NATALAE (NETTIE) MELNYK (POTOROKA)

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NATALAE (NETTIE) MELNYK (nee POTOROKA) It is with great sorrow we announce the peaceful passing of Nettie Melnyk, on December 28, 2018, at the age of 90 years. Born in Ethelbert, Manitoba on September 26, 1928, Nettie completed school in Ethelbert, then moved to Winnipeg to attend secretarial school. She married Sgt. Ross Dzaman, also from Ethelbert, and their daughter Marilyn was born in 1951. When Ross was discharged, they settled in Red Lake, Ontario, but parted ways in the late 1960s. Nettie re-met and married her long ago love, Dan Melnyk, of Winnipeg in 1972. Nettie and Dan enjoyed a long marriage filled with gardening, trips to the countryside to look for wildflowers and mushrooms, and time spent with the large extended family until his death in 1986. When Nettie retired after 25 years working at Beacon Hill Lodge she finally came into her own. All her life she wanted to work with flowers and when she did so, she didn't hold back. Her entire yard, front and back, became an oasis of hundreds of species of flowers and greenery, arranged in areas that ran the gamut from shaded waterlily garden, to woodland nook, to full English garden. Her talents, both horticultural and artistic, came into full bloom at a time when most are happy to take it easy, yet her work had just begun. She was very involved with the East Kildonan Horticultural Society until she had to give up gardening. As a gardener, Nettie won many awards, both for her whole garden and for individual flowers. Lisianthus was her special joy. The word "Garden" is said to come from the Hebrew and means "a pleasant place". It is to this Eden that each gardener, in their own fashion, strives to return. Nettie's life came full circle when she passed away where she had worked for so many years, Beacon Hill Lodge, her final home. She was predeceased by her parents, George and Mary Potoroka, sisters, Anne and Olga, and her husband Dan. Surviving her are daughter Marilyn and partner Lance Scoville, brother Mike, nephews, Brian and Dennis, special cousins, Sonia and Roxy, and her extended family of many nieces and nephews, among them, Alexandra and Darryl Pokrant who were constant in their kindness and attention during the last years of her life. We would like to thank the staff of Beacon Hill Lodge, whose attention, warmth and generosity of spirit surrounded Nettie as she passed her final days. Funeral service will be held at Glen Eden Funeral Home on Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. with Pastor Glenn Krobel presiding. In lieu of flowers, donations in Nettie's memory may be made to the Winnipeg Humane Society. "Vichnaya Pamyat" Glen Eden Funeral Home & Cemetery 204-338-7111

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As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 02, 2019