Obituary of HELEN 'VERINKA' BOYECHKO

HELEN “VERINKA” BOYECHKO
1932-2024

We are saddened to announce that our mother, Helen, passed away peacefully in her sleep on November 14, 2024 at the Maples Care Home.

She was born on November 19, 1932 to Dmytro and Mary Dowhan on a farm near Renwer, Manitoba. She was the 7^th of 9 children. Farm life was hard and mom and her youngest sister, Stella, left the farm at a young age and headed to Winnipeg.  This is where mom met dad, who was fixing a flat tire on his car on Main Street. The rest is history. They married on January 20, 1955 and had 4 children: Ted, Barb (Joe), Rosanne (Mark), and Krystal, 5 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. Mom and dad were able to celebrate 51 years of marriage, with dad sadly passing in December 2006.

Mom had a few part time jobs when we were growing up, but her greatest joy was being a full-time mom. When she became a grandma, she loved babysitting her grandchildren and to watch them grow. She would do anything for them and they fondly called her “granny”, which she loved. When dad passed away in 2006, mom was able to remain in the family home for over 10 years with a little help from her kids. She loved her independence and we tried to help her live on her own for as long as possible. Unfortunately, in 2018, a health issue made it difficult for her to live on her own, and so the decision was made for her to move into the Maples Care Home. With almost daily visits from her daughters, Barb and Krystal, we were able to help make this transition easier for her. Mom enjoyed our visits and celebrating special occasions such as birthdays, holidays and numerous lunch dates we had with her. It was at the Maples that she was able to reconnect with her older sister, Sophie, who was also a resident and mom hadn’t seen in over 30 years. Auntie Sophie became a regular at our lunch dates, which allowed her and mom to share their memories.

Sadly, over the last couple of years, time took away some of mom’s memories. This, however, did not affect our visits and made them more interesting as she would often bring up dad, her childhood and events that were important to her. She always had a huge smile, a hug and a kiss whenever she received a visit from her kids, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and would shed a tear when the visit was over. Even though the mind sometimes forgets, she was proof that her heart never did.

Our hearts are broken and we will shed many tears over the loss of our mom. However, what we do have is a lifetime of treasured memories to remind us of how fortunate we were to have such an amazing mom, grandma and great grandma in our lives. Heaven got a special angel today and dad is reunited with his “sweetie”.

We love you mom, and we will forever miss you. Rest in peace.

As per mom’s request there will be no funeral service.