PETER TRIMPOLIS (GURINOW)

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PETER TRIMPOLIS (GURINOW) August 12, 1911 - December 5, 2011 Peacefully, during the early morning of December 5, our beloved father took his last breath surrendering his spirit to our Creator and slipped into the temporary sleep of death at 100 years of age. He leaves behind to cherish his memory his daughters, Helen and Lilly (Terry); and two grandsons, Steve and Evan. He also leaves behind one brother and two sisters, as well as numerous nieces and nephews in Ukraine. He was predeceased by his dear wife Mary in 1998 and only son Walter in 1979. Peter was born in 1911 in the tiny village of Nyzhnya Pokrovka in Kharkov, eastern Ukraine. His happy childhood forever changed when the Soviet government under Stalin orchestrated its Collectivization campaign and confiscated his family's farm in the 1929s dekulakization. Consequently, at the age of 18, Peter, along with his family of 10, as well as much of his village was exiled to the cold far north in Russia. Escaping forced labour, he crisscrossed the U.S.S.R. as a fugitive, working where he could under six false names in order to send food packages of dried bread to keep his family from starvation. During these 10 years he was able to learn the electrical trade which he went on to practice in Canada. In an ironic twist, in 1941 he was conscripted and forced to defend Moscow in the Red Army during the German invasion as a medic. After surviving four German death camps, he avoided repatriation to the Soviet Ukraine and became enlisted in a displaced person camp which eventually led to his arrival in Canada in 1947. Even though he arrived with no money, family contacts or the English language, he was grateful to God for his new homeland where he could be free from any further oppression and persecution. He worked in a lumber camp in Thunder Bay for one year. Through his new found friends the Towsciks, he began to correspond via letters with a nice Ukrainian girl in Winnipeg. After a brief visit to Winnipeg to meet Mary, they married in 1949 and started a family and a new life together. Peter began to work in construction throughout the province, as well as in Dryden and Winnipeg, which included the wiring of the Manitoba government's Norquay Building. He felt very proud to have the opportunity to contribute back to the economy of his new homeland. After working at C.N.R. for 13 years, he retired in 1976, but still kept working hard maintaining rental property. Peter loved spending every summer at the cottage he built at Lester Beach in 1961. It was paradise to him. He would often say, Why would anyone want to go for a holiday to any other place? To him it was better than Barbados or Hawaii. Nothing made him happier than to spend his time there in the fresh air with his family and beloved neighbours, such as the Skinners and Hedleys to name a few. During this time, our father was able to compile the scribblers he had filled up for 50 years and to finally self-publish his memoirs. In 1998 the Ukrainian version of his story, Ternicty Shliah Shettya was published and in 2000 upon translation into English, My Rocky Road of Life. It was really important to him for history to not forget that the 1932 to 1933 Ukrainian Famine Genocide which claimed seven million lives actually began in 1929 to 1930 when at least three million additional innocent people lost their lives due to starvation, sickness, and the freezing cold during their exile in the far north. Therefore as a result, more accurately, 10 million Ukrainians perished. Our father enjoyed visiting with multitudes of people from all over who came to visit with him, share their stories, and pick up a signed copy of his book. Due to the encouragement from his many readers, at the age of 96 our father began and completed his second book, My Life in Canada . The family would like to offer their most heartfelt thanks to the following people: Dr. Lee Cummings for his diligent care of our father for over 17 years and for his regular visits to our home when things got too difficult. To the wonderful WRHA homecare coordinators, Denise Hamel and Melanie Finkin, who were always just a phone call away for any emergency or new development that needed to be addressed in our father's care. Also many thanks to our regular daily visits from Robert, Fannie, Vergie, Jean, Jeffery and Gill. Their wonderful loving care is what enabled us to be able to have our father live with us right up to the end of his life. Foremostly, we would like to thank our loving Creator, Jehovah God for the wonderful resurrection hope. We look forward to welcoming back all our dear loved ones onto a beautiful paradise earth. (Acts 24:15, Revelation 21:1-5) The Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, December 10 at the Glen Eden Funeral Home, 4477 Main Street at 2:00 p.m. with Mr. Anthony Kushniruk officiating. Deep are the memories Precious they stay No passing of time Can take them away We love you Tato and Dido Vichnaya Pamyat Glen Eden Funeral Home 338-7111 www.gleneden-mb.ca

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 08, 2011