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Stephen and Helen met in 1941. He was a soldier in the Canadian Army. She was a waitress at the Grill Cafe in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. According to one of the family anecdotes, Stephen walked into the cafe and spotted Helen working behind the counter. He was a bit low on cash, but was hungry and sat down at the counter and asked for a cup of hot water. He was in uniform and his plan, apparently, was to use catsup to make an quick and easy cup of tomato soup . Helen either took pity on him or saw through his ruse and gave him a meal instead. They began talking, which in turn led to dating and eventually marriage six weeks later on September, 20, 1941, before he shipped out with Canadian forces for combat in the European Theater of Operations. Their "song," incidentally, was "Fascination," or "The Fascination Waltz," as it is known is some circles. At the wedding of his granddaughter, Danielle, in October of 1994, he danced with Danielle and his other granddaughter, Dee Dee, to the song "Fascination" in honor of the memory of Grandma Feica who died nearly 11 years earlier. In June of 1942, Helen gave birth to their first child, Carole Anne. Stephen was stationed in Red Deer at the time and reportedly went AWOL to see his first child before shipping out to Europe. Mother and child moved to the family farm of Stephen's parents, Dumitru and Anna Feica, in Boian, Alberta. A short time after returning from war in 1945, Stephen got a job with Swift's meat packing . In 1946, the second child, Steve, was born. The family lived in a house on 67th Street, near his brother Jack's home and not far from the Swift's plant. Stephen then took a job with Edmonton Dairy and the family later moved to 89th Street in the Riverdale section of Edmonton. Two more children came along, Dianna in 1950 and Danny in 1951. By this time, Stephen had taken a job as the manager of a military officer's club. His father, Dumitru, a retired Eastern Orthodox priest died in June of 1949. His mother, Anna, moved in with the family, and she encouraged her son to follow through on an earlier plan he had to follow his father into the priesthood. He finally accepted his calling and his mother's gentle prodding and left Edmonton to attend St. Vladimir's Seminary in New York state. Several months after he began his studies, his mother passed away. She died on April, 7, 1952 and when he was notified, the church hierarchy decided to ordain him has a deacon on April 8. Two days later he was ordained as a priest by Russian Archbishop Adam. He then flew home to Edmonton. His first service as a priest was his mother's funeral. Helen Feica died of a heart attack on Nov, 22, 1983. She was 63. Stephen died of heart failure on April 10, 1996, which ironically, was 44 years to the day he was ordained. He was 77. They are buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
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