Obituary of SYLVIA (JULIA) PANISKO

SYLVIA (JULIA) PANISKO It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Sylvia Panisko at the Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg on August 2, 2020 at the age of 93 years after a chronic illness. She leaves behind her beloved and only son, Danny Jr., of Toronto. She was predeceased by her husband Daniel, and her favourite cousin, June Miller, over the past year. Cremation has taken place and a memorial service will be postponed to a future date when circumstances allow. Sylvia was born in Winnipeg in October 1926 and was an only child. Her parents Mykyta and Anna Nahorniak immigrated to Canada from the Western Ukraine in the early 1920’s. Sylvia went to public school in Winnipeg at William Whyte School and attended High School at Isaac Newton. Sylvia also attended Ukrainian school on weekends throughout her childhood and played mandolin in a Ukrainian string orchestra. After high school she attended business college and obtained a certificate in accounting. She married her husband Daniel in October 1950, and they had stayed together in happy marriage for the subsequent 69 years. Sylvia worked in a variety of accounting departments over the years in Winnipeg. These included Canadian National Railways, Ogilvy’s, Wilson Stationary, and Finmac Lumber. Her time at the latter company gave her particular enjoyment because of the happy workplace camaraderie. She joined and complemented her husband’s engineering expertise and contributed vitally to his design work and building of family homes initially in West Kildonan, then in West St. Paul, and also a cottage at Brereton Lake in the Whiteshell. Sylvia enjoyed leisure time with the whole family at the cottage for much of her life. This included many visits from extended family and friends. She loved fashion, flowers, gardening, and the arts throughout her life, She was a voracious reader and this continued into the last weeks of her life. She was a particular fan of Canadian literature. With her husband and son, the family took extensive car vacations over many summers across the breadth of Canada. She also travelled further afield with family to Europe on several occasions and to East Africa. Throughout her life she was very supportive of her son Danny Jr., and with her husband, ensured that her son received the best in education and career advancement. As she became more frail with age, she resided at the Middlechurch Home and was later joined there by her husband in the last few years. There, she received ongoing support and visits from her cousins the Millers, and their family, as well as frequent regular visits from her son from Toronto. The family would like to specially acknowledge her personal support companions Donna, April, Margaret who have been providing excellent friendship for the past several years. The family is also very grateful for the wonderful staff at the Middlechurch Home who cared for Sylvia, including nurses Susan and Tracy. She was one of the favourite residents for many of the health care aides at the home, where she was often the centre of attention providing jokes, good humour, and life advice to all. In lieu of flowers, if friends so desire, contributions in her memory could be made to the St. Boniface General Hospital Research fund or to the Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg. “Goodbye mom. You were always the best!”