Obituary of Marta Bercekova

Marta Bercekova was born August 9, 1948 in Mierova, Kolonia, part of Bratislava, Slovakia. Her parents were Maria and Jozef. Marta�s mother reunited with her on Sunday, August 26, 2012. She had one brother Milan Sust. Marta�s father died when she was only 7 years old leaving her and younger brother Milan to be raised by their mother Maria. There is no doubt that Marta acquired her spirit and determination from her mother Maria, who was a strong and resilient woman raising two small children by herself. In school Marta excelled at everything she tried, from her studies to playing a variety of sports; basketball, volleyball, athletics and gymnastics. Most importantly, she was a good and loyal friend. For a time after school, she coached gymnastics. Marta went on to graduate from engineering school. Shortly thereafter, she married Alexander Bercekova and together they started a family. Her first child was a son Marian born in 1967. Her son Vladimir followed two years later. After her sons were born she was a stay at home mom raising her family. Eventually she returned to work as a civil engineer for the Slovakian government. She excelled as a civil engineer and was advancing through the ranks when she became pregnant with her third child. On, March 11th, 1976 she had the little girl she always dreamed of and named her Zuzana. Marta once again left her thriving career as an engineer to stay at home and raise her family. After three years of being a full time stay at home mom, Marta returned to work. She worked as a building and road inspector until her retirement. She loved her work and her colleagues and was respected and admired for her work ethic and kind and compassionate ways. She loved sewing, knitting, and crocheting, and puzzles. She loved to watch anything about the ocean. Marta was a loving and caring mother and grandmother. She cherished her time with her family and loved her grandchildren. She visited Zuzana and Frank at least once a year here at Lake Ozark and would stay for as long as her Visa would allow. Even though she spoke very little English, her friendly and caring way transcended that language barrier, and she was quickly liked by all who met her. When Susan was pregnant with Mikaella her visit was cut short due to breast cancer. After all the treatments, chemo therapy she returned 3 months after Mikaella was born and was cancer free for 7 years. She was here when Michael was born and watched the kids at home, when we went into the hospital. She was also here for both baptisms. She will be missed not only by her friends at home in Slovakia, but by the many friends she made here. She helped with everything around the house, cleaned cooked, help me with work, played with kids, taught them Slovakian language, played cars with Michael, dolls with Michaella, beauty salon....made silly faces. She tried to keep up with our active lifestyle, even though her health and ill legs would not allow her to walk a lot, but she was always there when we returned home if she couldn�t go along. She was married to Alexander for 22 years. Even though they eventually divorced, they remained good friends. Alexander passed away in July, 2012. She is survived by her daughter Zuzana, son-in-law Frank, son Marian and his wife Martina, son Vladimir and his wife Helena, and her six grandchildren: Martin, Victor, Mikaella, Natasa, Karolina and Michael. She is survived by her younger brother Milan.