ALEXANDER SOKAL

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ALEXANDER SOKAL Peacefully, on Saturday, April 9, 2016, Alexander (Alec) Sokal passed away, at the age of 94, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his children, Alexis, Sandra (Harald), Randy (Karen), Clifford and Cheryl (Bernd); his four precious grandchildren, Ashley (Phil), Courtney (Mark), Vanessa and Alexander; as well as his two brothers, George and Bill. Alec was predeceased by his beloved wife Margaret, in 1989. Alec's parents, George and Mary, emigrated from the Ukraine in the early 1900s. The couple were farmers and they purchased a farm in the Pineridge, Manitoba area. Alec was born on November 2, 1921, the sixth child in a family of nine. The family later moved to the Oakbank, Manitoba area, where they continued to farm. Life was hard, and they were very poor. Due to family hardship, Alec dropped out of school in grade four to help out on his family's farm. Alec loved music and taught himself to play several musical instruments. He played in a band with his brother George at weddings and socials. It was at one of these events that he met his future wife, Margaret Grodecki. The couple were married in 1948 and bought a farm next to Alec's parents, where they had five children. In 1956, the family experienced a horrific fire that destroyed all the barns and killed all the animals. The fire was heartbreaking, but better times lay ahead, as the following year Alec and his brothers purchased Princess Farm Equipment in Winnipeg. A few years later, the brothers constructed a new building, moving the business to Oakpoint Road and changing the name to Sokal Farm Equipment. Alec was a people person with a warm sense of humour, so selling came naturally to him. He won many sales awards and trips for the Cockshutt dealership, and the brothers successfully ran the business until their retirement. In 1959, tragedy struck again with the family's home burning to the ground while they were on vacation. The family was devastated and lost almost everything. Shortly thereafter, Alec and his family moved to Transcona, where he had built a house himself. Alec and Margaret lived in that home for many years, raising their family, while Alex continued to farm and operate the farm implement dealership. In 1971, while on the way home from harvesting, Alec's truck was hit head on by a drunk driver. Alec's brother Bill, who had been driving behind him, witnessed the collision and got help. Alec was badly injured and spent 10 months in the hospital. Miraculously, he recovered from his extensive leg injuries. In 1973, for their 25th wedding anniversary, Alec and Margaret's children gave them a trip to Hawaii. Alec absolutely loved Hawaii and spoke fondly of the trip for many years. In 1975, Alec built a beautiful home on their farm property outside of Oakbank. He and Margaret lived there until 1983, when they sold their properties and retired to East St. Paul. Sadly, Margaret was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1980, and Alec devotedly looked after her until she died in 1989. Alexander was a remarkable man who had many varied interests such as drawing, astronomy, anthropology, mechanics, building, business, finance, languages and Roman history. He enjoyed challenging himself to learn new things and understand how things worked. He and his wife instilled a love of reading in all their children and Alec always said, "if you can read, you can learn to do anything." Another favourite motto of Alec's was "to survive, you have to have a plan." This poor farm boy managed to create a very successful life for him and his family. Alec was a good, moral, hard-working man who positively affected many people. He was a wonderful and loving father and grandfather, and he will be sadly missed by his family and friends. A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 9, 2016 at the Qualico Family Centre, 330 Assiniboine Park Drive in Assiniboine Park. If you would like to honour Alexander's memory, please donate to a charity of your choice.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 25, 2016