St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
425 Cleveland Ave SW
Canton, Ohio 44702
Phone: 330-455-0286
Fax: 330-455-9818
E-mail: office@stpaulscanton.org

Eve Plasky

October 26, 1926 – September 8, 2009

We gather today to celebrate the life of Eve Plasky and bid her a fond farewell. Her two families are here today – her family from England, and her church family. Both families brought her much joy and comfort throughout her life.

Eve was born in India in 1926. Her father served in the British military, and he and his family moved around to various assignments during her early years. Eve spoke a couple of the Indian language dialects, and she developed a life-long fondness for curry and rice dinners! Perhaps another bit of Indian influence is that she never ate beef. Like other British military families, Eve’s family had a servant who cared for the children. Eve told her close friend Sally Davis about a little escapade from her early years – Eve and her brother gave the caretaker the slip one day, and they went to an Indian funeral – a ceremonial cremation and scattering of ashes in the river. They thought it was fascinating, but their caretaker was not amused by their adventure. While in India, Eve was sent to a boarding school, which, she told Sally, was very strict.

The next big adjustment came when she was 11 years old, and she was sent to England, where she had never been before, to live with relatives she had never met – her grandmother and other relatives. Her grandmother asked her to do chores around the house – Eve was surprised – she had had servants for that in India! But she adjusted to her new situation, taking it all in stride. She told Sally about her first encounter with snow, which she had never seen in India. She was fascinated, and ran out in her bare feet to play in it.

Through her teenage years, Eve displayed a talent for business, and she was trained in stenography and accounting. She learned to run a comptometer, a mechanical adding machine that was a pre-runner of computers. England during World War II was a time of scarcity, and Eve learned to wear hand-me-downs and eat sparsely. When bombs fell, she refused to go to the bomb shelters, stating she would rather be above ground with the bombs. Fortunately she was not injured. She liked going to dances, and near the close of the war she met an American GI. Andy Plasky and Eve fell in love. They were married in a civil ceremony in Southampton, England, when Eve was 19 years old, on August 28, 1945. Andy was still in the army, was wounded, sent to Germany and then sent to the United States for discharge. Somehow Eve was left behind for a time in England, but Andy sent for her as soon as the dust had settled. The newlyweds initially moved in with Andy’s parents here in Canton, and soon thereafter acquired their own home, the same home Eve lived in for the rest of her life.

Eve worked outside the home as a sales clerk in local department stores in downtown Canton – at Stern and Mann, and also at Stark Dry Goods. In 1952 their first son, Marc, was born, and Keith two years later. The boys kept her quite busy at home, but once they were in school, she went to work for a candy maker whose shop was within walking distance of her home. She told Sally that she became quite adept at dipping chocolate! Thereafter she worked for Dulabahn’s Yard and Garden, a wholesale-retail greenhouse run by John and Anne Dulabahn of our parish. The Dulabahns and Eve became fast friends. She worked in the greenhouse and assisted in the office, putting her bookkeeping skills to good use. Eve worked with them for about 25 years.

Anne remembers the first time she ever saw Eve – walking up the steps of the old St. Paul’s parish house with her little boys, bringing them to Sunday School. Eve’s association with the parish was deep and lasting. She participated in many aspects of parish life. She was a member of the choir, taught primary Sunday School, belonged to the Episcopal Church Women, and for many years had a telephone ministry – she would call our servers, every week, to remind them that they were scheduled for service on Sunday. She worked faithfully with the Altar Guild. A lasting legacy for the church is the beautiful formal hangings you see today – this pattern is called “Coronation Red,” a traditional tapestry which we reserve for special occasions, like Christmas, weddings, and today, for Eve’s memorial service. She donated them in memory of her three men.

The deaths of her sons and husband were a deep sadness for Eve. The boys died in 1986 and 1989. Marc was 37, and Keith was 32. She went to be with both of them during their illness – Marc was in Los Angeles, and Keith was in Miami FL. Ten years later, her beloved Andy died, in 1999. She showed great devotion to all three of them. Andy experienced increasing dementia and eventually was placed at Bethany Nursing Home. She visited him regularly, and insisted on bringing his laundry home to do herself.

Sally remembers that Eve’s visits to Andy at Bethany were difficult in one aspect – that Eve did not like coming home in the dark. And so Sally said, “Give us a call when you get home.” Those nightly phone calls went on for years, before and after Andy died, and continued until just recently. At first Eve would call and Sally would ask, “Is everything OK?” Eve would say, “Yes,” and hang up. But her friendship with Sally developed, and soon those nightly calls turned into hour-long conversations.

Her family in England also kept phone connections with Eve. Once Eve married an American and moved here, she threw herself into her American life and became an American citizen. But her English roots were very important to her, and she was very fond of her niece Jenny, and Jenny’s daughters Allison and Cheryl, and their husbands. Eve made three trips back to England during her life, and the English family came to see her – Jenny fondly remembers a trip to Niagra Falls that she and her husband Alan made with Eve and Andy. The family came here last November to see Eve, and were concerned that she seemed much diminished. At that point they initiated their own telephone ministry – they phoned her every day from England, since last November, until the day she died. Jenny says, “We were all very close, even though we were miles apart.”

Sally says that Eve had two families – her family in England, and her church family. Sally says that often when she dropped by to see Eve, there was already someone else from the church there. In her years alone, Eve needed help with things around the house, and Mike Patterson often did special tasks for her, likewise Dan Davis. Dorothy Oloya assisted Eve, and I’m sure many of you, here in this room, did also And Eve helped other people, too. She and Sally worked as a team in calling on our sick and shut-in parishioners. Sally says that they made a good team – she herself tended to be business-like, and Eve would lighten up the visit with her witty conversation. Eve was quite a character. She seemed to be quiet and ladylike most of the time, but every once in a while she would make a comment that was a real zinger! Anne remembers, and still laughs, about a church program, where members were asked to be shepherds of other members. One lady came up to Eve and said, “Eve, I’m going to be your shepherd.” Eve replied, “The hell you are! The Lord is my shepherd!”

Indeed, the Lord is her shepherd. Eve was devoted to her Lord and to her life at church. Sally visited her for the last time on Sunday, September 6, bringing her communion as they had done for others for so many years. In the bedside service, Sally gave her dear friend communion for the last time. She prayed the Lord’s Prayer, and Eve joined in, bringing up the familiar words from deep memory. Sally stayed a little while thereafter, then kissed her good-by. Eve died two days later.

I close with a poem that was very dear to Eve. She had it read at the memorial service for Andy ten years ago, and it seems most appropriate that we read it for her, today. It is entitled “For Whom You Cared”:

The one for whom you cared

      With such abiding love,

Has found the wondrous shining path

      Up to the home above.

The home where joy forever dwells

      Where loved ones but await,

For us to share their happiness

      Beyond the heavenly gate.