Obituary of Bill Husack

HUSACK - William Husack was born March 11, 1923 in the Wroxton district to Nick and Mary Husack (nee Lesanko). He attended Loyal School to Grade 9. As a child the family moved many times, but were always close enough to attend the same school. In 1941, William rode a bicycle for 4 days from the Saltcoats district to Rennie, Manitoba, where the bike wore out, then rode the rails by boxcar for the rest of the way to Grimsby, Ontario. In the 1940's, Bill worked at many jobs around the country to help out his family back home on the farm. In Ontario, he worked at a basket factory, concrete and construction, tobacco and dairy farms. In B.C. he worked at a gold mine in Braylorn and a dairy farm near Vancouver. In Manitoba, he worked at Canada Packers and Standard Motors in Winnipeg and salvaged steel from a shutdown mine in Great Falls. After the war, he worked at a lumber camp in Flin Flon and a nickel mine in Lynn Lake, Manitoba. Bill enlisted into the Canadian Army during the Second World War. He was trained as a soldier and then as a mechanic-driver. He was stationed in Shilo, Hamilton, Port Arthur, Maple Creek, Dundurn and Regina. In 1952, he married Gloria Balabuk, and they moved into their home on Main Street in Calder. In 1962, he built a new house on the same lot. In 1964 he built the Coffee Mug café and they operated it together until the 1970's. Farming was a part of him for his whole life. He was very eager to embrace tractors after working with horses for many years. He was mechanically minded and keen to learn new farming techniques. He invented a pto powered grinder because there was no power on the farm, and held Canadian and U.S. patents for the device. He was industrious and enjoyed the saying, "Good weather, work hard". He worked for many years as the manager of the Calder Credit Union, of course farming at the same time. He even learned to repair watches along the way. As his health declined Bill went to live in Regina, closer to his son Glen & family. He passed away on Saturday, December 13, 2014 at the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre. He was 91 years of age. William was predeceased by his son Dale in 2008 and his beloved wife Gloria in 2009. Left to to mourn are his son Glen (Wendy Nugent) and granddaughters Kelly and Erin Husack of Regina; sister Anne Olineck of Saskatoon, and brother Peter (Marie) Husak of Yorkton. The funeral service was held on Thursday, December 18, 2014 from the Yorkton Memorial Gardens Family Centre with Very Rev. Fr. Mel Slashinsky of Holy Transfiguration Ukrainian Orthodox Church officiating. Members of the Royal Canadian Legion, General Alexander Ross branch #77, Yorkton performed the Legion Tribute Service. The interment took place in the Garden of Gethsemane with Kevin Balabuk, Gerald Shymko, Carl Kohut, John Woroniuk, Brian Dietrich & Glen Husack serving as the casketbearers. Memorials were to the Legion Poppy Fund. Arrangements were entrusted to: Service Information Thursday, December 18th, 2014, Yorkton Memorial Gardens Interment Details Yorkton Memorial Gardens