YUZDEPSKI o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-09-21 published
WILLIAMS,
Alice
Jean (née
WATTERWORTH)
Of Saint Thomas, on Sunday, July 23, 2006, at her late residence,
in her 94th year. Beloved wife of the late Howard Arthur
WILLIAMS
and dearly loved mother of Ian A.
WILLIAMS of Edmonton and Ross E.
WILLIAMS and his wife
Ursula of Ottawa. Predeceased by a daughter-in-law
Iris YUZDEPSKI.
Loved grandmother of Stefan, Colin, Andrea, Jaimie,
William and Heather. Also survived by a number of nieces and
nephews. Alice was born in Mosa Township on October 16, 1912,
the daughter of the late Ross and Bertha
(DOBIE)
WATTERWORTH.
She was a member of Knox Presbyterian Church and was a retired
Elgin County School Teacher. Alice was a member of the Retired
Women Teachers Association. A Public Memorial service to celebrate
Alice's life will be held at Williams Funeral Home, 45 Elgin
Street, Saint Thomas on Saturday, September 23rd at 1: 00 p.m. Cremation
has taken place with the ashes interred in Oakland Cemetery.
Donations to the charity of choice gratefully acknowledged.
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YUZWIN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2006-11-21 published
Anastasia WAWRYSHYN, 99: Hard worker lived for family
By Leslie FERENC,
Staff
Reporter
Every
Friday,
Anastasia
WAWRYSHYN's grandchildren would race
out of their classrooms at Saint_Josaphat Catholic School, across
Franklin Ave. and straight to Baba's kitchen.
There, they'd be greeted with a big smile and an even bigger
bowl of her light-as-a-cloud potato-filled perohy.
Of course, they couldn't eat just one. And no matter how many
of those mouthwatering delicacies the four of them gobbled up,
they knew there would be plenty more to take home for dinner.
"Baba always made enough for everybody," Michael
WAWRYSHYN said
of his mother who was much loved for her made-from-scratch traditional
Ukrainian cooking and her open-hearted hospitality.
WAWRYSHYN died November 3, two months before her 100th birthday.
She'd suffered a stroke 10 days earlier, the same day a sister
passed away in Ukraine.
Family was everything for
WAWRYSHYN who was born in the tiny
Ukrainian village of Teplyts, January 3, 1907, in what was then
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The eldest of nine children
only six survived to adulthood -- she understood full well
what it meant to struggle. Her parents were poor farmers who
eked out a living on the the land, exchanging eggs and milk or
freshly picked forest mushrooms for the things they couldn't
produce themselves, said
WAWRYSHYN of his mother's early years.
WAWRYSHYN decided to leave her beloved Ukraine after the death
of her intended. He'd immigrated to Argentina to log the forests
but died of malaria.
Riding by horse and buggy along dirt roads to the nearest train
station, the feisty and tenacious 19-year-old travelled to Germany
and then to England where she boarded a ship for Halifax. A stranger
in a strange land who didn't know a living soul in Canada and
didn't speak the language, the young woman forged ahead travelling
west to Saskatoon in search of work. En route,
WAWRYSHYN befriended
a young Ukrainian woman and the two kindred spirits became fast
Friends. Those were difficult but happy days, said her son. Both
worked as domestics, with
WAWRYSHYN taking a job in a boarding
house for farm children attending high school in the city. She
always looked forward to Sunday. It was spent at church, which
was the centre of life for young Ukrainian immigrants who had
settled in Saskatoon. After services, they attended teas and
concerts and enjoyed the company of new Friends.
WAWRYSHYN and her friend later moved to Toronto, where she met
and married her husband Prokip.
The couple moved to Franklin Ave. in 1939 and lived there all
their lives. At the time, the majority of their neighbours were
Ukrainian, settling in the close-knit west-end community near
large factories where they could find work. Their three children,
Michael, Mary and Anne, were born and raised in the old neighbourhood.
Having completed only Grade 3,
WAWRYSHYN was passionate when
it came to learning, determined her children would be well-educated
and have the opportunities she didn't, said her son, a retired
Toronto high school teacher.
A deeply pious woman,
WAWRYSHYN's religious and social life revolved
around the church. She was a long-time and active parishioner
at Saint_Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral down the street
from the family's home. She sang in the choir and was a founding
member of the cathedral's chapter of the Ukrainian Catholic Women's
League of Canada. "She just wanted a chance to make a better
life and was happy to have it," said her son.
Deeply proud of her Ukrainian roots,
WAWRYSHYN passed on her
love of her homeland and its rich culture to her children who
attended Ukrainian schools and were involved in various community
organizations.
A serious individual devoted to her family, she was fiercely
independent.
WAWRYSHYN continued to work part-time until the
age of 71 even though there was no need, her son said.
"And she refused to cash in her first pension cheque because
she said she didn't need it," he added.
"The Depression and World War 2 shattered the dreams of bringing
her family to Canada. Over the years, she helped support her
family, sending parcels of food and clothing and a few dollars
hidden in the lining of a coat, where she prayed they wouldn't
be discovered and confiscated by Soviet officials. The packages
included dozens of kerchiefs -- the colourful woollen scarves
typically worn by women in villages across Ukraine. They were
as valuable as gold back home. "Those kerchiefs paid for two
houses there," said
WAWRYSHYN.
His mother never returned to her
homeland.
Predeceased by her husband,
WAWRYSHYN leaves her son and his
wife Helen, daughter Mary
BERKETA and husband Ron and daughter
Anne; grandchildren Olena
WAWRYSHYN and husband Oleh
LESZCZYSZYN,
Oksana WAWRYSHYN,
Stephanie
DAWE and husband Greg and Christine
YUZWIN and husband Nick as well as great-grand_sons Matthew and
Michael DAWE.
She also leaves behind her sister Kateryna, 94,
in Ukraine, as well as many nephews and nieces.
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