I didn’t know my great grandmother for long, but the time I got to spend with her was amazing and memorable. I remember when I was young and I would come up to Tasso and she would always give me advice and show me how to do things. These are things I will always remember. 

Dear Nick, Tony, Shish, Gleba and all
I am sure that now there is no one in the world who knew your Meme longer than me - as I was a brideboy (?) helping to carry her wedding veil(?) at her wedding ceremony with your father Hep.
I went through all beautiful photos reminding her with a deep sorrow and nostalgia. I loved to see not only all your families, Tasso, Toronto house, but also old times - teticka Lilinka and stryc Tonic, villa in Mezric (where we spent last weeks of the war).
From newer times my milestones are:
the encounter in the middle of the Rainbow Bridge where Sarka and I met Meme and Hep  after forty years
following couple of days in Toronto with them and you
their arrival to Prague after fifty (!) years, incidentally in the day of wedding of our son Lukas.
Your mother was a pinnacle of  the entire family clan and spiritus agens of your social life - at least  as I was able to perceive it.
What a monumental life lasting nearly one century!
Sasha Gjuric and the family

Lilit was a very dear friend to my late mother, Mary Rooney, and I remember her from my childhood. I offer my deep and simple condolences to her family and friends.

I will acutely miss the smoky hugs, handmade cards, ready smile and distinct voice that brought so much happiness to my life. The lessons, stories, memories and experiences from the time I spent with you and with Hep will go with me forever. Love always.

Meme, you were one of the most amazing and inspiring people I have ever met. I am so lucky to have had you in my life and wrapped that you were able to meet Amanda and Zachary. So sorry that you didn't get the chance to meet Albert in person, but I know that you would have loved him just as much as Zachary. We are going to miss you heaps and know that you will now rest in peace.

Meme was a wonderful mother in law to me, mother to Nick, and Grandmother to our children -  so strong, so full of family values, which held us all together and so loving. She walked around Tasso Lake steadying every one of her grandchildren, and perhaps also great grandchildren. These memories will live with us all for ever. I  loved her so much and I will miss her a great deal.

My dad, siblings and I have been reflecting on what Meme meant to us.   She was such a strong force and influence in all of our lives.  This influence stretched beyond the important things, like don't leave the house without lipstick on.  Meme was intelligent, beautiful, giving, strong and independent.   A true example of what a women should be. When we were children, she would invest time in each one of us, sharing her endless knowledge about so many things.  Meme was a commanding grandparent, with high expectations for how we behaved and contributed to the well-being of the family.  She never raised her voice or seemed angry, but you would NEVER want to disappoint her.  Meme was the matriarch of our family and the thread that bound us together even across oceans.  We will strive to carry on her legacy, but it won't be easy. In sharing our memories, the main theme that we came back to was the importance of family. The importance of staying connected and close. We use technology, but Meme made this happen for decades through her letters, cards, and open invitations to come together at the cottage. Luckily, we see Meme's legacy in Jackson, who is always dreaming and planning ways to bring his family together.  Just like his great grandmother, his philosophy is the more people the better.  We will all do our best to honour her memory by being the best parents, wives, husbands, daughters, sons, aunts and uncles we can be.

Dearest Meme, 
Words can't begin to explain how much you meant to me. As the matriarch of the family, you taught us love, compassion, and the fierce importance of family. My memories swirl of times at Tasso, my love of Toronto is deeply rooted in the explorations we would take with you and Hep, and I think of all the miles you logged on planes to be there for births and special moments...I try to replicate this with my nephews, in particular. Your support of me throughout my childhood, and in to adulthood never wavered...and you were always so genuinely interested in what I was doing, and completely immersed  yourself in knowing the ins and outs of our lives. I always wanted to be the best person I could be for you and Hep...as you set such a high example....I wanted to live up to it. I wish with all my heart that I could be there today...but my heart is filled knowing you are with Hep and Aunt Xeni - where I know you've longed to be. I miss and love you... Love Sa

Dearest Meme, 
Words can't begin to explain how much you meant to me. As the matriarch of the family, you taught us love, compassion, and the fierce importance of family. My memories swirl of times at Tasso, my love of Toronto is deeply rooted in the explorations we would take with you and Hep, and I think of all the miles you logged on planes to be there for births and special moments...I try to replicate this with my nephews, in particular. Your support of me throughout my childhood, and in to adulthood never wavered...and you were always so genuinely interested in what I was doing, and completely immersed  yourself in knowing the ins and outs of our lives. I always wanted to be the best person I could be for you and Hep...as you set such a high example....I wanted to live up to it. I wish with all my heart that I could be there today...but my heart is filled knowing you are with Hep and Aunt Xeni - where I know you've longed to be. I miss and love you... Love Saa

Please accept my sincere condolences. I liked both Lilit and Gleb and am sad to see both go but will cherish their memory.

Dear Meme, 
I am the luckiest woman to have had you in my life.  Your intelligence, humour. love, kindness and generosity are an inspiration.

So many of my earliest memories are with you and Hep - I remember you patiently sitting still as I tugged and pulled your hair as I "gave you a beautiful hair style." I remember the Ritz crackers we would call "meme keks"  I remember the most beautiful and elaborate Christmas celebrations with HUGE trees full of candy, endless plates of vanocni cukrovi, cousins everywhere, gifts, music, lights.  This is even more impressive to me now as a woman who has tried to recreate even the tiniest portion of the Christmas extravaganza - how do you get that many almonds inside that many dates for datle without your fingers falling off?!!

Of course, we can't forget the weeks, months and years you spent with us helping keep everyone on track when my mother was sick.  It wasn't a glamorous job and it certainly wasn't an easy one!  I'm sure we really lived up to the name that you and Hep gave us - "a bunch of vopice!" But you always showed us such love and nourished us in so many ways - mentally, spiritually, and who can forget the physical nourishment!

Finally, it's impossible to remember you without remembering Tasso, and the summers we spent together there.  Just a few memories: morning swims with you gliding gracefully into the water, not even disturbing your hair (unlike the rest of us rascals who jump in with splashes, shrieks and general chaos), sitting on the screen porch as you try to get us to eat more dinner, you pouring out the "roi qui pron" as you win yet another round, you organising everyone to go see the wolves, you patiently cultivating the Tasso book so that we can all enjoy it in years to come, including all the lovely pictures you took.  Those summers with cousins, uncles, aunts, sun, lake, games, laughter and joy were some of the highlights of my childhood - and even adulthood.  

Love you always. Please say hello to Hep and Mum for me.

My condolences to the whole family of Zekulins and  the children and grandchildren .  With love and warmest regards to the Glebichi as our side of the family called the clan.  Love Nadia

The end of an era. Meme came from a time and place and culture that no longer exist. From everything to nothing and back again twice. Nothing ever stood in her way (not even death, I suspect). And she did it all with grace, style and inexhaustable humanity. We will never see her like again. Farewell, Meme.


Dear Meme,
We first met 60 years ago in the grey Glasgow of the 50s when I was 12 and you were tall, elegant and formidable. You had a red carpet paradoxically hanging on the wall and in your kitchen was a tin containing rice, but which was labelled ryze, with that exotic "twirl" above the z which adorned your own name . Beside it sat a glass jar of dried mushrooms which Hep had picked himself, although I had always been warned by my cautious father never to touch such things if I found them in a field. We had picnics round an open fire of driftwood and twigs by Loch Lomond where I discovered the delights of roasted speck dripped onto that strange brown bread from the Polish deli which Tony and I passed on the way home from school. You introduced me to opera in Glasgow's long-gone Alhambra theatre and plays at the Athenaeum where the tickets always sat under that dark wooden statue of St Anthony, your faithful companion to the very end.
Never had a small child in our insular, barely post-war world, been so rewarded by the 1001 nights which I must have spent in your home.
These events are still easy for me to recall, for they are part of that deep well in the brain where the oldest memories, the ones you gave me, are locked the most secure. We often hear that a person will never die if they live on in another's thoughts and although you are now in a kinder place, my memories will keep you alive and forever elegant, secure that they will never lack refreshment in the conversations with your children, who are to this day my oldest and dearest friends. 
Moc pus   (which as a child I thought was the name you your cat),
Iain (P)

To my 9 year old eyes Lilet was possibly the only woman who I had met, save my mother, who embodied sublime grace and beauty, and wore it with no affectation. This observation stayed true my whole life. From how she kissed me good night after bedtime prayers, I knew I was always in hers and somehow safe. Her love of family and her depth of faith was a glow which surrounded her. I picture her now, taking the cigarette that Gleb lit for her after dinner and sipping on a vodka, surrounded by plates on the dining room walls. And the sounds of many clocks in the background. It has been an honour to have known her. Much love to the family and may your memories help fill the hole.

I miss you very much and what i like about you my grandma Meme Zekulin is that you stand up for what you believe is right and that no one tell you anything different and I also like when we were at Tasso Lake you clean the driveway with the sticks and the woods and I like your smile and laughing with our family and I also like your cooking and your singing with the rest of your family too

The family is in our thoughts at this time. our condolences for your loss  of your mother, Meme  will be a miss at the Sunday brunches. The Gallon Family (Brampton)

Mme Zekulin and my mother first became friends through a French conversation group, and the U of T Arts Women's Club. Gleba and I later became friends and I was fortunate to be at the Zekulin home many times. Mme Zekulin, like the home she kept, was always warm, gracious and just a touch exotic to my anglo-saxon eyes. She carried herself with dignity, but never put on airs. She was genuinely interested in what I thought, which was a rare treat for a teenager. I know she and Mr. Zekulin had been through much, before, during and after the war, but she never brooded about the past. Or if she did, I never saw it. I know her faith was at the core of her strength. 

She was a rare and noble lady. She will leave a gap, not easily filled.

My dear cousins
Aunt Lilit was a wonderful aunt and was a supportive presence to me when times were tough. I have missed her and will feel closer to her again now that she is in a better place.
My condolence and love to you all
Ann Sirek

OBITUARIO

Lilit Zekulin (nee Jelinek)

21 noviembre, 1920 – 15 febrero, 2018

Andrews Community Funeral Centre - Bramalea Chapel

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