Obituary of MARGARET NATALIE PESTRAK

MARGARET NATALIE PESTRAK

Born: December 2nd, 1930

Date of Passing: December 6th, 2019

 Peacefully, Margaret Pestrak (Baba Margaret) passed away on Friday, December 6, 2019.

Margaret was born in Poplarfield, Manitoba on December 2, 1930 to Michael and Maria Zuk.

Margaret is survived by her son Wayne (Victoria 1956-2008), grandsons Mikel (Tranda), David (Megan), and great-grandchildren Seth, Levi, and Selah, along with brother Greg Zuk and sister Pauline Ignash, and sister in-laws Evelyn Pestrak, Christine Singbeil, Pauline Zuk and Irene Zuk and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great nephews.

Margaret was predeceased by her husband James (Jim) Pestrak, her parents, daughter in-law Victoria, her siblings Bill (twin brother), Nick, Fred, John, Alex, Peter, Anne Kibsey, Olga Yanchuk, Kaye Kidyk, Eva Grouch, and Sonia Swarychewski.

Margaret grew up in Poplarfield, MB, completed high-school in Teulon, and attended St. Andrew’s College in Winnipeg. After teacher training at Normal School, she moved to Narcisse where she taught and in 1947 met her husband Jim. Margaret and Jim married in 1951 and moved to Winnipeg where she worked for United Grain Growers (UGG) for 35 years until she retired in 1988. Upon Margaret’s retirement she devoted the majority of her time to her grandchildren, Mikel and David, supporting and encouraging them in all of their numerous passions including school, sports, and music. Cooking was a passion of Margaret’s and was definitely her love language. Throughout the years she cooked regularly for her family, friends, church, and volunteer events. Some of her creative talents included making traditional Ukrainian Wedding Breads (“Korovai”) for numerous weddings, as well as Easter (“Paska”) and Christmas (“Kolach”) breads. Margaret and her husband Jim together enjoyed a passion for gardening, regularly entering the annual Winnipeg Garden Tour Contest and opening up their garden to the general public. Their passion for their yard and gardening continued well into their later years where they produced some of the best grape jelly around from their own grape-vines.

Margaret joined Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral in 1963 where she was an active member for 56 years. She was a member of the UWAC Lesia Ukrainka Branch since 1970 serving as President for 6 years and held many other volunteer positions including Cymk Advisor, Ukrainian Museum of Canada (MB Branch) President, Tea Convenor, and Folklorama Volunteer among others. In 2009, she received an Award of Excellence for her contribution to the preservation and advancement of the Ukrainian Canadian heritage and culture.

 In Margaret’s later years, she was thrilled to spend quality time with her great-grandchildren and grand daughters-in-law.

The family would like to extend thanks to the staff at Seven Oaks General hospital for their care and compassion in Margaret’s final days.

 In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral.

The Funeral Service will be on Wednesday, December 18 at 10:00 a.m. at the Cathedral (1175 Main St.), interment to follow in Glen Eden Memorial Gardens. Reception after the interment will be at the Cathedral at 12:15pm. Additional parking at the church is available behind Shoppers Drug Mart.