventurous trip up the Alcan Highway from Ohio. In 1976, Mom and Dad moved to the Kenai-Soldotna area,” her family said.
“One of our favorite family remembrances is of her making innumerable Christmas cookies (as many as 38 varieties) every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we were able to gift family and friends with them. Her character triumphed even more so at the end of her life, when she fought a courageous battle with lung cancer. Her family, especially her grandchildren, was her greatest joy. We will love her and miss her always.”
Mrs. Sarisky was preceded in death by her husband, Andrew R. Sarisky; parents, Anthony and Harriett Rogers; and brother, Tom Rogers.
She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Paula and Charles Carpenter of Anchorage; son, Michael Sarisky of Yelm, Wash.; daughter and son-in-law, Karla and Paul Smith of Nikiski; granddaughter and grandson-in-law, Kristin and Charles Krom of Anchorage; grandchildren, Kathryn Carpenter of Anchorage, Nathan Smith of Nikiski, Patrick Carpenter of Anchorage, Justin Smith of Nikiski and Colleen Carpenter of Anchorage; and numerous relatives and friends in Alaska and Ohio.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Mrs. Sarisky’s memory to a charity of the donor’s choice or to the WOW Fund C/O Central Peninsula General Hospital 250 Hospital Place, Soldotna, AK 99669.
Arrangements were made by Peninsula Memorial Chapel in Kenai.