Elizabeth "Vetcha" Sayles

Elizabeth “Vetcha” Tomchak Sayles, 88, of Raleigh, North Carolina, and formerly of Albion, Michigan, passed away on Sunday, January 9, 2022, at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh. Vetcha was born in Albion on January 10, 1933, to Michael (Michail Nestos) Tomchak and Catherine Kulinich Tomchak. She is survived by her children Michael Berne Sayles (Bonnie), Debra Lynn Sayles Senchak (Dale), Douglas Jeffrey Sayles, Thomas Gregory Sayles (Sarah), four grandchildren Catherine, Kevin (Michelle), Samuel and Skylar, and great grandchild Ellie. She was preceded in death by her sister Mary Tomchak, brother Anthony Tomchak, parents, uncle Mitchell Kulinich, husband of 63 years and high school sweetheart Harold Dean “Jim” Sayles, and sister Elaine Tomchak Walter (J.R.). Vetcha grew up in Albion on Austin Avenue behind Tomchak Grocery & Tavern, spent time at the beloved Kulinich family farm, and sang in the Holy Ascension Orthodox Church Choir. At Washington Gardner High School, she edited the school paper, participated in various clubs, sang with a local trio called the Melody Maids, worked at The Royal Sandwich Shop, and was named the 1949 Apple Queen. She graduated high school in 1950, earned a B.A. degree in music from Western Michigan University and married Jim in 1954, and celebrated the birth of their first child in 1955. In 1958, Vetcha and Jim moved to Succasunna, New Jersey, where they raised their family, attended their daughter’s ballet performances and boys’ sporting events, and were founding members of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church. Vetcha enjoyed arts and crafts, taught music, and sang with Masterwork Chorus, including performing Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall. In 1969, the family temporarily moved to the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands, where Jim and Vetcha developed lifelong friendships and Vetcha experienced Micronesian culture while traveling with local missionaries. The family returned to their New Jersey home in 1971, where Jim and Vetcha resided until retiring in 1999 to a beautiful home overlooking Lake Norman in Cornelius, North Carolina. After Jim’s passing in 2017, Vetcha spent her last few years scrapbooking while living in Raleigh with Debra and Dale. Vetcha will be remembered as a kind, outgoing person and loving mother and grandmother. A brief prayer for Vetcha will be livestreamed at https://bit.ly/prayer-for-vetcha on January 26, 2022, at 5:30 p.m. Final services and interment of Vetcha’s and Jim’s ashes will take place in mid-April at Holy Ascension Orthodox Church and Riverside Cemetery, Albion, Michigan. A service of Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, Raleigh.