PETER HRYCLIK

Condolences & Memories (3 entries)

• I only recently came across this obituary and it flooded me with fond memories of Peter and his family. My parents were close friends and we visited them numerous times throughout the years. Peter and Anna were kind, humorous and hospitable and easy for me to see why they would want them as friends. Peter’s son, Kevin, although several years older than me, always was a fascination for the hobbies he was involved which made sense for the person he became with a science degree and career as a brewmaster for some of Canada’s most notable brands. Peter, was a warm caring soul, which is inevitably carried on in the memories of many. - Posted by: Grant Vetters (Family Friend) on: Jan 01, 2018

• Dad's Eulogy: Thank you all for coming here today to honour & celebrate my Father's life. Many of you may not know that in his early years Dad was a baseball player. In high school he played for a team in Morris Place. I recall him saying his position was first baseman. My earliest memories were of the family vacations to Gimli beach where we would rent a cottage for a week or two. Lot's of sand castles and skipping rocks on the water. I can also recall Dad introducing me to pinball at the arcade just up a bit from the Gimli pier. His favourite machine was the baseball one where you pressed a button to pitch and then had to hit it with another button that activated the bat. You could even change the type of pitch you were sending out on this machine. This makes sense now knowing of his early love of the game. Dad was a bridge player. He was famous for his lunch time bridge matches at Manitoba Hydro with his playing partner Don Miller. They were a formidable team. He has still kept his Omar Sharif playing system. I just found the book. Dad loved to compete; you will see a name badge for a bridge tournament held for the Manitoba Society Of Seniors in 2006 on the memento table. The other card game Dad loved was cribbage. He made his own cribbage board and we had many a match on this board. His Manitoba Society Of Seniors partner was Jean Kelley and they won for the province of Manitoba several years ago. In a game I recently played with Dad he scored a 28 hand ( needless to say he won the game)! But I did remind him that I scored a perfect 29 hand playing against him back about 20 years ago when we lived in Creston, B.C. He then reminded me that he has had 3 holes-in-one in golf and asked me again how many I had had. It has only been 1! ........ This reminds me of a story of how thoughtful Dad was ...... When he heard that his grand nephew Adam, in Calgary, had achieved a hole-in-one at the elder age of 10, he put together a congratulatory package and mailed this off to Adam! Making this such a special event for the young up coming future golfer. Dad liked to specialize in the kitchen with his breakfasts. He could put together a fabulous omelette. With the onions diced so perfectly square there was not a rectangle in the bunch! Mind you, you couldn't be hungry when he started since this was about a 60 minute process, and that was before he started dicing the ham! The turkey omelettes were my favourite! You could usually count on having one of those the day after Christmas or Thanksgiving. I made an earlier reference to golf. This certainly was my Dad's passion. He was always wanting to know how the various pros were doing. Dad has also won his share of tournaments. When Dad & Mom were still living in their house on Riverwood Avenue the basement was full of golfing trophies. Every conceivable shelf or horizontal surface sprouted another mini gold golfer swing his stick! I'm not sure who suggested the idea, but when my parents were moving to their first home after Riverwood, some one said he should donate the trophies but keep the name plates and put these all together on a plaque. You can see this today at the entrance table where we brought in some mementos. I might just have picked up the passion for this game from my Dad. As many of you know, Dad worked at the Manitoba Hydro. He started in 1952 and worked as a draftsman in station design. That was the department that built those big mechano-sets with all the transformers & wires behind the chain link fences. You would think on a holiday he would leave his work behind, but when Mom & Dad visited us out east, while taking a driving tour on the picturesque Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, we had to stop to look at a transformer station. Not your typical tourist stop to say the least. Dad excelled at his job and loved the organizing and cataloging of all the station components. I think I come by some of those skills from my Dad. I'm known for keeping a list or two. I think the favourite title Dad has had in his life is when we started to call him Grampa. We were only able to live in Winnipeg for one short year when Kristina was under 4 years of age & Alayna was under 2. But the girls were also able to see their grandparents as they grew up since Mom & Dad were able to take visits to Creston & to London where we had moved to after Winnipeg. Grampa loved his visits with his grand daughters. My girls have been going through the old photo albums this week and you will be able to see some gems from these numerous visits. But of course, Dad's favourite girl was the one he met here in Winnipeg. Mom & Dad met in a dance hall where true love fully blossomed as they danced into each other's hearts that night. At parties you would see Mom & Dad on the dance floor a good portion of the night. Mom & Dad were married in 1953 & have been married for over 61 years. She has been at his side through the good years and through the tougher times when Dad found himself in the hospital fighting hard to recover from different medical issues. Some would say my Dad was like a cat with 9 lives. I'm here to tell you he exceeded that number by quite a bit. Perhaps it was his love of competition that was his winning formula ...... He would never give up the fight to get back to the best health he could. How do you sum up someone's life in a eulogy? You can't. But hopefully you have learned of a few of the special qualities that my Dad had. I think he's past on some of those to me, well ....... except the dancing I suppose! I love you Dad. You will be dearly missed by all. - Posted by: Kevin Hryclik (Son) on: Jun 02, 2015

• We are truly saddened to hear of Peter's passing and share our condolences with each of you. Family visits shared together while growing up are cherished, many times hosted at your home in Fort Garry. As friends of our parents Bill & Irene, your friendship was truly valued and offered many laughs and good times together. We know each of you were blessed to have Peter for your husband, father and grandfather as he was to share his life and influence with each of you. With love and heartfelt sympathy, the Vetters Family - Posted by: Ken & Leslie Middleton (nee Vetters), Grant Vetters, Jackie Vetters (Family friends) on: May 28, 2015