JOHN GALAYDA

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JOHN GALAYDA Peacefully and without pain, John Galayda, son of Andrew and Helen, husband of Agnes, father of Robert and Theodore, grandfather of John Galayda and Schylar Epp, passed away at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, on November 12, 2011. Born on February 10, 1934 in Winnipeg, John attended Brooklands Elementary School, and later Tec Voc High School with his lifetime friends, whom he cherished to the day of his passing. John hired on with the CN Railroad in 1954, started off as a Fireman on steam engines, then a Switchman, Brakeman, Conductor, Engineer, and finally as an Engineer/Instructor, teaching young engineers-in-training the finer points and immense responsibilities of the craft in live work settings. My father was always happy sitting in the cab of a locomotive, chasing the vanishing point where the tracks met, a place the hogheads called malfunction junction . He made his last run in 1996. In 1958 he married Agnes Wiwchar, and their marriage endured where many had failed, right up to his passing. He and Agnes had two sons, Robert Allan, and Theodore Andrew. Theodore Andrew had predeceased him by only seven weeks. His family was his world, and his devotion to us was demonstrated by endless 10 to 12 hour days in the hospital, steady and strong at my brother's bedside, during my brother's final weeks. They were his final undoing, as cancer ravaged my father's body, but his duty to his son was unwavering, his resolve absolute, and his spirit unbroken. My father was the most patient man I had ever known. Always learning, always watching, always kind, and a wonderful teacher, I could listen to his conversations with my godfather Leon Feduniw for hours, as they would discuss and debate a subject. My father loved to work with wood. He and my uncle Vic Epp could be found making sawdust in my dad's garage, almost any given morning. Everything from turning custom pens and intricate picture frames of exotic woods for his family photos, to helping me build my house around a house , if there was sawdust to be made, my father was there with a smile. My father loved to whistle, in tune, on time, any song, I would always listen for his happy tunes in the garage as I approached. It told me that he was home . Husband, teacher, mentor, father, grandfather, friend...my dad loved all his roles in life, and all the lives entwined within his. The family wishes to thank the doctors and nurses at HSC, in the GH-4, for their superb care and compassion. Thank you Andrew, my father spoke so highly of you. In lieu of flowers, a donation to CancerCare Manitoba would be welcomed. Funeral Service will be held at Klassen Funeral Home on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. Arrangements entrusted to: KLASSEN FUNERAL HOME 1897 Henderson Hwy. 338-0331 Send expressions of sympathy at www.klassenfuneralhome.com

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As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Nov 16, 2011