Saturday, March 5, 2022
The passing of oneu2019s Mother is an emotional life event marked by sadness and sorrow regardless of her age and life circumstances. Needless to say, these emotions are presently visited upon me but, I am equally elated that I had the benefit of my motheru2019s care, guidance, tutelage and wisdom from birth to a senior age. I find comfort and satisfaction in celebrating a life well lived in spite of enduring times of trial and hardship. Mom was born on a homestead farm near Jedburgh, Saskatchewan to Alex Karapita and Jenny Federko on May 9, 1922 and lived 71 days shy of her 100th birthday. She was the fourth child in a family of nine closely knit siblings who eventually migrated from the farm to various careers and locations across Canada. During her early life she developed the usual complement of life skills acquired by young ladies of the era, but refined and honed those skills throughout her life. A nontraditional and notable accomplishment was her gaining a driveru2019s license in the last half of the 1930u2019s. She utilized that skill throughout her life driving every vehicle from the family car to the farm grain truck. In my mindu2019s eye, I can still picture her hanging out the driveru2019s door, reversing the grain truck to the auger hopper to drop grain at harvest. The skill with which she operated the clutch, brake and steering as she stretched out to see around the box amazes me. Mom restricted her driving to the pickup truck on farm roads in later years and terminated driving at approximately age 95. Mom married Dad [William (Bill) Wenc u2013 1919 u2013 1991] in November of 1942 and migrated to the current family farm in the Beckenham District, north of Ituna, Sask. She resided on that farm until taking seriously ill approximately 3 weeks before her passing. The family farm was established in 1908 with Mom residing on it for 80 years of its 112-year span. She is the default matriarch and anchor not only in terms of time, but also in sweat equity invested in developing and expanding the original homestead. Mom is survived by her son Ray (Anita) of Ituna, Sask., grandchildren Curtis of Calgary, Alta, Jason, and Katya of Regina, son Dennis of Kelowna, BC, grandson Lee of Salt Lake City, Utah and three great grandchildren. She is pre-deceased by her husband William (Bill) (1991), eldest daughter Joanne (1998) and daughter Veronica (2014). From a personal perspective, I credit my father for laying a foundation for multiple skills, but credit my mother for refining the methods for applying those skills. Through her example, I learned how to think and transfer skills from other experiences and to find a way u2018to get things doneu2019 rather than retreat in frustration. It also fostered active creativity in every facet of my live and promoted both constructive and abstract thought. I still marvel at some of the tasks she completed given her small stature and limited strength. In combination with enjoying multiple cherished examples that populate my home. I credit her with encouraging me to develop and pursuing talents commonly viewed as non-male gendered. This knowledge serves me daily and when I run up against a challenge, I simply ask myself: u201cHow would have Mom done it?u201d and I hear her reply: u201cThere is always a way!u201d Momu2019s skills and achieves were many, but above all I hope that I have done justice in my attempts to pass them along to my son. Mom, Lee and I expressed our gratitude while you were with us and we will continue to cherish your lessons and memory in the future. With all our love, we bid you farewell. In closing, I would like to express a heartfelt thank you to Liz Premak for her friendship, companionship and assistance to Mom over the years. Mom had the greatest respect for you and referred to you as u201cher saving angelu201d during my last visit with her. Thank you!
