EDWARD JOHN RYBAK

Adjust Text Size: A+ A-

EDWARD JOHN RYBAK

Today we announce the passing of Edward Rybak and invite you to join us in remembering the life, faith and love of our dear husband, father, grandfather, and brother. Edward passed on January 22, 2022, in the compassionate care of Holy Family Home. He was 89 years old.
Edward was predeceased by his parents, Joseph and Katherine Rybak; his sister Anne (Y.O.) Mascuich; his brothers, Maron Rybak and Stanley (Anne) Rybak; his niece Mary (Dick) Pease; his nephew Joseph Rybak; his great-nephew Darren Barnabe; and his in-laws, Betty and Alan McLaughlin. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Jean; his son Michael (Adrienne) and grandsons, Stephen and Matthew; his twin sister Mary Rybak; his sister Carole (Peter) Moss; his nieces and nephews, Patricia, Peter, Katherine, Margaret, Patrick, Theresa, Sharon, Maureen, Greg, Melissa and their extended families and his in-laws, George and Linda Wusaty and Darlene Wusaty and John Downing.
Edward was born in Winnipeg on February 8, 1932 and raised at the family home on Church Avenue. He was baptized at St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church and would be a faithful member of this parish for all his life. Edward attended Faraday School and graduated from St. Paul's High School in 1951. He excelled at biological sciences and earned his B.Sc. from St. Paul's College at the University of Manitoba in 1954. After briefly studying medicine at the University of Ottawa, he entered dental school at the University of Toronto, receiving his D.D.S. in 1964. Edward returned to Winnipeg upon graduation and after briefly worked for the City of Winnipeg Department of Public Health. While working for the city, he started his own private dental practice on Portage Avenue in St. James. He kept his family dental practice at this same location for his entire professional career, providing dental care to thousands of patients for over 30 years.
Edward first met his wife Jean in 1958 at a dance at St. Nick's Hall. They married in 1972 at St. John Cantius Church and settled in a newly built house in the Maples that same year. This simple three bedroom house on a quiet bay would be their home for the rest of their lives together. It was here that he and Jean would raise their son Michael. Their home hosted countless Christmas eve dinners, was regularly overrun by Michael and the neighborhood boys and was a perfect playground for Edward to be a doting 'dzidzi' (gee-gee) and masterful model train conductor for his grandchildren.
It would be an understatement to say that Edward was lighthearted and funny. His childhood was full of as much good fun and mischief that he and his friends could create, limited only by what his parents and the north end could handle. Edward didn't abandon this mischief with his childhood and no close family member or friend was immune from being the recipient one of his good-hearted jokes or pranks at some point. His vivid and laughter-laden retelling of these antics was a fixture of family dinners, holiday gatherings and reunions with those same childhood friends over the years.
Edward was an avid recreational golfer and Kildonan Park Golf Course was his golfing retreat.
A simple course for a man who enjoyed golf as a simple pleasure, Edward golfed countless weekend rounds at Kildonan with his son, Michael and in foursomes of lifelong friends, brothers-in-law and neighbors. Kildonan Park was also where he reconnected with his childhood baseball days, playing seniors' league softball for many summers. When he wasn't striking a ball of some sort, Edward kept himself busy with all sorts of projects in and around the house and yard and for many years he tended to a quaint and chaotically provident family garden in the back yard on his childhood home on Church Avenue.
Edward was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in the late years of his life, a seemingly unfair fate for a man who gave so much of his heart to so many. We thank his doctors and nurses, the staff at Seven Oaks General Hospital and especially the wonderful family of caregivers at Holy Family Nursing Home for caring for Edward at his time of greatest need.
A Funeral Mass for Edward was celebrated on Friday, January 28 at St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church.
In lieu of flowers, we encourage all of family and friends to consider a donation to Holy Family Home, St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church, or a charity of your choice.

NEIL BARDAL
FUNERAL CENTRE
204-949-2200
neilbardalinc.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 29, 2022