January 12 marks the passing of cousin Minnie Yaworski, who so generously shared details and writings about the family genealogy for my father’s biography, “Show Them What You Can Do” ~ Building the Ukrainian Spirit Across Canada: An Illustrated Biography of Pavlo Romanovich Yavorsky, published in 2007.
I did not meet Minnie until about a decade after my father’s death in 1998, but I knew of her from the time I was a young child, because my father fondly kept in constant contact with his relatives out west, despite the distance across the country from our home in Montréal. Along with other interests, skills and talents, Minnie was a dedicated family historian and kept detailed records of the many branches of the family tree; a veritable ‘fount of knowledge’ whose memory was excellent and information reliable. She contributed greatly to the early history of my father’s background and, when I travelled west to fulfill the Saskatoon Library’s request for copies of the book, Minnie offered warm hospitality at her home in Canora and made special arrangements with a neighbour to take me to the old family homestead ~ a profoundly moving experience that still resonates with me today.
Not long after my visit, though, circumstances forced Minnie to move from her home of many years. She had lived with muscular dystrophy since the 1960s, but as time went on, greater debilitation took away any freedom of choice; of necessity, she was moved to a care home in Saltcoats. But it would seem that her condition was scarcely an inconvenience from the way she conducted herself: a lively approach to life and learning, combined with a friendly, uncomplaining attitude and creative streak, meant that she found no obstacle to developing computer skills, designing her own line of greeting cards and becoming the on-site producer of cards for the many special occasions celebrated at the care home, as well as a driving force in the compilation of a cookbook of favourite local recipes, among other achievements.
Minnie regularly phoned to check in, across the miles; she possessed a quiet humour and a kind heart. January 28, 2022 would have been her 83rd birthday. I, and many others, will miss her. Vichnaya Pam’yat.
