Lucille A. Lesniak

Lucille A. Lesniak passed, at the age of 98 .

Lucille was born in Flint, Michigan, the second of six children to Paul and Bernice Waskevich. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Thomas and Paul, sisters Dorothy and Mary Ann, and her beloved husband Mence (Mieczyslaw). Lucille is survived by her sister Virginia (Wes) Wright; children Elizabeth (Thomas) Randolph, James (Marilyn), Robert (Diane), Rev. Fr. David, Janet (Mark) Berlin, Thomas, Mary Ann (Craig) Hook, William (Wendy); twenty-two grandchildren; eleven great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and great-grand nieces and nephews.

After graduation from All Saints High School in Flint, Michigan, Lucille worked as a bookkeeper at Fain Furniture, a business owned and operated by her Aunt Anna and Uncle Charles Fain. She became active in planning All Saints alumni activities, and it was there that she met Mence Lesniak, who served as President of the All Saints Alumni Society.

The two were married 1949, and settled in the Detroit area, later in Redford, where Lucille spent the majority of her life. She was a member of St. Robert Bellarmine parish since its founding, and an active member of the Altar Sodality. Her deep devotion to her faith fueled her devotion to her family, which was and always continued to be the focus of her life. There was always a rosary in her hands, a smile on her face, and gratitude in her heart.

With her children and her husband, Lucille traveled to nearly all fifty of the United States and ten Canadian provinces. She also visited Europe and Mexico. But for nearly thirty years it was Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina where she spent the most time outside of Redford, initially on summer vacations and then during the winters after her husband retired from General Motors.

Both fluent in Polish, Lucille and Mence were lifelong Polka dancers, and would spend summers traveling from one Polka festival to another. Their dancing zeal was eventually diminished by Mence’s Parkinson’s Disease, which led her to become his full-time caregiver until his passing on 2002.

For the next twenty years Lucille lived on her own, with minimal assistance from her children, and enjoyed remarkably good health. A lifelong reader fond of biographies and mysteries, Lucille continued to enjoy books but gradually found greater interest in news, current events, sports, TV mysteries, and Catholic programming. Following a stroke in 2021, she received full-time care from her daughter Mary Ann, son William, and daughter Janet, with assistance from son Thomas.

Instate Friday at 11:30 am at St. Maria Goretti Parish, 3965 Merrick St., Dearborn Heights, until the Funeral Mass at 12:00 pm.