Obituary of STELLA BODNAR

Stella Bodnar (nee Gurniak)

May 22, 1931 to January 3, 2023

Stella Bodnar, our beautiful wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend passed away peacefully at home January 3, 2023, at the age of 91 with her loving husband of over 72 years at her side.

Born in 1931, Stella started her life in a small home built by her mother and father Maria and Jocephus Gurniak on Galliger Avenue in Winnipeg (Brooklands) Manitoba. She attended Krawchyk School near Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church that her father and older brother, Stan, helped build.  She later moved to Logan Avenue and then to Eric Street with her mother and brother, Stan.

Times were difficult and at sixteen, she left school to work as a presser in the garment industry so prevalent in Winnipeg at the time.  It was there that she met the love of her life, Edward Bodnar, a handsome cutter.  In October 1950, they married and soon they were raising two daughters and two sons moving from a duplex on Home Street to Elgin Avenue and finally in 1971 to Lansdowne Avenue.

Stella was a loving stay-at-home mom who prided herself on a love of cooking and baking.  She could turn leftovers into a gourmet meal rivaled by any fancy chef.  As children, there was always a dessert waiting as we arrived home from school and especially when company arrived.  She also loved sewing clothing and crafting, knitting mittens and scarves by the score, doll clothes and sweaters for all of us kids. She doted over her grandchildren, catering to their every whim.  Stella will be remembered most for her warm smile and loving hugs. 

Mourning her loss are her husband Edward, her children: Patricia (John) Millard, Katherine Bodnar (Chuck Dyck), Ken (Hedy) Bodnar, and Ted (Melanie) Bodnar; her eight grandchildren: Carter, Ava and Braden Bodnar, Garrett (Paige) Bodnar, Stephanie Monteith, Elicia (JP) Hinse, Will (Katrina) Monteith and Adam (Sarah) Monteith; and her great-grandchildren, Ella and Cuinn Sundby, Stephania, Kaia and Thomas Hinse and niece Marge (Gary) Campbell and nephew Stan (Linde) Gornick.  She is dearly missed by her childhood and constant friend Olga Eschuk and her family. 

Stella was predeceased by her mother, Maria Anne Gurniak (1980) and brother Stan Gornick (1996).

Funeral service will be held on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at Cropo Funeral Chapel, 1442 Main Street. With interment to follow at Brookside Cemetery, 3001 Notre Dame Avenue.