OCA Communications recently learned that Matushka Lillian W. Draovitch fell asleep in the Lord in Burnsville, MN, on Thursday, September 11, 2008. Her husband, the Very Rev. Archpriest Michael B. Draovitch, preceded her in death in July 1996.
While attending St. Vladimir’s Seminary, Father Michael met Lillian Draovitch (nee Fetzko) and they were married on May 26, 1946. Father Michael was ordained on June 22, 1946, at the Protection of the Virgin Mary Cathedral in New York, NY.
Father Michael and Matushka Lillian first served Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church in Carnegie, PA, from 1950 to 1954, when Father entered the US Air Force as a Chaplin. Father and Matushka also served Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church in Waterbury, CT, from 1958 to 1964. In the fall of 1964, Father Michael and Matushka Lillian returned to Carnegie, PA, where they served until his retirement in 1987.
Matushka Lillian is survived by her daughters Maria Stang of Eagan, MN, and Karen Malsch of Imperial, PA, and grandchildren Alexandra and Michael Stang and Patrick, Joshua and Kristen Malsch. She is also survived by her sister Antoinette Fetzko.
The Funeral Service for Matushka Lillian was celebrated on Monday, September 15, at the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church in Carnegie, PA, followed by the Divine Liturgy on Tuesday, September 16. Matushka was interred next to her husband in the Holy Virgin Cemetery in Greentree, PA.
May Matushka Lillian’s memory be eternal!