NELLIE ANASTASIA WILMAN (BUYAR)

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NELLIE ANASTASIA WILMAN (nee BUYAR) On Thursday, December 13, 2001 at her residence, Nellie Anastasia Wilman of Portage la Prairie, widow of the late John Thomas Wilman, mother of Frank, Robert and Margaret, passed away at the age of 81 years. Born December 24, 1919 near Ethelbert, MB. Predeceased by her husband John (Jack) Wilman in 1966; her parents, Michael and Mary Buyar; her sisters, Jean, Natalie Gustafson and Lena Pelechaty; and brother Victor. She leaves to mourn her children, Frank and wife Susanne, Robert and wife Michelle, and Margaret and husband Douglas Wasyliw; eight grandchildren; and sisters, Olga Didyk of Dauphin, Lydia Hlady of Ethelbert; brother Tony and wife Ann of Vernon, BC; and brother-in-law Roy Gustafson of Pilot Mound, MB. Nell was raised on her familys farm in Ethelbert, completed high school and came to Winnipeg to work as a maid. She entered the Manitoba Hospital Training School for Nurses in Selkirk, in graduating as what was then called a "mental nurse" in 1944. Nell then joined the Canadian Womens Army Corp in September 1944 where she performed duties picking up troops, transporting them to their bases, and translating from Ukrainian to English. She was discharged upon demobilization in November 1945. She returned to nursing at Selkirk until her marriage to Jack in 1949. Nell and Jack lived in Winnipeg where she obtained her certification as a Licensed Practical Nurse in 1950. Nell and Jack decided to operate the Wilman family farm at Erikson, MB. Son Frank was born in 1952, followed by Robert in 1954 and Margaret in 1956. In 1958, they decided to leave farming to pursue running various businesses and Nell continued nursing in Portage la Prairie. She nursed at The Manitoba Developmental Centre for twenty years until her retirement in 1986. Nell never looked back. She pursued her hobbies of needlework and gardening, becoming more active in the Anglican Church. She joined the Herman Prior Centre and began travelling, visiting more than a dozen countries in Great Britain, Europe and Africa. Funeral services will be held at The First Unitarian-Universalist Church on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Internment will follow at Hillside Cemetery in Portage la Praierie at 2:30 p.m. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Diabetes Society. The Omga Funeral Home, Portage la Prairie, in care of the arrangements. Friends may leave message and sign the register book at our web site www.legacy.com "Where life stories live on".

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 17, 2001