Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 29, 2023, in Serenity Meadows in Riverview, Fla., for Elica S. Markovich, 88, who died peacefully on Monday, July 3, in Grenada with family and caregivers at her side. She will join her late husband, Louis, at their final resting place. Visitation with local family was held at noon on Sunday, July 9, at McKibben and Guinn Funeral Service in Grenada. It was followed by a private prayer service.
Elica (pronounced Elitsa) was born on Sept. 27, 1934, in Bitola, North Macedonia. She was a lifetime homemaker, devoted to the wellbeing and comfort of her husband and children. Her birth city area, known historically as the “City of Consuls,” was the site of a beloved childhood growing up on a farm with extended family. She grew up in a time and place where girls had limited formal schooling and were taught how to maintain and nurture a home and family within a lifestyle that revolved around the Eastern Orthodox Church and its customs and calendars. That home and family was buffeted by the historical events of the time including childhood pandemics, world wars and social political upheavals that ultimately devastated the area as she came into adulthood. Those events resulted in her and Louis joining the many refugees/Macedonian diaspora that left their beloved homeland, family and friends in search of a better life and education for their children. She embraced her adopted homeland and was so proud of becoming a citizen of the United States.
Elica had a most beautiful smile and piercing blue eyes that would light up with mischievous humor and joy. She loved to sing and was a great dancer of her Macedonian folk dances; her hands were even more talented. She was a most skilled homemaker, excelling in cooking and sewing everything from custom draperies to clothes and could crochet/knit any pattern from sight. She created beauty wherever she lived and had the greenest of thumbs with flowers and gardens always growing. She was so fastidious that those of us who grew up in her household could attest to how her habits would likely vanquish any germ or transmittable illness. Her favorite pastimes were entertaining family and friends, reading, walking outdoors and travelling. A keen intellect and avid reader, she taught that truth will always prevail. She loved her faith and family above all.
Her loving husband of 65 years, Louis Markovich; parents, Alexander and Bosilka Stefanovski; her brothers, Risto Stefanovski and Simon Stefanovski, and her sister, Paca Dimovska, preceded Elica in death.
Survivors include, her devoted daughters, Juliana Markovich-Schneller (George Richard Schneller), Dr. Daneca Donna Markovich DiPaolo (George Matthew DiPaolo) and Mary Markovich-Wilk (Peter Paul Wilk III); devoted son, Richard Louis Markovich; beloved grandchildren, Maxwell A. Schneller, George Woodrow Schneller, Dr. Daniella E. DiPaolo, Juliana M. DiPaolo, Alexander G. DiPaolo and Hannah N. Wilk, and several caring nieces, nephews and cousins in North Macedonia and Toronto, Canada.
The family would especially like to thank all caregivers, sitters and doctors – both private and staff at Providence Assisted Living and Legacy Hospice – for the love and care they gave to Elica and the support they gave to her family.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to the UMMC MIND Center, Alzheimer’s Association or St. Nicholas Treasure Chest at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Grenada.
Online condolences can be expressed to the family at www.mckibbenandguinn.com
McKibben and Guinn Funeral Service in Grenada was in charge of arrangements.
