Obituary of VALERIE ANNIE GABEL

Valerie Annie Gabel (nee Bodnarchuk)
Born: October 13, 1931
 

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Valerie on March 19, 2022 at the age of 90 years.

Valerie will forever be remembered by her husband Donald as the “love of his life” for the last 64 years.

She will be deeply missed by her daughter Lisa, son Kenneth and grandson Shane. 

Valerie was predeceased by her father Frank (1948) her mother Jennie (1979) and her brother Edward Bodnar (2015).

Valerie was born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End where she attended Lord Nelson School and Isaac Newton. Valerie enjoyed music and theater, and with her mom (Jennie Bodnarchuk), would attend concerts at the Ukrainian Labour Temple, where she also learned to play the mandolin.  Mom enjoyed attending the Winnipeg Symphony Pops concerts with her daughter – girl’s night out!

Valerie was a stay at home mom but she did work at Winnipeg Electric (now Winnipeg Transit) where one of her jobs was to type schedules – no delete button on those long cartridge typewriters.

Mom was an independent, strong willed and inquisitive woman who nurtured our interests in nature (birds, wild flowers), the environment (weather), geography (travel and maps) and astronomy (watching the night sky at the lake). She was creative and loved to knit and crochet, do embroidery work and other “crafty” projects she would encourage her children to try. The Saturday Free Press Crossword puzzles were a favorite of hers and she worked on them every week, and was an avid Y&R watcher.

She enjoyed playing sports especially basketball and baseball, but also followed the local sports teams, especially the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.  Spring/Summer were Mom’s favorite seasons when she could go outside and enjoy gardening and planting flowers around her home. As a family we had many enjoyable weekends and vacation-time at the cottage at Gull Lake (at the beach watching her kids, cleaning the yard/beach (pick-up sticks, branches, weeds…) playing cards in the evening, and working on the latest jigsaw puzzle on the veranda…).  Valerie wasn’t a fan of flying but she did fly many times to Hawaii with her husband Don. Aloha!

Mom/Val you will forever be in our hearts, we love you so much and we miss you… till we meet again!

Cremation has taken place and per Val's wishes there will not be an official funeral service.

In lieu of flowers, donations to honour Valerie's memory may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba or to a charity of your choice.