Verna MELNYK

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MELNYK: It is with sadness, yet the family feels blessed that our mom, Verna Melnyk, age 87 years, passed away very peacefully at Fairview Home on April 30, 2014. Mom had dementia for the last several years. This January mom and dad decided to move into Fairview home where they were looked after excellently by the staff on the fifth floor. After a full day of activity the day before, mom got up early as usual at 6 AM. She got cleaned up and decided to lay down for a rest before breakfast, and passed away at 7:45 AM. She missed breakfast with dad. She will be sadly missed by her husband Steve of 71 and a half years. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, Baba and other Baba. She is survived by her eldest son Mike and wife Pat, Son Fred (Patti), Grandsons Michael and wife Sandy, Tim and wife Colleen, Steven and wife Brittany, and Granddaughter Katherine, as well as great-grandchildren Mikaila and Nicholas Melnyk. Mom was born in Seech, Manitoba on January 15, 1927 to Paul and Mary Stadnyk. At a young age the family homesteaded in the Grandview area, where at the age of 15 she married dad, Steve Melnyk on Nov.21,1942. In the spring of 1943 they built their first log home. They remained in the area until they retired from the farm in 1967, moving to Brandon to their new home on Richmond Avenue where they remained together until they moved to Fairview. Upon retiring to Brandon, mom felt that she was too young to retire at age 40, she got a job as a nurse's aide at the old Assiniboine Hospital, and then moved over to the Brandon General from where she officially retired. Mom and dad were basically inseparable until mom's passing. They travelled in their truck and camper, as mom would say they were coast-to-coast in Canada in all directions and part of the USA. They love their mineral hot springs and I'm sure that they visited all that they could find. They built a cottage at Rossman Lake where they both spent hours fishing. They then bought a summer home in Watrous, Saskatchewan at the famous mineral spa, where they met many friends with the same aches and pains that they had. If the two of them were not fishing or swimming you would find them swinging in front of their home on Richmond Avenue. Mom was proud of her Ukrainian heritage, which she carried on to her passing day. She was famous for her Ukrainian Christmas suppers which consisted of 12 meatless dishes, and her Easter basket which she took to church and had blessed. She always made sure that the whole family was there to partake in the meal. If you came for a visit you did not leave without having some of mom's home cooked food. The only complaint she had with her new home at Fairview was she had no kitchen to feed anyone that came to visit. Prayers will be said at Memories Chapel, 330-18th Street North on Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 7:30 PM. Funeral Service will be held at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 59 11th Street North on Monday, May 5, 2014 at 10:00 AM. Very Rev. Fr. Michael Skrumeda will be officiating. Pallbearers are Michael Melnyk, Tim Melnyk, Steven Melnyk, Katherine Melnyk, Mikaila Melnyk and Nicholas Melnyk. Interment will follow at the Brandon Cemetery. Expressions of sympathy may be made at www.memorieschapel.com. Arrangements with Memories Chapel & Pre-Planning Centre, 204-727-0330.Eternal Rest Vichnaya Pamyat

As published in Brandon Sun on May 03, 2014