LILLIAN ROUBLE (MASKIW)

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LILLIAN ROUBLE (nee MASKIW) August 2, 1910 - June 11, 2009 With our deepest sadness and great sorrow, the family of Lillian Rouble announces her peaceful passing on June 11, 2009, at the Concordia Hospital, with her family at her side. Lillian was predeceased by her beloved daughter Violet Maxine, her parents Irene and Elko, brothers Stanley, William, Paul and Harry, sisters Nellie, Martha, Anne, Mary and Sandra and ex-husband Stephen. Our Mom and Baba will be deeply missed by daughter Gloryia, son-in-law Dennis, grandson Shawn and granddaughter-in-law Colleen. Lillian was the second youngest child in her family, born near Vista, Manitoba, where she loved doing all the chores and attending the barn dances. Growing up on the farm developed much of her amazing character. She was religious, hard working, resourceful, creative, proud, independent, courageous, determined, strong-willed, loaded with energy and vitality and full of spunk and always feisty. Though she never had the opportunity to attend school, she always said she wanted to be a teacher. Lillian moved to Winnipeg in her late teens. After getting married, she started a new family with two young daughters. It was not long after that she found herself abandoned by her ex-husband, left to raise two daughters on her own. Drawing on all her past experiences she started the next chapter of her life. Lillian was a devoted mother; she took on two jobs during the week, one at Nutty Club and the other at the Dominion Theatre to make ends meet. On Saturday mornings she worked cleaning houses, in the afternoon she would go shopping to the Main Street market, purchasing meats and fresh produce, planning next week's meals. Lillian was an excellent cook and pie maker, always making sure her daughters were taken care of. Lillian always walked to work to save money. Any money saved would turn into a Golden Book for her daughters. On her walk home she would collect logs and carry them home for firewood. In the fall she would buy a cord of wood and chop it by herself, to prepare for the winter months ahead. An excellent seamstress, she took great pride in sewing clothes for herself and her two daughters and beautifully embroidered their blouses and vests. With limited spare time, she loved to garden, growing all types of vegetables and flowers. On the Sundays in summer, weather permitting, Lillian would prepare a wonderful lunch and take her daughters and other family members by train to Grand Beach; this was a special event for many years. After raising two daughters, she then began another journey in her life, that of helping to raise her grandson Shawn; always providing him the best of care. Lillian would take her new grandson everywhere, Assiniboine Zoo, Red River Ex, parks and restaurants. She was always a part of his life and especially proud when he graduated from university. Lillian loved to take pictures of her family; we have several boxes of photos and we thank you for all the captured memories. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for her two daughters and grandson, often going beyond the call of duty of a parent and a grandparent. Throughout all this Lillian proudly continued to work until she was 69 years old, in later years in the hospitality industry, where she loved to work on banquets. In her retirement years, she continued to support the family in so many ways and now had a little more free time to enjoy the things she loved to do. Lillian's life journey was full of sadness and joy. One of the low points was when her daughter Violet was beaten and almost died. Though Lillian was totally distraught, she would never complain about the hardships, she would say, whatever God gives me I accept . Her other expression was: only God carried me through my rough times . In her 70s, Lillian had the opportunity to fly for the first time, once on a plane trip to Montreal to see her grandson, and on a second occasion to Calgary to see her grandson Shawn and granddaughter-in-law Colleen get married in Banff. In later years, daughter Violet was an instrumental part of Lillian's life. Due to untimely circumstances, Lillian had to relocate to a personal care home. While at the care home, her passions were attending church services, going on outings, playing bingo and visiting with her family. Lillian spent many hours visiting with her daughter Gloryia; always there to attend to so many of the daily concerns, providing that extra bit of special love and care. Also visited by her grandson Shawn, who would bring that small portion of fish or chicken, attend to making her room more functional, play Hola and provide additional love and care. In addition, Lillian enjoyed the visits from her nieces Margaret and Irene; her Godson and nephew Al, who would bring her Ukrainian food at Christmas, blessed food at Easter and holy water; nephew Ernie and wife Elaine, relative Tommy, and a recent visit from nephew Jim. Victoria, a volunteer at the personal care home, assisted Lillian in 2008; almost immediately the two formed a strong friendship. She said your Mom has an explorative, inquisitive mind; never able to sit still, Lillian would journey off in her wheelchair, returning with something that had some special significance to her: a feather, a uniquely shaped rock, a four-leaf clover. Mom loved the simple things in life: flowers, nature, plants, dogs and cats, especially Ridgie, Toto, Blackie, Goldie and Shadow. Always a proud, independent woman, Mom had a ritual each night, she would colour coordinate her clothes and set them out for the next day, in addition, she would gently put away her necklaces, rings, watch and earrings. After readying herself for bed, she would arrange her nightstands and be sure to call, to wish us good night and to express her love for each member of our household. We already miss your phone calls! There were so many things that Mom and Baba taught us: to be honest, compassionate, enjoy the little things in life and the big will follow, and that the elderly have deep wisdom. Mom believed God never gives you more than you can handle and she always believed you should stop and smell the roses. Thank you for being the consummate teacher that you always wanted to be! Lillian's family would like to thank the staff at the Holy Family Nursing Home and special thanks to all the staff at River Park Gardens for the excellent care and especially to Jan who went the extra mile to accommodate Mom and for sharing life experiences. Also thanks to Dan for always providing us tea. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Heart Stroke Foundation or the Winnipeg Humane Society. A viewing was held on June 18, 2009, followed by a private service at the Elmwood Cemetery. Thank you to Msgr. Michael J. Buyachuk for conducting the service at the grave site and to Cropo Funeral Chapel. We will always love you, precious Mom and Baba, from the bottom of our hearts we will never stop missing you. Thank you for everything that you have done for us. We pray that you are in a peaceful place. We'll brave the bitter grief that comes and try to understand. To yesterday's relationship and tomorrow's reunion. GOD BLESS REST IN PEACE XOXOXOXO VICHNAYA PAMYAT

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 20, 2009