Obituary of Mary Kowalyshen

Mary (Marika) Kowalyshen (nee Wakarchuk) was born on a farm near Veregin at the family homestead on July 10, 1928 to parents, Zennovia and Wasyl. She was the second-born of four children: older brother, Alex, and younger sisters, Pauline and Sylvia. She attended school in Veregin until Grade 8, at which time, she was no longer allowed to attend. After that, she helped work at the farm with her parents and family until she met and married Metro Kowalyshen at the age of 18. At that time, they moved to Toronto, and spent five years there. Afterwards, they returned to Saskatchewan and began a new family farm homestead in Rhein. They welcomed their first child, Sherry, after 10 years of marriage. Metro and Mary continued to expand their family with Donald, Katherine, Christine, Linda, and Gary. Unfortunately, Katherine did not survive birth, and her memory was cemented by planting trees in her honour at the family homestead, which still stand today. While Mary and Metro farmed the land around their homestead, they also expanded their businesses by buying and running a garage and hotel in Rhein. The family was all involved in the running of the businesses, which kept everyone very busy and active in the community. Shortly after Metro passed away in 1985, Mary moved into Yorkton and purchased her parent’s house on Dalewood Crescent. She spent many years in that home keeping herself busy with gardening, and making and selling Ukrainian specialties like perogies, cabbage rolls, and borscht. Mary kept busy with cooking and baking everyday to provide these goods to family and members of the community, even providing some of her perogies to local restaurants. She welcomed her children, grandchildren and family to her home for special occasions like Easter and Ukrainian Christmas. She always made sure everyone was well-fed and taken care of. She continued to spend time with her large family at the homestead and keep a very large garden to help feed all the children and grandchildren. In her downtime, she loved to go dancing, to Bingo, and to the casino. Mary was very fortunate to win a few big prizes in the lottery and the casino, including a brand-new car! She was very self-sufficient and was able to live in her own home until her 90th birthday, at which time she moved to the Theodore Nursing Home as she began to suffer from dementia. She showed strength and determination during her stay, keeping positive and friendly to all who spent time with her and cared for her there, and passed away on April 2, 2022 in Yorkton. Mary will be greatly missed by her remaining family members: sister, Sylvia, children, Sherry, Donald, Christine (Les), and Gary, grandchildren, Jamie, Sabrina (Jordan), Kyle (Tara), Joshua (Kelsey), Sarah (Eric), Jessica (Justin), and Wyatt (Maddy), and great-grandchildren, Quentin, Maddox, Hendrix, Harper, Drake, Raina, Paxton and Knighton, as well as many nieces and nephews, and all that knew her. She is predeceased by her husband, Metro, brother, Alex, sister, Pauline, and daughters, Katherine and Linda. Memorials in memory of Mary Kowalyshen may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation (1738 Quebec Ave., Unit 26, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1V9) or Alzheimers Society (301-2550 12th Ave. Regina, SK S4P 3X1) as gifts of remembrance. Service Details. Prayers Thursday, April 7th, 2022 | 7:00pm When: Thursday, April 7th, 2022 7:00pm Location: Yorkton Memorial Gardens Family Centre Address: Highway #10 East YORKTON, SK Funeral Service When: Friday, April 8th, 2022 10:00am Location: Holy Transfiguration Ukrainian Orthodox Church Address: 89 Bradbrooke Dr. YORKTON, SK S3N 2Y2 Interment Location: Yorkton City Cemetery Address: King St. East YORKTON, SK Online Memory & Photo Sharing Event Ongoing Online Event About this event In Loving Memory Of Mary Kowalyshen July 10, 1928 - April 2, 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