Lesia Mary Whyte

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our mother, grandmother (granny) and great grandma Lesia Whyte.

She was predeceased by her husband of 54 years, Walter in 2013, her parents Stephan and Helen Hanushchak and brother Donald. Mom will be deeply missed by daughters Kathy Brown (Neil), Chris Jawa (Mark), Carol Sawchuk (Wally), her grandchildren: Daryl and Russell Brown (Megan), Rick (Chelsi) and Alex (Harmony) Jawa, Samantha (Will) and Stacy (Quin) Sawchuk, great grandchildren: Liam, Avery, Hailee, Eden, Mischa, Anders, Stella and Damien, her brother Ronald (June), sister-in-law Lena, nieces: Karen, Rhonda, Elaine and Jeanine and nephew Brad and lifelong dear friends Don and June Schilling.

Mom was passionate about volunteering throughout her life; from planning spring teas at McLeod Elementary School, being Brown Owl for the Brownie troupe and moving up to Girl Guide leader as the girls “flew up”. Later in retirement Mom was very active as a member of the Sunshine Club and Chapel in her winter home in Mesa.

While the girls were young Mom was a pioneer in working from home. Often times we would arrive home from school to find mom sitting at the kitchen table with a friend of Dad’s conducting a beer tasting survey gathering data for the local breweries. There was no end of volunteers for these events. Once the girls were older mom entered work outside the home at various companies doing data entry, retiring as a Supervisor in 1992 from Revenue Canada Taxation Centre.

Lake life started out tenting at White Lake in the early years to her and Dad building and enjoying the family cabin at Red Rock Lake. At the lake she enjoyed playing HOLA with the neighbours or a quiet bonfire with the kids and grandkids. Starting in 1992 Mom and Dad spent their winters at Valle Del Oro in Mesa where Mom and her group of S&B ladies spent hours doing Swedish weaving and quilting while keeping up with each other’s growing families. Mom was able to continue her winters away until 2020.

Mom’s secret skill was baking. Her apple pies, butter tarts and banana cake (homemade rhubarb jam between the layers and whipped cream frosting) were legendary. Her cookie jar was always full of chocolate chip cookies just waiting for the grandchildren to stop by for a visit. The grandchildren and more recently the great grands brought mom such joy with their visits.

Mom, you are our Sunshine, our only Sunshine.

The family would like to thank everyone at Holy Family Home of Winnipeg, especially the staff of 4A St Joseph’s unit, for the exceptional care Mom received while a resident. The care and compassion was beyond anything we could have hoped.

Divine Liturgy and Panakhyda will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, 250 Jefferson Avenue, Winnipeg, with Fr Bohdan Lukie, CSsR, officiating. A private interment will follow at a later date.

In lieu of flowers denotations can be made to Holy Family Home of Winnipeg (165 Aberdeen Ave Winnipeg R2W 1T9), or the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba.