Janie LAZARUK

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LAZARUK: After a short but brave battle with cancer, with family by her side, it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Janie Marie Lazaruk (nee Michalchuk) on December 23rd, 2017 in the Russell Health Center. Janie was born in Russell to Mike and Pauline Michalchuk on March 28th, 1942 the youngest of four children. Janie attended school in Russell, was a great athlete, and had many friends who remained close. She worked at Smitty's Restaurant and helped her mother with the many boarders Pauline took in over the years and was smitten with the new young barber who arrived in town the spring of 1958 looking for a place to live. Pauline didn't have a room for him but Janie had a place in her heart and by that summer they were an official couple. Janie graduated in 1960 and moved to Winnipeg to attend the Manitoba Institute of Technology to become a Legal Secretary. She moved closer to home living with her future in-laws, John and Anne Lazaruk, working for George Lawman in Shoal Lake. Still too far away she returned to Russell and worked for Jack Wilson's law office. The love of her life Ernie was also a great athlete. He was out of town playing ball and had the game of his life hitting 7 home runs. On his way home he picked up some rings he had stored and proposed to Janie that night and ended that wonderful day dancing the night away at Silver Beach. They were married on September 30, 1961 and honeymooned in Niagara Falls. Janie continued working with some time off when she had her three children. After Jack Wilson retired she worked for the new owners briefly then for Marcel Gregoire and Woody Langford part-time until she officially retired. Janie was a lifelong member of St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church where she participated in the Women's Group, taught Sunday School, sang in the church choir, ran the bingo operations and made thousands of perogies. She taught sewing for the local 4-H club, looked after the Myrtle Callin Foundation for years providing scholarships to local students and still had some spare time for sports. She curled, bowled and joined a recreational volleyball league. Janie kept busy after retirement looking after neighbors, coffeeing with her friends and old school chums. Summers were spent outdoors in the gardens which was a passion that won her a Communities in Bloom award. Fall was spent watching baseball and winters was watching curling when she wasn't in the kitchen cooking...another passion of hers. Janie was happiest when she could spend time with her family...immediate and extended...all precious to her. Watching her granddaughters shine in their gymnastics, hockey and softball made mom proud and baking their favourite cookies will never be forgotten. Janie was a kind, generous, loving person who always had a smile. She was predeceased by her parents Mike and Pauline Michalchuk, her in-laws John and Anne Lazaruk, her brothers Lloyd and Walter Michalchuk, sister-in-law Eva Michalchuk, brothers-in-law Tony Melnyk and Mike Lapka, niece Marilyn Berezowski, and nephew Rodney Melnyk. She is survived by her loving husband of 56 years Ernie, son Terry, daughter Tracey (Jamie) Moreland, daughter Connie Lazaruk (Neil Bradshaw), granddaughters Brook and Breanne Bradshaw, sister Verna Lapka, her sisters-in-law Olga Melnyk and Dorothy Lazaruk, brother-in-law Morris Lazaruk and numerous nieces and nephews. A funeral service for Janie was held on December 27th, 2017 at St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Russell.

As published in Brandon Sun on Jan 06, 2018