Obituary of HELENA ARLUKIEWICZ

Our kochana Mama and Babcia, our beloved Nanny, died on 20 November 2022. Helena's heart was filled to the brim with her love for her family and her family's love for her.

As Helena would say, most of her family members and friends died before her, including her husband Leon, daughter Halina, brother Edward, sister Zosia, and grandson Andrew. She often commented that she could not believe that she lived to the age of 97. Helena is survived by her daughter Barbara, son Peter, sister Aniela, and several nieces, cousins, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great­grandchildren.

Helena was born in Poznan, Poland on 29 January 1925. She moved to Canada with her husband and children in 1965. She spoke of the challenges of moving to a new country in her 40s, not knowing any English and certainly not being familiar with the snow that she experienced in the winter of 1965/66. She worked for 20 years at Motor Coach Industries, manufacturing buses. Despite her challenges with speaking with English, she was sought after as a leader and teacher at work.

Helena loved children. She loved to hear them laugh and play and showered them with unconditional love in her words and actions. She brought wonder and joy to her grandchildren and great­grandchildren by dressing up as Santa Claus for several family Christmas gatherings.

Helena loved to joke and have fun. She enjoyed playing cards and preparing food for her family. She was regularly preparing soup for her grandchildren until just before her admission to hospital. Helena also enjoyed gardening - well into her 90s, she was known for snipping errant vines if gardening shears were in sight. All of her family members with gardens will miss the annual May delivery of tomato plants that Helena grew from seed for us, starting in the month of March.

Helena was the rock of our family, and not simply because she was our elder. She was resilient and showed us how to put one foot in front of the other and make our way through challenging circumstances, just as she did through many challenging times in her life.

We will all miss Helena dearly and wish her peace. She was our 'sunshine, our only sunshine. She made us happy when skies were grey'.

Funeral will be held at Cropo Funeral Chapel (1442 Main St.) on Saturday, November 26 at 10:00 a.m. Followed by burial at 11:30 a.m. at the Holy Ghost Cemetery (4387 Main St.).

There will be a “celebration of life lunch” following at the Rivercrest Inn (4200 Main St.)