December 14, 1924 - July 13, 2025

It is with heavy hearts that her family announces the peaceful passing of our beloved and cherished mom, baba and great-grandmother Nadia (Madge) Baril, who passed away on Sunday, July 13, 2025 at the age of 100 years young. She was an indomitable spirit.

She was predeceased by her husband Romeo Baril; her children Brian Baril, Rene Baril and Cathy Paterson; her granddaughter Renee Turner; siblings  and their spouses Mary and Harry Sulymka, Marjory and Steve Statkewich, Anne and Willie Pasternak, Lena and John Andreychuk, Pauline and Joe Norosky, Julie and Peter Murash and Walter and Helen Shewchuk;  in-laws Joe and Ruth Baril, Aline and Jerry Duval, Lucille and John Okrainec, Roger Baril and Dennis and Rita Baril.

She is survived by her children Robert (Elaine) Baril, Sharon (Ken) Turner, Connie (Michel) Jacques, son-in-law Kevin Paterson, Roger (Lori) Baril, Theresa (Don) Baril-Bissett, Anita (Randy) Southall, and Denise Baril. She is loved and cherished by her grandchildren Heather Baril, Stephen Baril, Matthew Baril, Lisa Foster (Ward), Paula Meuller (Lance), Danielle Jacques, Laurie Jacques (Sylvain), Olivia Jacques (Hugo), Sara Girardin (David), Carolyn Lussier (Matthew), Bradley Baril (Jessica), Colin Baril (Samantha), Carly Marteinsson-Alexander (Sterling), Thomas Baril-Bissett (Tamara), Rheana Bolt (Matthew), Jessica Baril-Bissett, Cole Southall (Kelly), Martine Southall (Dustin), Alexander Rooney and Chase Rooney. She lived to see many great-grandchildren. They are Joseph Ducharme, Kyle Foster, Cyndel Foster, Austin Turner, Vincent Mordret, Louis, Benjamin and Laurent Roy, Gabriel and Julianne Lavallée, Félix and Mada Girardin, Charlotte, Jack and Abigail Lussier, Kolton, Owen and Avery Baril, Ivan Shpetniy, Levi Marteinsson-Alexander, Chet Baril, Benjamin Bolt, and Isaac and Pierce Southall. She leaves one brother-in-law Thomas Baril (Michelle).

Nadia was born in Ozerna, Manitoba to Stephan and Anastasia Shewchuk, the youngest of eight children in her happy and faith-filled Ukrainian Catholic family.  Her siblings and their spouses were the centre of her world growing up as Mom lost her mother when she was only fourteen years old. They were more than siblings; they were her closest friends for her entire life. She cherished her Baril sister- and brother-in-laws’ companionship and deeply loved all her nieces and nephews and their families as the Shewchuk and Baril clans grew.

 Nadia attended Fraser School and moved to Winnipeg in her late teens to join her older sisters and their husbands already there. In Winnipeg, she got a job at Stall Furriers working to sew fur coats. It was here that she met Romeo who pieced together those furs and they worked on the same floor. He would throw pins at her to get her attention. Soon they were dating, and married in August of 1947. They were married 45 years when Meo (Mom’s name for Dad) passed away in June, 1992.

Mom was a fashionista in her time. When she was a young woman, she designed and created her own hats of which she had many over the years. She was a beautiful woman and enjoyed looking her best. She had her nails done and makeup on, regardless of her age. She loved to buy and wear new clothes and jewellery and wore them with pizzazz. She was quite particular about people knowing her age which we all found really funny. She spoke about the old people upstairs at Holy Family even when we were celebrating her 99th birthday.

Nadia and Romeo lived in several homes in Winnipeg as their family of nine grew. They finally settled in Charleswood on Cathcart Street where she lived and raised our family for more than 50 years. Mom was a woman of devout and deep faith and was a Catholic Women’s League member for over 60 years.  She volunteered for several years with the Sisters of Charity in Winnipeg, giving of her time and her heart to their task of helping the poor in Winnipeg.

Nadia was a people person and loved to socialize. Nothing was better than to be surrounded by friends and family and, with Meo, hosted many parties at their homes over the years. People still comment on how they loved being a part of those events because of our parents’ generosity of spirit and sheer fun they had at them. Many a card game was played at our family table with aunts, uncles and cousins joining us. Rummoli, Pass the Ace, 31 and cribbage. Ask her grandchildren about playing rummoli with her and how competitive their “sweet and loving” Baba could get playing cards.

It was interesting trying to go grocery shopping at the Safeway in Charleswood with Mom because you had to stop all the time as she knew so many people and they all wanted to chat and catch up with her. She was friends with everybody. I’m sure she loved it, but it at least doubled the time it would have taken most people to get their groceries. 

Mom loved to sing and dance. She would often have copies of different songs in her dresser drawer to practise. She loved the old songs and one of them was Sunrise Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof.  She had a beautiful voice and enhanced many parish choirs with her skill. She continued to sing Christmas carols at Holy Family Home even at 99.  She always led the family in Mnohoya-lita at our celebrations and we sing it with pride to this day. Weddings were a chance to polka and dance the night away. With such a big family, she was never short of partners. She was even on the dance floor at the last family reunion when she was almost 90.

She had so many friends throughout her lifetime, especially from this parish and really enjoyed spending time with them at their and her home and on various outings. She, Lil Moore (Elaine’s mom) and Father Terry McGrath would spend time travelling to such places as Costa Rica (zip lining through the rainforest at 80), Egypt (ate with a Bedouin family in the desert), Israel (during an earthquake), Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Texas and always met new friends along the way. She would often call those people she had met just to catch up. She traveled with her children and grandchildren on trips across the country and particularly enjoyed being at Green Gables in PEI. She walked the Haunted Forest and Lover’s Lane behind the house there, taking her back to the love of the stories she had as a child. She cornered the market on souvenirs and knick knacks and would usually come home with something for the kids. Later, we would find boxes of it under her bed and share a good laugh over that one!

She spent many happy times at Falcon Lake at Father Terry’s cottage. They were fast friends and hosted many friends and members of the clergy at the cottage. Falcon Lake was a special place for our children; jumping off the dock into the freezing water, diving for treasures, doing the 100 steps back up to the cottage, wearing really, really bad hats, sitting in the hot tub at night looking at the Milky Way and being spoiled when Baba would bring them a bowl of shrimp to eat that floated in the hot tub. Those are the times with her they will never forget.

And as if having nine children and a working husband to take care of wasn’t enough, Mom took on part time jobs, one of which was as a neighbourhood Avon Lady. She was very good at this and helped to supplement our income and get out of the house which was probably the real reason to do it! Who wouldn't love a men's cologne glass decanter shaped like a duck? We would often find her lipstick samples and try them on. I am sure it was frustrating to arrive at a client's house to find stumps of lipstick in those little tubes. We loved it! The back door of the Arlington Street house was never locked and family, kids, neighbours and neighbourhood kids moved in and out of our bustling home. She also had a job packing orders for Ferrett Products which was located next door to our home on Arlington Street in the Viking Printers Building. She would go to work after we had all left for school, come home to make lunch and then sometimes go back for the afternoon, always being home when we got there. She was usually in the basement doing laundry on our wringer washer or rewiring our often-broken electric dryer. We would come in the back door, yell “Mom?”, she’d yell back “What?” and we’d just walk away without responding knowing all was well. I am sure it drove her right up the wall. Ferrett Products was owned by Howard Donner who became fast friends with Mom and Dad and would often be found in our home on the phone so no one in the office could overhear his conversation. He was a kind man and eventually Mom and Dad bought his company and its stock to move onto their biggest adventure.

Romeo and Nadia opened The Wine Baril on Marion Street in 1971. They worked together to grow their winemaking supply business to be a success story in Winnipeg. She was beloved by customers who asked for her and often spent Saturdays there even after she retired to greet and visit with them. She always had Double Bubble gum for any children who arrived. They started a mail order business that ran across the country. People would often send in more than orders; they would send long letters to her and Mom would write back to each one. They became pen pals and those people often shared the joys and tragedies of their lives with her. What an honour she must have thought it was. The Wine Baril continues today as a Baril family business operated by their son Robert.

We could hardly wait for the annual sale at the Wine Baril as it meant a Chinese food meal on Saturday. We would all show up and once again, spend our time with each other. And, with nine children, there were nine weddings and Sunday parties after each wedding that she and Dad hosted in the backyard of our home. We loved it all, never realizing, of course, the amount of work that they put into those crazy events. Thank you Mom and Dad for all of it!

Her love of gardening was on display each year in her beautiful flower gardens in Charleswood. She loved working with the soil and would proudly display and talk about them to anyone who was over. She had a green thumb and we like to think that our own love of gardening is because of the example she set at all of the homes she owned. She spent time with her own mother in their garden at the farm working, but it was the flower gardens that her mother loved best. Like mother, like daughter.

She was never afraid of a challenge and learned to drive a car and swim when she was over 40. She was creative and always dreaming up new window ideas and things to sell at the store. One of our favourites was planting terrariums in green demijohns meant for wine. She put them in the front window and they sold very well. 

Mom was quick of wit and the hardest working person we have ever known. She never failed to get a meal on the table for all of us, even when times were tough. She canned fruit, vegetables, pickles and more in countless numbers so that the eleven of us would have fresh food in the winter. Sundays were lunch at Mom and Dad’s and her children and grandchildren will never forget her perogies, holubchi, petishke, and many more foods in which we delighted. The smell of onions when you walked into Baba’s and rang the bell on the railing could only mean one thing: we’re having perogies, and hers, of course, were always better than ours. She even made our duvets (parenahs), and pillows when we were young.

Her love of people continued when, at the age of 97, Mom moved to Holy Family Care Home. She was constantly smiling and reaching out to hold other people’s hands or waving hello. She was a life force for all and spread kindness wherever she went. They have told us that she was the heart of their unit, something we loved to hear, but didn’t find surprising at all.

We would like to thank the loving staff of Holy Family Home 2A Sacred Heart Unit for their gentle and compassionate care of Mom during her stay with them. Many thanks to the thoughtful and dedicated staff in 4E Family Medicine at St. Boniface Hospital who took care of Mom in her short time there.

She was the key to the lock that has kept our family together, body and soul, in love and laughter. We will miss her terribly. We will love you always, Mom. Vichnaya Pamyat. Вічная Пам'ять

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, July 22 at 11:00 a.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 4588 Roblin Blvd, Winnnipeg. Interment at Assumption Cemetery will follow the afternoon luncheon.  In lieu of flowers, the family kindly encourages donations to Siloam Mission or a charity of your choice in honour of Nadia’s generous spirit.