William Michael Soroka

His father arrived from the Ukraine in Canada in 1905 and was killed in an industrial accident when our dad was 12 years old, eight decades later he still clearly remembered coming home from school to their house on Beatrice St. in Vancouver to find several BC Electric company vehicles parked in front of

their family house; they were there to notify his mother of his father’s death.

He was married to our mother (Gloria Soroka nee Clair) in 1947 and was to remain so.

He was never timid to partake in arduous physical labour nor to associate with the people who also performed such activity.

He was frugal by nature but had a finely tuned sense of when money must be spent on important issues such as education, medication, doctors, dentists, physical shelter, and nutritious food. The out of pocket expenses for both doctor and dentist for a family of 6 was borne by his wages, this was long before public and private insurance plans were provided.

Neither our mother or father were raised in a household where such parental physical, financial, and emotional support was forthcoming, I believe they made a commitment to each other that they would provide all necessities possible for their children; which they did.

During WWII he served as an Able Bodied Seaman in the Royal Canadian Navy on a convoy escorting frigate. He was involved in anti submarine activities including extensive depth charge deployment as well as anti surfaced submarine, and anti aircraft ship’s

gunfire. He was to witness seldom experienced harsh open ocean conditions including strong wind, high seas, and freezing spray, all experienced in the North Atlantic and especially on winter Murmansk convoy duty.

Our Dad was innately a cooperative, amicable and team person, these attributes probably best illustrated in his several life long personal friendships and his attraction to and success within activities such as organized sports (baseball and soccer) and trade union activity. As with most intelligent and principled people, he was also very introspective and immensely enjoyed his solitary interludes, especially in conjunction with nature.

He and our mother were not provided with the opportunity to achieve an academic education and they were both determined to provide such an opportunity to their children. Our father left school upon completing grade 10 and commenced menial labour to help support his widowed mother and two younger siblings.

After WWII he found labouring employment with BC Electric (precursor of BC Hydro) and fondly recalled throughout his life that his initial duties entailed manually digging power pole holes. Often these holes were obstructed by complications such as buried rocks or significant layers of almost impenetrable hard pan, he learned that one must be patient and persevere; he imprinted the need of developing such a

persevering and persistent work and study ethic in all of his offspring.

Our dad's father was an electrical lineman with BC Electric, to be followed by our dad who also was a lineman, first at BC Electric and then BC Hydro, ultimately his eldest son Wayne also became a linemen with BC Hydro.

Our Father's interests included big game hunting, fishing, travel, and residential house construction.

He built four houses, probably the most prized was the waterfront house on Galiano Island, a location where possibly both our mother and father spent the most enjoyable period of their lives.

Darlene recalls that our Dad would routinely 'talk' with the pair of nesting bald eagles who made a multiple decade duration nest near the top of a possibly 600 year old and 100 meter tall old growth Douglas Fir located less than 150 meters from the back of the house. Our dad would find delight in the fact that the eagles would 'answer' his whistles.

He very much liked traveling to several locations in the world, Mexico was to receive the most visits. He would prefer to stay in a budget hotel and travel on local buses, such buses often carrying an over design capacity of the local people as well as domestic animals and a multitude of luggage, often having no passenger windows and emitting copious amounts of blue and black exhaust. The majority of people in Mexico do not speak English and Dad preferred to spend a significant amount of his time amongst these people, thus he invested copious amounts of time and effort to become fluent in Spanish.

He is survived by his daughter Darlene and his three sons Brent, Wayne, and Greg, as well as 7 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

Probably his major lifetime commitment was to the well being of his family, with whom he was always principled, stern, and steadfast. Possibly his most revered memories indicate his actual life's interest, WWII and the navy, Galiano Island, Mexico, and hunting in the Chilcotins.

The family wishes to acknowledge the employees who interacted in a personal and even an affectionate manner with our father from the food services department, housekeeping department, recreation department, Licensed Practical Nurses, and Registered Nurses of the Comox Valley Seniors Village.

Our father benefited from a two way personal relationship with many

members of the Comox Valley Seniors Village team. Dr Russell-Atkinson made this family journey much less painful via her care to dad and her communication with the family. Prior to the Comox Valley Seniors Village dad was provided an identical quality of care at the Comox Berwick facility.

In lieu of flowers please send donations to either The Salvation Army or the Royal Canadian Legion.