Ann Marchewka

MARCHEWKA - It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ann (Kachmarski) Marchewka, late of Hafford and formerly of North Battleford, on December 12, 2011 at the age of 90. Ann was born on September 16, 1921 at Redberry District, SK. She is lovingly remembered by her son Rudy (Ruth) Marchewka, Marcelin, SK; grandchildren Gail Marchewka and Brad Marchewka, Battleford, SK; sisters Helen Krelow, Spiritwood, SK and Lucy (Mike) Yasieniuk, North Battleford, SK; sister in law Natalie Kachmarski, Edmonton, AB; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her husband Paul (1991); parents Stanley and Tillie Kachmarski; brothers John, Mike, Joe, Peter, Bronie, and Steve. Vigil of Prayer was held on Friday, December 16, 2011 at 7:30 pm from the Chapel of Sallows and McDonald -Wilson and Zehner Funeral Home, North Battleford, SK with Jean Pawlus presiding. Funeral Mass was held on Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 10:30 am from Notre Dame de Lourdes Roman Catholic Church, North Battleford, SK with Reverend Father Gerard Legaspi as Celebrant. Cross Bearer was Matthew Prystupa and Memories of Grandma was presented by Brad Marchewka. Readings and Offertory of Gifts were presented by Gail Marchewka and Ruth Kachmarski. The Music Ministry included Jaki Esquirol and the Notre Dame Choir accompanied by pianist Wendy Rosgen. Honorary Pallbearers were the Staff and Residents of the Hafford Special Care Centre, as well as those who shared in her life. Active pallbearers were Leon Kachmarski, Richard Kachmarski, Leonard Yasieniuk, Ernie Kachmarski, David Kachmarski, and Frank Prystupa. Interment followed in Woodlawn Memorial Gardens, North Battleford, SK. Memorial donations may be made to the Hafford Special Care Centre (Box 130, Hafford, SK S0J 1A0) Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Kristeen Nylander of Sallows and McDonald – Wilson and Zehner Funeral Home, North Battleford, SK (306) 445-2418.

EULOGY by Brad Marchewka

I would like to thank you all for coming today to remember my Grandma, Ann Marchewka. Grandma was born on September 16th, 1921 to Stanley & Tillie Kachmarski. She was the 2nd oldest of 9 siblings and was born and raised on the family farm which was just north of Redberry Lake and along the railroad tracks. She attended Oukraina School and was educated to the 8th grade. On November 4th, 1937 at the young age of 16 she married Paul Marchewka and settled on a new homestead of their own in the Oscar Lake district. This farm was just a few quarters over from the original Marchewka homestead. Grandma & Grandpa built a two room house for themselves and later another two room house for Great Grandma & Grandpa Marchewka. They mainly grain farmed but there was also a small barn built for keeping animals commonly found on a farm at that time. Grandma and Grandpa’s only child Rudolph was born March 31st, 1945 in Saskatoon. The small family resided on the farm until 1955 when they decided to move into North Battleford where they built a new home with all the modern amenities that they didn’t have at the farm. While they lived in the city, Grandpa (and later on Dad too) continued to grain farm and stay in the old house during seeding and harvest.

Grandma was active with the farm, but also had her own job in the city too. As she had her Journeyman’s certificate in cooking, she was the first employed as a cook at the Convent of the child Jesus. From there, she went to work as a short order cook at a 24 hour truck stop call The Southend Café. After working in such a hectic place for several years, she decided a change was needed so she started on at the Saskatchewan Hospital, where she worked as a Nurses’ Aide as well as in the housekeeping and dietary departments. She decided to take advantage of early retirement in 1981 at the age of 60. During the time that she worked in the city, she also drove to and from the farm and tended to a large garden that was in addition to her large garden in the city.

Since she had only Gail and I for grandchildren, she definitely ended up spoiling us and we would stay with her and Grandpa a lot while our parents were busy at their store. True to her nature of being self reliant and very strong-willed, she resided in the house she and Grandpa built until January 2010 when her declining health made it no longer possible to live alone and therefore became a resident of the Hafford Special Care Centre. Although she was determined to remain independent in her own home, when the time came, she came to terms with the fact that she could no longer continue to remain alone. It was at this time as well that her memory began to deteriorate rapidly. Despite this, she appeared to settle in well at the Hafford Special Care Centre and enjoyed the activities provided there in addition to visits from her family. Although she did flourish for most of the time she was there, she started to fail at the beginning of December and she passed away very peacefully the evening of December 12th with me by her side.

I have endless wonderful memories of Grandma and of the things she would do with Gail and I. Before Mom and Dad decided to sell their business and move out to the farm permanently in 1985, Gail and I stayed at her house a lot while my parents worked. During summer holidays, she would take us with her out to the farm and we would stay in the “old house”. At that age not being accustomed to rural life, it was such an adventure to “rough it” by not having things like running water or cable TV and having to share beds in the 2 room house that had all of on light and two plug ins. When we would stay at her house, there were always many interesting thing to do or learn. She would like to tell us about our family history and wheat life was like in the early years. Grandma taught Gail how to make perogies, which are her favorite food, and even how to form them so that they didn’t resemble little moon. Mom was also taught by Grandma how to make cabbage rolls that were almost as good as her own. My favorite thing was the pies she made. Her pastry was always perfect. When I worked at the hospital, she would often bring up several pies made with her amazing fruit filling. She and the pies became legendary with the staff, with her becoming known as “Pie Grandma” and she even made special orders for some of them! More of my favorite things she made included borscht and meatballs. She was simply one fabulous cook in that everything that she ever made was outstanding and never was there anything she ever made that was just mediocre. She was also known for making lots of sauerkraut and at any given time if one would go down into her basement, you’d find a crock of it on the go. She even had a special sauerkraut rock which was used to weight down the plate overtop of the cabbage.

Gardening was another one of her great passions. She had the greenest thumb of anyone I ever knew. There were countless things that I learned from her by working alongside her in the garden. True to her generation, she always grew a lot more than she ever needed and would end up giving tons of produce to family and anyone in need. Despite being constantly plagued by cabbage thieves and potato pilferers, she stubbornly kept on planting year after year. I remember that in addition to having 2 gardens, there were years when she also had scads of potatoes planted in the field next to the Kachmarski homestead. Believe me, no one ever went hungry!!

Some of her other many talents included knitting, crocheting, and sewing. As young children, before the era of Osh Kosh and Baby Gap, Gail and I were dressed in the wonderful outfits she created. She would also make her own clothing and was the authority on mending and patching. Besides our clothing, Grandma also made Gail and I quilts that we still to this day use and treasure. As well, she also made us all comforters using wool that was sheared from Mom and Dad’s sheep. Grandma taught Gail the Polish alphabet and the pronunciation of various words. She became fairly proficient in speaking the words but many times she had no idea what they meant!!

Grandma was a very self sufficient lady who was not afraid of hard work and a good challenge. She did all her own yard work and gardening often having the most beautiful flowers and bountiful produce. She would do her own painting inside and out. It wasn’t unusual to find her perched up top of a ladder cleaning her eavestroughs, even though we had asked prior if she needed help with anything. She was an exceptional patient and diligent woman, qualities that were evident when you saw her handiworks. Grandma was very generous in all aspects. Her family meant a lot to her and true to her selfless nature, would do everything she could to help them out in their time of need. Grandma was content with the simple things in life and believed that there was greater satisfaction in giving that receiving. While we are all going to miss her, we treasure the many wonderful things that she made for us as well as the many wonderful things she did for us. Fond memories of the times spent together as well as the love she had for her family will remain forever. Rest well Grandma, you certainly deserve it.

Card of Thanks

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the staff of the Hafford Special Care Centre for the absolutely fantastic and loving care provided to Mom and Grandma during her stay with them. We also wish to thank the staff for the kindness and compassion extended to us while we were there staying with her. Thank you to Father Gerard and Jean Pawlus for the kind and sincere words spoken at the services and to the Notre Dame CWL for providing the wonderful lunch afterwards. Our sincere appreciation to all those who participated in the services; thank you to Wendy Rosgen, Jaki Esquirol and the Notre Dame Choir for the beautiful music and singing at the funeral. And to the staff at Sallows and McDonald-Wilson and Zehner Funeral Home, we wish to extend our thanks for all their help and assistance during this difficult time.

Sincerely, Rudy, Ruth, Gail and Brad Marchewka.