Olga Mary Kuzyk passed away due to complications resulting from a major cardiac arrest in the Yorkton Regional Health Centre on February 15, 2025, at the age of 90 years.
Olga was born to Anton and Mary (Shewchuk) Rakochy on May 19, 1934, in Canora, SK. She was raised with twelve brothers and sisters on their farm east of Amsterdam, SK.
While working as a housekeeper and babysitter for a doctor in Canora, she met John William Kuzyk. They fell in love and married in Canora at the Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church on November 24, 1951.
Starting to farm at that time was next to impossible. John went to work as a truck driver to subsidize the farm. Trucking forced the family to move from Canora to Prince Albert to Redvers and back to Prince Albert. All along, they held on to and worked on the farm. Truck driving wages paid the family’s living expenses. All income from the farm was reinvested in the farm. During this time, life was very hard. There was a lot of work and very little play.
Olga and John raised four children: Walter, Jim, Randy, and Deb. Being parents, they denied themselves a lot in order to afford what the family needed. The children’s needs always came first.
Believing that the farm could finally provide a living, they moved back to Canora in 1973.
Olga enjoyed gardening, tending to her flowers, and cooking traditional Ukrainian food. Her hobbies were crocheting and making afghans, which she often donated to the church.
Her husband John passed away due to abdominal cancer in 2000. She lost two sons: Randy in a motorcycle accident in 1991 and Jim to cancer in 2022. Olga was predeceased by all her brothers and sisters.
She is survived by her son, Walter; daughter, Deb; grandchildren: Jayleen, Daniel, Samantha, and Lance; and her great-grandchild, Emerson; along with many nieces, nephews, extended relatives, and friends.
Olga Mary Kuzyk was the best a mother could be, and we were lucky to have her.
Rest in Peace, Mom.
Funeral Liturgy was celebrated at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, March 8, 2025, with Rev. Fr. Ivan Simko officiating. Rite of Committal followed in the Canora Cemetery, Canora, SK. Those wishing to make expressions of sympathy may make donations to the Sts. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church Building Fund, as tokens of remembrance, in memory of Olga Kuzyk. Family and friends are invited to sign an online guestbook at www.lesonsfuneralhome.ca. Arrangements have been entrusted to LESON’S FUNERAL HOME, Canora, SK.
