Dr. Lydia Weston Kesich, 78, wife of Dr. Veselin Kesich, professor emeritus at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Crestwood, NY, fell asleep in the Lord at Maine Medical Center on November 14, 2006 from complications resulting from a blood disorder.
A well known teacher of Russian language and culture, Dr. Kesich was a graduate of Vassar College, the Russian Institute, and Columbia University. She translated Tolstoy’s last diaries and other Russian works but found professional satisfaction working with students at Vassar, Barnard, and Sarah Lawrence colleges during a teaching career that lasted more than 40 years. She also taught Russian at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary for several years.
Dr. Kesich led one of the first student trips into the Soviet Union in 1956, shortly after the death of Stalin. She returned to Russia three times, once on a fellowship to Moscow University in 1979, and again with a group of students during the perestroika period in 1986. She visited post-communist Russia with her husband in 2003.
In 1957, she married Dr. Veselin Kesich, who shortly thereafter joined the faculty of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. Up until her death, Dr. Kesich worked alongside her husband, typing his handwritten manuscripts and helping shape his many works on New Testament theology.
In 1985, the Kesiches coauthored “Treasures of the Holy Land,” based on their visits to early Christian sites in Israel, Greece, and Turkey.
In addition to her husband, Dr. Kesich is survived by a daughter, Carol, of San Francisco, CA; a son, Gregory, of Portland, ME, and his wife Gail; a son-in law, Michael Blecker, and four grandchildren.
Funeral services were held at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Portland, ME, on Saturday, November 18, with interment at Forest City Cemetery, South Portland.
May Dr. Kesich’s memory be eternal!