Eleanor Irene Sawa Galon

Mrs. Eleanor Irene Galon (née Sawa) passed away peacefully at Wintergreene Estates in Regina in the early morning hours of Wednesday, January 29, 2014 in her ninety-first year. Eleanor was predeceased by her seven siblings, and by her husband John and son Kenneth. She is survived by her daughter-in-law Linda of Calgary; four sons, Dennis (Dorothy) of Guelph, David and Brian (Carol) of Regina, and Philip (Patricia) of Saskatoon. Eleanor was the proud grandmother of nine grandchildren: Michael (Leah), Christopher (Laura), Stephen (Tanya) and Shannon in Calgary; Jason (Jami) and Trevor in Regina; Jeffrey, Daniel, and Jennifer in Saskatoon. And she was overjoyed with her four great-grandchildren, Hannah and Hailey in Regina, and Gabriela and Alessandra in Calgary.

Eleanor was born to Ukrainian Catholic immigrant parents Michael and Stella Sawa (née Klypak) on August 6 1923 in Oakburn MB, where Michael was posted as a grain buyer. Stella’s family had settled in Plain View SK, while Michael’s family lived in the nearby Fenwood area. After they married in 1921, Michael’s company transferred him to various communities along a rail route travelling westward from Winnipeg through Oakburn MB, and Fenwood, Goodeve, and Ituna SK. Landing a job as a grain buyer allowed Michael to leave farming and pursue his interest in business. When she was born in Oakburn, Eleanor joined siblings Roman, Murray, and Josephine; and they in turn were later joined by Olga, Elsie, Jean, and Sylvester. Around 1928 when Eleanor was about five years old, the growing family was transferred to Goodeve SK where Eleanor began her schooling in a two-room school house that is still there today. Eleanor frequently reminisced about her experience bundling up and mustering strength to fight the cold en route to school—an exercise which no doubt instilled in her the stamina required to survive ninety Saskatchewan winters.

When Eleanor was eleven, as the prairie economy was devastated at the height of the depression, her father lost his job. In 1934 Michael was forced to move his family from rural Saskatchewan to Regina where he took a job as a night watchman. As fate would have it, her future husband John Galon was also born in rural Saskatchewan of Ukrainian immigrants, and his family was also forced to move to Regina by family tragedy.

Eleanor met John, her husband of 67 years, while in their senior years of high school. No doubt Eleanor’s enticing charm and sense of humour instantly won John’s heart. When asked how they met, Eleanor always giggled explaining, “I arrived at a party with one man, and left with John!” They were married in the middle of the war in 1942, and John immediately enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The young couple were moved to St. Thomas ON for John’s military training as an airframe mechanic. They were then stationed for the rest of the war in Davidson, a basic flying school component of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which trained over 131 thousand aircrew in Canada for the war in Europe. While in Davidson, the first of their five boys, Dennis, was born in February 1944.

Following the war, the young family moved to Saskatoon where John completed a commerce degree at the University of Saskatchewan. During university, the couple supplemented John’s war benefits by operating a chain of stamp dispensing machines and by Eleanor’s work as an egg grader. Armed with his degree, John created the Western Import and Export Company in Saskatoon, while Eleanor was kept plenty busy raising their children. Kenneth was born in February 1948, David followed in December 1952, and thereafter Brian arrived in December of 1955. The family’s success in Saskatoon was interrupted in the late 1950s when John’s partners forced him out of the business he directed.

Consequently, John took a job in the insurance industry with the De Rosenroll Agency in Moose Jaw SK, where he quickly rose to general manager. In the spring of 1959 while in Moose Jaw, Philip was born, and the number of men in Eleanor’s life was complete at six, five boys and her husband. John had worked for De Rosenroll for about five years, when he decided to open his own insurance brokerage by purchasing A.T. Brown and Company in Regina and moving there in 1963. John and Eleanor’s family firm is known today as Galon Insurance Brokers with offices in Regina and Saskatoon. The company they built celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2013, and it continues to thrive with four of Eleanor’s grandchildren, the 3rd generation, firmly entrenched. As Eleanor tells the story, her first thought when the couple decided to open their own brokerage was “anywhere but Regina,” but she came to fully re-embrace the city of her youth, where she lived out her days as a proud daughter, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

Religion played a significant role in Eleanor’s life. She was raised in the Ukrainian Catholic Church, but her practice oscillated between the Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Catholic Church as the family moved from city to city. Eleanor relied heavily on her faith for strength and courage, and worked hard to instil similar values in her children and grandchildren. Eleanor and John were especially proud of being founding members of St. Peter and Paul’s church in Saskatoon as an English language Ukrainian Catholic parish. When the family lived in Regina, they were parishioners at both St. Anne’s Roman Catholic and St. Athanasius’ Ukrainian Catholic parishes.

Eleanor had an active social life. In their youth Eleanor and John loved to dance; while in Moose Jaw, they were avid square dancers; and even as seniors they were a fluid couple on the dance floor. Their primary social life was visiting with family and friends throughout Canada. In a “Book of Memories,” stories about Eleanor written by her family for her 90th birthday party last summer, she is characterized as “grandmother extraordinaire.” Eleanor and John shared a passion for duplicate bridge, traveling throughout North America accumulating points as they became Life Masters. Until the day of her death, Eleanor played bridge at least once or twice a week.

Eleanor had a truly unique charm and a humble spirit. Her life will be fondly recalled and celebrated by family and friends for many years to come.

Eleanor was cremated on January 31. Friends and relatives will be received on Friday evening February 14 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm (with a Vigil Service and sharing of memories at 7:30) at Victoria Avenue Funeral Home and Cremation Centre, 2080 Victoria Avenue East, Regina. Her Funeral Service will be at 11:00 am on Saturday February 15 at St. Anne’s Church, 1701 Cowan Crescent, Regina. After the service, all are invited to lunch in the Parish Hall at the same address. After the luncheon, Eleanor’s ashes will be committed into a columbarium niche beside her husband’s urn at Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery, 815 Assiniboine Avenue East, Regina. In lieu of flowers, donations for Loyola House Retreat Center at the Jesuit Centre of Spirituality in Guelph ON are being accepted by the Victoria Avenue Funeral Home (306-761-2727).

Arrangements under the direction of Victoria Avenue Funeral Home and Cremation, Regina, SK.