HELEN (HYLKA) LUKIE (BOGOSLOWSKI)

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HELEN (HYLKA) LUKIE (nee BOGOSLOWSKI) On March 13, 2006 at Seven Oaks Hospital, Helen Lukie, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away at the age of 91 years. She will be sadly missed by her four daughters, Olive (Ernie), Anne (Alex), Jeanne(Keith), Winnifred (Harvey); six sons, Morris (Helen), Rev Bohdan, Alexander (Angela), Ron (Marlene), Gary (Jan), Brian (Hannia); son-in-law Wally, 34 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren. She leaves also to mourn five brothers and two sisters in Ontario. She was predeceased by husband John, daughter Mary, great-grandson Evan Ryan and brother John. Helen was born on March 25, 1914 in Skala, Western Ukraine. Mom came to Canada at the age of 12 with her mother, two younger brothers and a baby sister in 1927 to meet her father who had arrived a year earlier to seek employment with the railway. They homesteaded in the Grifton area. Being the eldest of nine children, Mom's schooling was limited as she was often the caregiver while her parents worked for neighbouring farmers and employers. In October of 1930 and at the age of 16, Mom married John M. Lukie in Sifton, MB. Together they raised a family of eleven children. They worked tirelessly on their farms in Grifton, Spruce Bluff and Grandview areas. Mom and Dad worked diligently for their community and were very faithful members of their church. Mom was also one of the founding members U.C.W.L. of St. Elias Parish in 1950 and held various executive positions including president for two terms. Being a conscientious member, she seldom missed a convention or congress - be it in Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Dauphin, or elsewhere. As the wife of the church cantor, Mom's open invitation after church service made hosting coffee-klatch for priests and parishioners a regular occurrence. With five of her sons attending St. Vladimir's College in Roblin and two daughters attending Sacred Heart Academy in Yorkton, Mom showed her truly spiritual and giving nature by spending the time driving back and forth, often alone, to volunteer for any need in mind. Mom did have a passion for travel and did join and enjoy many tours including the Holy Land, Rome and the Oberammergau Passion Play as well as visits to her children in Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York and Vancouver. In 1972, she left the farm in Grandview and moved to Winnipeg to continue her caring ways for her boys in university. As was her nature, she joined St. Joseph's Church, where she became passionately involved in church and women's league activities. She would walk the several blocks daily to attend the 7 am mass and stay for hours volunteering for any need, be it pyrohy-making, attending to flowers, helping at social events or such. She then moved to the Senior's Complex at Holy Family and continued her kindly ways of serving, still at St. Joseph's but also at the nursing home where, even at her senior age, she would assist daily with helping residents to and from chapel services. She had always a special place in her heart for the Sisters of Immaculate Heart - with both a close friendship and strongly held respect for their devotion to the servitude of God and humanity. Mom always described her family as a League of Nations - many of her children have spouses of different nationalities-but Ukrainian traditions were very important to her. Many learned the Ukrainian language and all respected Mom's (Babka's) desire to maintain cultural roots. Christmas and Easter were always celebrated as a big family gathering and these were times that Mom, in her quiet manner, displayed her true happiness and pride and stressed the sense of family togetherness. Mom's spiritual focus always impacted her day-to-day life but none more so then the closeness to God that she felt by being blessed with a son, Rev. Bohdan, who has dedicated his life to serving God through the priesthood. Her outgoing manner and caring smiles gained many friends through her life. She was a courageous and always generous lady who lived life to the fullest. Her great love and faith in God and the church and her devotion to her family served as an excellent example to us all. She unceasingly prayed for health of family and friends and prayed her rosary daily until the last hour of her life. She loved to sing and this trait has carried on to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as all family gatherings have and will continue to include caroling and singing. Mom was a proud lady but quietly so, as she taught all of us the virtue of humility and selflessness and we can truly thank her for that. The family would like to express its gratitude to the medical and nursing staff at Seven Oaks Hospital, and the caregivers at Holy Family Nursing Home for their genuine care and compassion. Celebration of her life will include funeral prayer service to be held on Thursday, March 16 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church, 250 Jefferson Ave., Divine Liturgy on Friday, March 17 at 9:30 a.m. also at St. Joseph's Church and Divine Liturgy on Saturday, March 18 at 1:00 p.m. at St. Elias Ukrainian Catholic Church in Grandview, MB with Rev. Bohdan Lukie officiating. Interment at St. Elias Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Babka's name to Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate (Holy Family Nursing Home), 131 Aberdeen Ave., Winnpeg, MB R2W 1T9 or Welcome Home, 188 Euclid Ave., Winnipeg, MB R2W 2X4 or charity of your choice. You, Mama (Babka), Tato (Dido) and Mary will forever be in our hearts and prayers! Vichnaya Pamiat!! CROPO FUNERAL CHAPEL 586-8044

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Mar 16, 2006