Caterina “Kati” Burjes

CATERINA “KATI” BURJES (nee RIJAVEC) age 100, beloved wife, sister, aunt, and friend, passed away peacefully on May 21, 2023.  She was born on November 25, 1922, in Solcano, a municipality of Gorizia, Italy to the late Justin and Julka (Petrovcic) Rijavec.  She married her husband Louis in Trieste, Italy in 1950 and they then emigrated to the United States in 1951.

Kati was an accounting clerk with Ohio Bell from where she retired in 1979.

She was a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Wickliffe and member of Slovenska Pristava Pensioners, AMLA Lodge 9 and Telephone Pioneers of America.

She was an enthusiastic gardener, and proficient in all forms of needlecrafts and painting ceramics. She was also an avid reader and world traveler.

Kati was a generous, compassionate and loving woman who was devoted to her family.  She is survived by eleven nieces and nephews, nineteen great nieces and nephews, and 6 great-great niece and nephews, all of whom lovingly called her “Teta Kati”.  She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 63 years, Louis “Lojze” Burjes and sisters Paola Rijavec, Juliana Gorensek, Hermina Bonutti, and Maria Kozman.

Mass of Christian Burial Saturday, May 27, 2023, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, 29850 Euclid Ave, Wickliffe, OH 44092, at 10 AM.

Burial following at All Souls Cemetery.

Family will receive friends to pay tribute to and celebrate the life of Kati at THE ZEVNIK-COSIC FUNERAL HOME OF WILLOUGHBY HILLS, 28890 CHARDON ROAD (between Bishop Rd. and Rt. 91) FRIDAY 4-7 PM.

Contributions in honor of Kati may be made to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church or to Slovenska Pristava.