HELEN CHUBATY

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HELEN CHUBATY

(nee KOSOWAN)

With sadness we said good-bye to our dearly-loved mom, mother-in-law and baba on January 30, 2024 at the age of 84. Mom fought hard to stay in this life at both the beginning and the end. The time in between was a treasure.

Born premature at home in Gardenton, Manitoba on May 31, 1939, to Nick and Verna (nee Tkachuk) Kosowan, mom and her equally feisty twin brother John were not expected to survive. They surprised everyone with their determined spirit. Life on the farm was not one of luxury, but with eleven siblings the days were never boring. When mom was ready to venture out, she took the coolest job ever (in her granddaughters’ eyes) as a potato chip salter for Hunter’s Potato Chips. Throughout her adult years, Mom had a love of technology, from her early days as a switchboard operator and typist with the provincial Department of Labour to her stay-at-home years as a “home typist” of cookbooks to her 22 years with the provincial government’s Trade Branch as an Administrative Secretary.

Mom met our dad Peter at a dance in Gardenton when he cut in front of another fellow who was going to ask her to dance. They never looked back, and Mom and Dad enjoyed 57 years together. Family was number one for our parents, and Mom was the rock on which our unit was built. She was the voice of compassion and reason, often delivered with a touch of (infamous) “Kosowan humour.” For daughter Donna and son Glenn, she was a non-judgemental ear, a hands-on support and a role model of loyalty and grace.

Mom was beyond thrilled to become Baba to Alexandra and Logan. She was a baba who was family-famous for her perogies, cabbage roles and nalysnyky. Her granddaughters maintain that she somehow made the best toast. She was also a baba who organized basement egg hunts all year round, offered up dream interpretations and left regular comments on her granddaughters’ Instagram posts.

Mom had many friends and was an involved parishioner at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church for decades. She was an avid bowler, a fan of the comic strip Garfield (“no coffee no workee”) and loved a challenging jigsaw puzzle. Few things made her as happy as a sewing project that tested her imagination. She loved a mental challenge, and she did word searches and sudoku puzzles into her final days.

In her last months, with characteristic strength, patience and determination, Mom did everything she could to battle that horrible disease, cancer. She fought the good fight and is now at rest. She was (and we are) deeply grateful for the tremendous staff at CancerCare Manitoba (with a shout-out to special nurse Shirley), the compassionate community Palliative Care team and the caring doctors, nurses, and health care aides at the St. Boniface Hospital Palliative Care Unit.

Mom was predeceased by her beloved husband Peter (2018) as well as by parents, Nick and Verna Kosowan, siblings, Albert, Olga Toews, Bill, Nick, twin brother John, Lucy Mitchell, Nestor, and Sonia Douglas. She is survived by daughter Donna (Randy Boychuk, Alexandra and Logan) and son Glenn (Tracy Bramwell Chubaty), siblings, Michael (Henrietta), Jarvis, Lawrence (Barbara), sisters-in-law, Elsie Kosowan and Diane Kosowan. She will be dearly missed by many, many extended family members, in-laws, and friends.



Mom’s funeral service will be held on Saturday, February 10, 2024, at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, 250 Jefferson Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba at 10:00 am, with Father John Sianchuk, CSsR, officiating. Interment will follow in Stuartburn Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to CancerCare Manitoba or to the St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church Building and Capital Maintenance Fund would be appreciated.

Rest in Peace, Mom.

VICHNAYA PAM’YAT.

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As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Feb 03, 2024, Feb 03, 2024