Ludmila Tkalych was born in Bohuslav, Ukraine in 1924. Her childhood, her home, school, the city she grew up in, the special relationships she had with her family, grandparents, three aunts and close friends gave balance to the tumultuous times of the great Soviet repressions, Holodomor and Nazi invasion. This helped her to focus on a childhood filled with much joy, learning and discovery.
As the war was ending, she became more aware of God; his protection, provision and the gift of a relationship with Jesus. She accepted this choice and seized the gift. She made it an integral part of her life. It guided her decisions in life and gave her great strength, joy, meaning, and purpose. This was so important to her and she wanted to pass this onto her children.
She and her husband Paul, along with their oldest child, Raissa, came to Canada in 1949 to start new lives in Saskatoon. She was forever grateful for the stability and opportunities this country gave her and their family. Three more children, George, Jim, and Lawrence, were born here. She and her husband made education a great focus in their children's lives and they were proud all four had university degrees.
Most of her life was lived in Saskatoon where she worked hard looking after her children and making her home special for them. Saskatoon was always dear to her; she raised her family there, had a lovely home and made many dear lifelong friends. She was an extraordinary cook and fantastic hostess who loved to prepare beautiful meals and she loved to entertain. One of her great joys was to prepare feasts for her family and she said it gave her so much happiness to see all her children, and later her grandchildren as well, around the dining room table enjoying themselves for hours. She was so excited when her first grandchild, Natalie was born, then Jordan followed shortly thereafter. Alexander and Julia visited her a lot when she lived in Saskatoon, then the relationships grew even more when she came to Calgary as they talked about so many things concerning life. She loved reading, something she and her mother shared and talked a lot about, and she also really enjoyed gardening. She loved the beauty of various flowers, blossoming trees and growing vegetables that “tasted so much better than what the stores sell.” She also really liked to travel and had many trips to various parts of Canada, the Unitied States to visit George, Hawaii and Europe. A great highlight of her travels was when Alexander convinced her to return to Ukraine after an absence of 68 years. Along with Jim they spent two weeks seeing many relatives she had never met before and celebrating her 88th birthday in Bohuslav. She was rejuvenated by this trip, seeing first homeland in a much better light, filled with much beauty, free of tyranny and welcoming relatives in many cities.
In 2009 she moved to Calgary to be closer to family. In the last 5 years she lived at Providence where she was surrounded by many amazing people who truly cared for her. As a family we cannot express the gratitude we feel for them. She was predeceased by her parents, Alexander and Kateryna Repetti, husband, one son, Lawrence, and her only sister Halyna. She is survived by her children Raissa (Roy), George (Theresa), and Jim (Dianne) as well as grandchildren Natalie (Jay), Jordan (Julie), Alexander (Lisa), Julia, Claire, Nicholas, Victoria and great-grandchildren, Samuel, Zara, Luke, Lily, Chloe, and Anastasiya.
Funeral Services will be held on Monday the 22nd of February at 11 am at Acadia McKague Centre on Acadia Dr in Saskatoon.
She remains much loved and deeply cherished. Many things we are left to ponder, already we miss her and not being able to talk to her about things. A saying in Ukrainian that was a favourite of hers roughly translates into “Faith Remains” and although we mourn the separation, we know it is transient and we rejoice at the prospect of a future together prepared by God who loves us beyond measure and who will astonish us with what he has in store for us.
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