Obituary of Norm Panagabko

The family of Norman "Norm" Panagabko, of Yorkton, sadly announce his sudden passing on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Norm was 99 years of age.

A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, May 28th at 1:00pm from the Yorkton Memorial Gardens Family Centre with Shelley Morris officiating.

Memorial donations may be made to Breakthrough T1D (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Canada) as gifts of remembrance.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Bailey's Funeral and Cremation Care, Yorkton. 

Norman Charles.  Beloved Dad, Grandpa and Great-Grandpa, of Yorkton. Norm passed away peacefully at home at the age of 99.

Norm was born on February 15th, 1927 to Mary and Joseph Panagabko. He grew up in a humble home with his four sisters; Ida, Helen, Gene and Norma. As the only boy Norm pulled the nails out of the boards from the old shack to be used for the new house.

Norm attended school till the age of 18. Then he rushed to join the army.  He later graduated from high school by correspondence. 

As a young boy he was a hard worker.  Norm was tasked with taking the family cow to the pasture before school and return it home after school. He was also tasked with fetching pails of water for their home and also for the neighbors. He also delivered groceries to their neighbors for a small payment. He also worked as an usher at the local theater. 

Norm had an active social life. Norm and his friends played golf while only having one club between them. They also played baseball while sharing one bat and glove. Like any typical Canadian kid he enjoyed playing road hockey. 

After finishing boot camp, he was scheduled to be shipped overseas. As luck would have it the war ended the day before he was to leave. He was then stationed near Thunder Bay guarding a POW camp for several months.  Norm had plenty of stories to tell from this experience. 

After returning home he traveled to Moose Jaw to attend carpentry school. After Moose Jaw he started working for Scott National as well as continuing as a carpenter. He remained at Sott National until the store closed many years later. 

He then continued his work as a carpenter until he retired at 72. Then he continued his real love, "Puttering". He was always making bird houses and feeders or willow furniture. When he wasn't making crafts from plank boards he was gathering willows for future projects. This left him time to just relax and go fishing. 

In 1978 his first grandson was born. He doted on Christopher buying him everything he thought Chris needed. In 1982 Stephen arrived and he was in love again.

While working at Scott National Norm discovered curling. Along with three coworkers they qualified for the Brier. Unfortunately for them, the four of them could not go to the Brier due to work commitments. 

On his 80th birthday his daughter & son-in-law took him to Hawaii to see his favourite singer, Don Ho. Norm loved Hawaii so much we returned a few years later. He had so many stories from those two trips

Norm was also active in the Anavets by holding several positions on the board. He was also on the clubs curling team for a number of years.

Norm is survived by his only daughter, Sue (Terry), his grandson’s Christopher (Ashley) & Stephen (Amanda), great-grandchildren Wyatt, Jordyn, Hailey, Preston & Ethan. 

We are always with you.

We will always love you and remember you.