Obituary of Sophie Jankoski

A flame has gone out; without so much as a flicker, and all we have left; is the precious memory of how brightly it burned; and the warmth it gave us. Sophie Jankoski was born on September 28, 1918 in the Hubbard district to Valentine and Anastasia (nee Jaremicki) Rokosh. 103 years, Sophie saw in her life time, horse drawn carriages, sleighs, tractors, combines, jets, and rockets that put men on the moon. She was a young girl with older brothers and sisters, a young wife, a mother. She raised her children and shoveled grain and drove tractors and got home in time to have dinner ready for the men working in the fields. She was superwoman. Sophie had many passions. The first was her family. Sophie Rokosh married John (Jack) Jankoski on February 3, 1942. Bryan was born 3 years later, followed by Janet and Beverly. For 28 years she was a hard-working, farmer’s wife living on the family farm, 17 miles out of Ituna, Saskatchewan. During those years she helped out on the farm, raised her family, drove truck and tractor and combine. Her garden supplied the family with 80% of all the food for the year, and provided for many of the neighbors as well. She canned and jammed and eviscerated chickens and ducks In 1970, Jack and Sophie “retired” to Saskatoon, where once again she cooked and canned and planted gardens big enough to feed the entire block. It was in retirement that Mom found her second love. She started bowling. Always competitive in nature, she cleaned the clocks of women half her age. It turns out she was pretty athletic. By the time she retired from bowling, she had close to a hundred trophies, so many that she was embarrassed by all of them. When she was invited to the senior’s provincial banquet, she decided not to go because she was so much older than anyone else. In 2006, after 64 years of marriage, Mom lost her soulmate. Dad passed away at 91 years of age and we were so worried she would be unable to go on without him. But this strong woman, put one foot in front of the other, and carried on. Stronger, but with sadness, she moved to St. Volodymyrs Villa, where she took comfort by others who were, sadly, in the same position as she. It was there, that this strong pragmatic woman carried on with her life. One day, I received a call from mom, she said” I called to tell you that you are speaking to the shuffleboard champion of St. Volodymyr’s Villa!” She was over 90 at the time, and was by far the oldest person participating, (I can see her in her little walker just a going back and forth!!!) She was again embarrassed because she had her own little cheering section. And let us not forget Mom’s other passion, the Toronto Blue Jays. When she turned 95, the family wanted to make it special by buying her some nice jewelry, or a special remembrance. But the Blue Jays’ hoodie, and Jose Bautista’s autographed baseball was what made her the happiest. You could stop her on any day of the season and ask her who the Jays were playing that day, and who was in the starting line- up and she could tell you. She kept the stats in my grade 11 scribbler from 1969. When Sophie was 100, she started another chapter at Last Mountain Pioneer Home, in Strasbourg, where she lived and thrived for 3 plus years. She made new friends and received excellent care from the loving and caring staff. Sophie passed away peacefully on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. She was 103 years 8 months and 10 days of age. Mom’s greatest love, was her faith in God. During good times she remembered, during difficult times her faith sustained her, and her loved ones. We were all on her prayer list. She dedicated a rosary to each of us, every day of her life. She was never far away from those prayer beads. We would even scold her and tell her not to worry so much, but that was her was her way. We often joked by saying…Mom…STEP AWAY FROM THE BEADS! But she never did. And Jesus was, above all, her strength and gave her the most joy. And so I say again: A flame has gone out; without so much as a flicker, and all we have left; is the precious memory of how brightly it burned; and the warmth it gave us. Her flame burned brightly for many years, her warmth will sustain us all forever. She was predeceased by her parents, 9 siblings and her husband John. On behalf of Bryan, Bev and myself, our spouses- Carol, Craig and Anthony, the grandchildren, Kirby and his wife Ella, Chelsea and Jeffrey, the great grandchildren, Marisa and Bianca, thank you for helping us celebrate the brilliant flame that was Sophie Jankoski. Service Details. Prayers Tuesday, June 14th, 2022 | 7:00pm When: Tuesday, June 14th, 2022 7:00pm Location: St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church Address: 216 5th Ave. SE ITUNA, SK S0A 1N0 Funeral Mass Wednesday, June 15th, 2022 | 11:30am When: Wednesday, June 15th, 2022 11:30am Location: St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church Address: 216 5th Ave. SE ITUNA, SK S0A 1N0 Interment Location: Ituna R.C. Cemetery Address: 5th Ave. SE ITUNA, SK S0A 2N0 Online Memory & Photo Sharing Event Ongoing Online Event About this event In Loving Memory Of Sophie Jankoski September 28, 1918 - June 8, 2022 Look inside to read what others have shared Family and friends are coming together online to create a special keepsake. Every memory left on the online obituary will be automatically included in this book. View Tribute Book