Rose Matejczyk, 95, of 226 Ross Avenue, Cambridge Springs, Pa. died on Tuesday, September 13, 2011, in Seville, Ohio.

Matejczyk, RoseShe met her late husband Blair Matejczyk as a teenager while constructing a makeshift clay tennis court with friends in the coal mining town of Barnesboro, Pa. The two married on July 3, 1948, in Barnesboro, PA. Her husband passed in 2004.

Mrs. Matejczyk experienced several significant events in her life. As a first grader in 1922, she witnessed the sadness of one of the nation’s worst mine disasters when dozens of her young classmates lost family members in the Reilly Mine Disaster. The child of a coal miner, her parents were dedicated to the education of their only daughter. She was a graduate of Spangler High School, PA, and a proud alumnus of Seton Hill College in Greensburg, PA.

In 1937, she voted in her first Presidential election and never missed voting in the decades of elections that would follow. In 1938, she began a teaching career that would span over four decades, teaching mathematics and science. Her first position was at St. Joseph Academy in Rocky River, Ohio. She interrupted her career during World War II, joining the war efforts in the engineering department of Western Electric in Baltimore, Maryland. For her work on the nation’s first radar system, Mrs. Matejczyk and her co-workers were awarded the Army Navy E Pin, which recognized civilians for exemplary efforts. She fondly remembered that General MacArthur’s wife made the presentation. After her marriage in 1948, she began a lengthy teaching career in Crawford County, PA, with decades of service to the former Townville (Maplewood) High School. She was the recipient of awards from the district, local and state education associations.

Mrs. Matejczyk and her husband, a long time professor at Alliance College, considered the students of Alliance as family. In 1983, she was the recipient of the Kujawiaki Mom Award. In 2007, the Alliance Alumni Association awarded her a Distinguished Service Award.

She was a member of St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Cambridge Springs, PA, and the Catholic Daughters of America. A devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, she was known for her infectious smile, humor and wit.

Preceding Rose in death were her parents – Edward Gleason and Mary Tubridy Gleason, and her husband – Blair Matejczyk. She is survived by five children – Dr. Mary Blair Matejczyk of Cleveland, Ohio; teacher Judith Matejczyk of Leander, Texas; Major (Ret.) John “Jack” Matejczyk and Shannon Zwaan of North Little Rock, Arkansas; Dr. Daniel Matejczyk of West Hills, California; Attorney David Matejczyk and his wife, Glenna Roberts of Seville, Ohio; seven grandchildren – Jill, Jody, Julie, Alexandra, Danny, Jack, and Shelby; a great-grandson – David; a special sister-in-law – Rose Matejczyk of Northern Cambria, PA; a special brother-in-law – Leonard Mathey of McClean, Virginia; and numerous nephews and nieces.

Friends may call at the Van Matre Family Funeral in Cambridge Springs on Sunday, September 18, 2011, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. and 7:00-9:00 p.m. Vigil prayer services will be held there at 8:30 p.m. A prayer service will be held at the Funeral Home on Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Cambridge Springs. Father David Poulson will officiate. Interment will be at Cambridge Springs Cemetery.

Donations in Rose’s memory may be made to her favorite charity, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwestern PA, 1507 Grimm Drive, Erie, PA, 16501.