Catherine Lee Kostelnuk

Sadly, on February 26, 2021 our family of one son, two daughters, six grandchildren and four great grandchildren lost a very special person who will forever impact their lives. Sadly missing their mom will be her son Craig (Candace), and daughters Suzanne Carpenter (Wayne) and Rebecca Galego (Maurino). Missing their “Nana and Grandma” will be Tara and Travis, Shane, Carmine, Amber, and Daniel as well as missing their “Gana”, Kian, Avaya, Taven, and Torin.

Catherine was born on July 16, 1935 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario and lived the majority of her life in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she was married and raised her children. She lost her husband, Daniel, who passed away previously at the young age of 55, with whom she assisted in establishing and running a family business in 1969, which still exists today to support her family. She used her many talents to support her family such as making her children’s clothing, and gardening vegetables to provide food. Her excellent skills of cooking and baking produced food that not only tasted like perfection, but also looked beautiful. Her eclairs were legendary.

She was a spiritual person, and as part of her legacy to her children, was instilling in us an appreciation for Christian qualities of selflessness, giving, caring, integrity, kindness and faith. She was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses for over 68 years and showed by example all these things. She comforted people and was known for her encouraging nature. It was important to her to share her hope that she would again be with her family in a paradise earth where we would never have to experience sickness and death as promised to us in Revelation 21: 3,4.

Much like her own mother, she also instilled in her children love for family, strong family values, respect for others despite their nationality, culture or race, an appreciation for education, and a strong work ethic by example.

Catherine’s work history was as diverse as she was. She was the only woman in her high school graduating class in 1953 to be given a scholarship for University. Though she was unable to attend due to limited family funds, and a necessary move for her family for health reasons, her love for people motivated her to make the choices she did. She knew the value of a job and what education could bring, not only in a way to help support her family, but also as a way to give back and inspire others to do the same.

Her many years in Healthcare inspired her eldest daughter as well as two of her grandchildren to follow in her footsteps. She will be remembered by many with great respect and admiration for what she accomplished at both Health Sciences Centre and Seven Oaks Hospital in her various positions trying to make things better for patients and their families. In her final position as Medical Administrator for the Department of Geriatric Medicine for 10 years, she was able to help families navigate the Home Care System and provided a support system for children of parents coping with the care of elderly parents, their illnesses and loss of those parents. Everyone around her knew no matter what her workload was, she was always willing to provide that support. She was greatly appreciated by Residents working in the area whose schedule of working long hours always reflected many adjustments by Catherine so they could maximize the precious time they had with their own families in-between. Being fiercely independent, not wanting to be a burden to her family, she worked sessionally for the Manitoba Legislature for the last 10 years to help provide for herself until her retirement at the age of 73.

Even though our mom accomplished much in her life, to her, family was everything and felt her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were her greatest gifts. She believed each of us had our own talents and was proud and supportive of all of us. She always made sure to send notes of love and be present in our lives for graduations, weddings, job changes, newborn babies, and every other important moment that happened in our lives, and everything in between. You could guarantee if there was any way possible to do so, she would be there celebrating it with you. Her example showed us the importance of establishing priorities in life, and spending available time with our families wisely. We are grateful because applying her wisdom has given us many memories of time spent as families with her, to reflect on.

These memories include family time and family trips, which took her from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast and both North and South. She loved to travel. There were walks in the forests of British Columbia listening to the sound of birds, wind in the trees, and seeing the pleasure she had for hours picking shells and rocks by the ocean. There she planted her own trees and flowers, which she meticulously cared for. We smile often thinking of her in the early mornings dragging the hose up and down the hill making sure they had enough water. For mom she always told us that gardening and being out in nature was a place where you could think and be at peace with your life. Over 30 years of summertime days were spent by the lake in Minnesota curled up by the campfire with her children and grandchildren, watching loons and listening to their beautiful call, fishing and baiting her own hook, and trying to catch sight of a falling star. During many drives across the United States, there were many stops to go antiquing, something she loved to do. She always had a story to tell about the things we saw and the history behind them. There was always something that came home with us that we will look at in the future fondly remembering where we had been together. As a lover of horses, it was her idea to go horseback riding in the beautiful Tennessee mountains with us. As the eastern part of Canada held special memories of her childhood, we have memories of being with her cooking lobsters in the highlands of Cape Breton, and having an Irish coffee in pubs in Halifax while listening to music she loved.

Her grandchildren will remember her for sleepovers, where epic treasure hunts she uniquely created occurred where the first handwritten clue was set by their pillow for when they awoke in the morning. They have since been recreated for the delight of her great-grandchildren. There were always lots of games, crafts, and times baking cookies. Even her great-grandchildren have always asked “can we go over to “Gana’s for a sleepover or “can she come here?” They have many memories of dining on cinnamon buns, and Mcdonald’s, reading books, baking and time spent at the park. The smile on mom’s face during these visits could have lit up a room.

Catherine touched the lives of many others including siblings Mary, Richard, Eddie, and Darlene, as well as their families. She was an incredibly compassionate person, her heart and generosity knew no bounds. Her door was always open to immediate family and relatives, friends and colleagues, all who knew they had a place to stay for a few minutes, hours, days, and months, where they would find her there listening, comforting, supporting and helping in any way she could. She loved to give her time to others. As our mother and grandmother we knew that she would always be there to do the same. She didn’t lecture or judge us for the decisions we made, she was just there loving us whenever we needed her. Her Grandchildren always knew at “Nana’s” place she

would be there to listen, share wisdom and advice always given in love, as well as shelter from the storms in their lives and a safe place to “perch” for awhile. Even in her advanced age when she had become more frail it was very important to her to still be useful to her family in anyway she could. She was still showing and teaching us by example of not perfection, but of strength and resilience needed in the face of life’s challenges as part of the legacy she left for us to pass on to our children and their children.

There is a part of her in each of us, something she gave but asked for nothing back in return. It didn’t take much to make her happy, a phone call, a visit, being included as part of a family trip somewhere, or sometimes just a hug. She lived to make all our lives better. She was truly selfless.

We would like to express our appreciation for friends who visited, as well as for the family and the caregivers she bonded with who assisted in helping us make mom’s wish to remain in her home as long as possible a reality. We would like to express special thanks to Angele Gavin, her friend and caregiver who took the lead in always advocating for the best care available for our mom while being kind, caring, always supportive when we needed it most.

There will be Memorial Service via Zoom, on Monday, March 15th, with a video beginning at 6:30 pm and a Talk at 7:00 pm. Please email for login: [email protected].

MOM,

“Because you listened to me,

I grew up knowing my words mattered.

Because you saved

my crayon drawings,

I understand the importance

of a child’s gift.

Because you let me

speak my mind,

I learned to speak up for myself.

Because you showed

your love for me,

I know it has no bounds.

Because you shared your laughter,

I learned I could laugh at myself.

Because you talked to me,

and were interested

in what I had to say,

I gained the confidence

to go out into the world to find happiness

in being who I really am

today.”

THANK YOU FROM YOUR CHILDREN