Obituary of CAROL ANTONCHUK

Carol Antonchuk, beloved by family and friends, passed away peacefully and into God’s hands at Concordia Place on August 3, 2020. Carol was predeceased by Adam, her husband for 67 years. She is survived by her son Ron (and wife Kathy), son Bob (and wife Mary), her grandchildren Stephen (and wife Edita), Jennifer, Kelly and Kyle, and granddaughters Jordan and Rachel. She is also survived by her sister Jean in Toronto. She was predeceased by her brother Tom and sister Helen. Carol was born on June 26, 1925 in a little two room white house on a farm in Monastyr (a parish north of Buchanan, Saskatewan). She was the oldest of three girls, herself, Helen and Jean, and her brother Tom. It was crowded, but that is all her parents could afford. She went to country school for 7 year. The school was a ¾ mile walk from the farm. In winter when it was very cold or the snow was deep, a neighbour would take the nearby kids to school by horse drawn sleigh. The family then moved to a larger farm nearer Buchanan, 5 miles away. There they built a larger house with 4 rooms and an upstairs for all the kids. Carol finished one more year of schooling at Wergland School. After completing school at 15, she worked for 3 years in Buchanan. Then she went to Flin Flon Manitoba to work in the nickel mine. The men had all left for the army and so the mine hired women. The pay was much better than any place else. At a dance she met Adam Antonchuk. Adam was declared unfit for the army because of a heart murmur (which never ever affected him). It was love at first sight. They were married in March, 1945. Carol and Adam then moved to Cowan where they bought a farm, built a house, and raised two sons. They farmed for 10 years. Life was good. They worked hard and the farm was successful. They had lots of friends, and there were always country dances. But Carol always wanted the city life. She finally convinced Adam to move to Winnipeg. City life suited them. They were both social people and in Winnipeg they had lots of relatives and friends. Carol came from large extended family of 6 great aunts, and many nieces and nephews. And many of them lived in Winnipeg. Weekends were for fun. It was either a dance at the Ukrainian center or a house party on special occasions. In the Ukrainian tradition this involved lots of good food, lots of drinking, and mostly, lots of singing. In the summer they would go camping and boating. Carol and Adam loved to travel. Their first long trip was to visit Carol sisters Jean and Helen in Ontario. They traveled to Hawaii and often to Florida, usually with friends. In 1974 they went to Ukraine to the village where Adam’s was born. After retirement, they went on many Caribbean cruises. During this time Carol worked in Eaton’s mail order department. She would begin work each September when her boys began school, and after Easter, Eaton’s would lay her off so she could have the summers off. Twenty-five years after moving to Winnipeg, the Winnipeg Tribune, where Adam worked, ceased publication, and by then Eaton’s mail order department was closed. They were both officially retired early. They bought a mobile home in Florida were they could spend their winters, and a trailer in Camp Rusalka on Lake Winnipeg were they spent most of the summers. Carol got involved in crafts, exercise, walking with the ladies and even shuffle-board. Both Carol and Adam were involved in organizing and working on social events at both places, especially Rusalka. Retired life was even busier then working life. Carol was a hard working giving person. If something needed to be done, while others were talking about it, she would already have done it. For a short person, she moved fast. She never seemed to lack energy – always on the go. Family and friends were important to her. Carol always enjoyed doing things for other that would make them happy. But she had a hard time letting people do things for her; she felt that was imposing. She was generous with her time and energy. She was kind to everyone she met; always with a smile. She was loved by all and will be missed. For 67 years it was always Carol and Adam. Eight years ago, Adam passed away Now they are together again.