Gladys Mae Sanko Telesca, 76, of Raleigh, died on November 13. 2009 at the Duke University Medical Center, after 9 years of living with cancer. Born on April 30, 1933 at home in Grier City, PA, Gladys was the youngest of 9 children of the late John and Mary Sanko. She attended elementary school in Grier City. After the death of her father in 1939 and her mother in 1945, Gladys went to live in Buffalo, NY with her Uncle Andrew and Aunt Hermina "Min" Sanko, and her cousins Tom and Barbara. She graduated from Kenmore High School in Kenmore, NY, and attended Berea College in Berea, KY. She was a student teacher in Pine Mountain Settlement School in Kentucky. Upon graduation from Berea with her teaching degree, she taught outside Philadelphia and in Lititz, PA. While attending Penn State University for teacher recertification, she met Frank Telesca of Old Forge PA. They married in 1959 and moved to Binghamton, NY. Gladys taught elementary school until just before the birth of her first child in 1960. Gladys and Frank had three children: Christopher Jon, Maria Lisa, and Michael Jeffrey. While raising her children, Gladys was active in the La Leche League and local Parent Teacher Associations. She also participated in both Cub and Girl Scout activities with her children. After living in Binghamton and Poughkeepsie, NY, as well as Pittsfield, MA, the Telesca family moved to Raleigh, NC in 1972 where Gladys and her family have lived ever since. After raising her children, Gladys went back to work in the education field - first working as a substitute teacher, and then as a reader at Measurements Incorporated in Durham, NC. Gladys was also active in the Berea Alumni Association as well as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Gladys deeply loved her family and friends. Her smile, and caring thoughts and actions, will be remembered by her family and friends, who meant so much to her. She was in the Altar Guild at St. Raphaels, and served as the Secretary of the (nearly) annual Sanko Family Reunion. She loved to read the newspaper and do her crossword puzzles. She instilled in her children a love of education, reading, art, music and civic engagement. Surviving are son Chris and daughter Maria (with whom she resided), son Michael and daughter-in-law Laurel, Raleigh, NC; brother Robert Sanko and his wife Betty of Tonawanda, NY and Sarasota, FL; her sister Margaret Sanko Livesay of Cornwells Heights, PA; many nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her brothers Carl, John, Theodore, Raymond and Maurice; and sister Geraldine Wiant. In keeping with her wishes, the family will hold a visitation at the Capital Funeral Home at 2205 E Millbrook Rd, Raleigh, NC from 6 to 8 PM on Wednesday, December 2, 2009. On Thursday, December 3, 2009, the family will hold a brief visitation from 9 to 10:45 AM, with the funeral mass beginning at 11 AM at St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church at 5801 Falls of the Neuse Rd, Raleigh, NC. A memorial service and internment at the family plot along with her parents John and Mary and brother Raymond Sanko will take place at the cemetery of Christ Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Church in Quakake, PA at a date to be scheduled later. In lieu of flowers, please make a memorial contribution "in memory of Gladys Telesca" to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (401 Harrison Oaks Blvd., Ste. 200, Cary, NC 27513), or to Berea College (P.O. Box 2216, Berea, KY, 40404), or to Christ Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Church in Barnsville, PA (make donations in care of Lamar Christ Funeral Home, 31 Mahanoy Ave., Tamaqua, PA 18252).