ANASTASIA WASKIW

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ANASTASIA WASKIW (SZYSZ) 1925 - 2014 It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our dear mother and grandmother "Baba", and friend, Anastasia Waskiw, on the morning of Saturday, June 7, 2014, at the Misericordia Health Centre, quietly and peacefully in her sleep. She was 89 years of age. Anastasia was born on April 4, 1925, in the village of Humeniv, near Kalush, in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, in Western Ukraine. Her early years were spent in a war-ridden Ukraine, where she experienced many hardships and personal losses. She was predeceased by her beloved husband of almost 60 years, Michael, in June of 2009, and by all of her eight sisters and two brothers in Ukraine. Anna leaves to mourn her son, Eugene, and her daughter Mary with her husband John (Wachniak), and her two treasured granddaughters Alyssa and Kristen, along with many nieces and nephews in Ukraine. So many of Baba's closest friends and contemporaries have passed away in recent months and years. Baba and Mama will be sadly missed. As a teenager, Anastasia escaped from her village in Ukraine, literally in the middle of the night, as one army retreated and another more ominous one took over. She found her way to a camp in south-eastern Germany where she learned many skills that would sustain her through her entire working life. After six years in Germany, Anastasia was permitted to immigrate to Canada, arriving in Halifax on the ship Samaria on October 1, 1948. A new life began! Anastasia's first home in Canada was a work assignment on a farm in the Yorkton area of Saskatchewan. There she met many more recently arrived Ukrainians who became lifelong friends. The boys liked cutie, petite Anna and it is there that she first met Michael, her future husband. Upon completion of her two-year farm work term, Anastasia quickly found her way to Winnipeg, and immediately sought out her religious home, the beautiful Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha. As luck would have it, Anastasia was never ever out of work. Her employment and her sense of adventure took her back and forth, Winnipeg to and from Toronto, Hamilton, Beamsville, and St. Catherines, again and again. Michael chased her back and forth too, and eventually they were married in Winnipeg, to begin their loving family. Son, Eugene, was born in Winnipeg, and daughter, Mary, was born in Grimsby, Ontario, in the Niagara region. By the summer of 1966, Winnipeg, again, became the permanent Waskiw home. Although initially trained in Germany as a seamstress, Anastasia quickly gained work as a nurse's aide, first at the Misericordia Hospital and, thereafter, at various hospitals in Ontario, before spending 23 wonderful years at the Health Sciences Centre General Hospital in Winnipeg, until her retirement in the late 1980s. Mama and Baba was a very loving and caring person who placed everyone's needs before her own. She was a loving wife and a wonderful, gentle, caring mother and grandmother, who lived her life for the family. Mama saw to it that the children attend Ukrainian School, and that Mary join Plast. She adored and babysat her loveable grandchildren, Alyssa and Kristen. Mama and Baba was gifted. She loved her garden, but her best talents were saved for the kitchen. We learned how to make perogies, holobtsi, and especially her incredibly delicious borscht. Baba had a secret Ukrainian recipe for perfect potato pancakes. Our fondest memories may be of the making of deep-fried khrustiki (bow-tie cookies or "nothings") with Mama, where our noses invariably wound up being "beautifully dusted" with icing sugar. Mama instilled in all of us a deep fondness for the true Ukrainian traditions of Christmas and Easter dinners and, especially, the blessing of the basketsall traditions that we will continue forever. Anastasia also lived her life for her church. Her deep faith burned brightly to the very end. She was a faithful and active member of the Ukrainian Catholic community, especially the Cathedral. She had her favourite charities that she supported generously. She loved to attend the prazniks and visited all the various Ukrainian festivals of the summer, most notably Dauphin, Gardenton, and Cooks Creek. The family would like to extend sincere gratitude to the doctors, nurses, and staff of the 5th and 3rd floors of the Seven Oaks General Hospital for their very special care and compassion after Mama suffered her stroke. Similarly, it is important to acknowledge the incredible care extended to Anastasia by the staff of the Grace Hospital where she underwent a successful, emergency surgery. Due to her failing health, Mama most recently became a resident of the Misericordia Health Centre, where the nurses and staff on the 5th floor did their incredible best to see that Baba's final days were peaceful and dignified. The family cannot thank the dedicated staff of the Miz enough for their care and concern. And, finally, the family will not forget the long-term caring assistance of Home Care, Olia and Nicole in particular, who visited and assisted Mama in her own home for the last number of years, until very recently. Thank you to Msgr. Buyachok who visited Mama often in the hospital, to sustain her in her faith, and to Father Lukie who also visited, but in particular, who administered Last Rights when we thought we had suddenly lost Baba. These visits are helping us as well to sustain our faith in many ways. Prayers (Panakhyda) will be sung at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, 2014 at the Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Sts.Volodymyr and Olha, 115 McGregor Street. Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, June 13, 2014 also at the Metropolitan Cathedral with Rt. Rev. Msgr. Mitrat M. Buyachok officiating. Interment will follow at All Saints Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in Anastasia's memory may be made to Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Cathedral, particularly for the restoration and protection of the beautiful stained glass windows (Renovation Fund), or to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba. VICHNAYA PAM'YAT KORBAN FUNERAL CHAPEL 204-956-2193

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 11, 2014