| Notes |
- Eulogy
Monday April 27, 2009
Written and Delivered by Blair Fantillo
Mark Twain said: "The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A
man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." To me, this
sums up how Ernie Sorochuk, how Grampa, lived his life. He lived
life to the full and he lived it his own terms. Grampa was never
someone to be swayed by social convention - he did what suited
him - and did it without a care about what others would think or
say. So few of us can truly say that they approach their own lives
in the same way - maybe we like to say we live on our own
terms....but in our weaker moments, we worry about what people
might say or what they might think - and we take the safe path -
the path that doesn't stand out - but not Ernie. There can be no
doubt that Ernie was one of a kind.
Ernest Sorochuk was born in the middle of the Depression on
January 23rd, 1934, down the road in Swan Plain the second of
five children, to Metro and Anne Sorochuk. Ernie attended school
at Swan Plain but by Grade 8 - enough was enough. But what
Ernie lacked in formal education, he made up for in raw
intelligence and force of personality - tangle with him, and you'd
learn that lesson quick.
They say that opposites attract and to prove that, Ernie married
Bernadette Martyniuk on July 23rd, 1955. God only knows what
George and Lena Martyniuk must have thought of Ernie when he
first arrived on the scene with their daughter, Bernadette (fresh out
of Sacred Heart Girl's academy) what with his loud pickup and
greased-up, slicked-back hair. The marriage worked, though - 54
years and the fact that you are all here today is evidence of that.
In the early days of their marriage, Ernie and Bernadette, and their
growing family lived across Canada, from BC to Quebec, as they
followed Grampa's work on the pipeline. Ernie settled the family
for good in Norquay in 1964.
Over his 75 years,Ernie played many roles. He was a husband to
Bernadette, a brother to Bill, Adeline, Mary and Eugene a father to
Deb, Loretta, Bruce and Neil, a grandfather, a great-grandfather
and friend to everyone here today. And over those 75 years-he
toiled as a pipeline foreman, a land-clearing contractor and
sometimes farmer. He was even a meat cutter - which partly
explains his passion for getting deals on good cuts of meat.
(sometimes dozens of pounds of good cuts of meat).
Grampa had a number of hobbies throughout his life - some of
them ordinary, some of them not so ordinary. He had a passion
for gardening, mushroom picking and cooking & frying....the man
had a passion for food.....| know we are all going to miss the
shishliki, the sauerkraut and dills! Later in life, as the size of his
garden grew, and the available mouths to feed shrank he had too
much food to use. Ernie, not wanting to see his fresh produce go
to waste, he loaded up the truck full of potatos, tomatoes, cukes,
onions and whatever other kind of vegetable he had and took them
to the NICE centre, Key Reserve and points in between and gave
away his those vegetables to anyone who came by.
Of his more exceptional hobbies, he kept bees, he even raised
wild boar. He also had a passion for travelling - earlier in life this
passion included Texas and Mexico. Later in life he focussed his
passion for travel on the Ukraine - there might be those who
thought these trips to Ukraine weren't the best idea - but it's a safe
bet that Ernie didn't care.
Of all his hobbies, though, the one that stands out the strongest is
Grampa's love for "getting a good deal". I'm sure everyone here
today has witnessed or at least heard about one Ernie's legendary
bargain buys. Whether it's the 100 cans of soon-to-expire Nabob
coffee or the five 40-pound bags of Rooster brand rice (enough to
Start a Chinese restaurant) to go with his newly-purchased rice
cooker, Ernie was permanently on a hunt for a bargain. This
bargain hunt continued until the day before he died when, he
called Neil in Saskatoon and asked him to rush to Zellers to pick
up a razor that he found on sale in that morning's Zellers flyer.
It could be that people all-too-frequently make the mistake of
equating education with intelligence....but any of you who ever got
into an argument with Ernie - political or otherwise - would have to
re-think that opinion. Despite his lack of formal education, Ernie
had a surprisingly wide world view - and while not everyone would
agree with that world view whether it be about world politics or
goings on in the Ukraine, or elsewhere in the world, there were few
issues that Ernie did not have an opinion about.
Over the last few days, I've had the privilege of speaking to many
of you about Ernie and have listened to the stories that you've
shared. The thing that strikes me most about what you shared
with me was what those stories had in common: There was no
pretence to Ernie. With Grampa - what you saw was what you got:
this original - this one of a kind. Ernie was a man who loved
people and loved interacting with people. Everyone here knows
firsthand how quick Ernie was to share a story or a laugh and
more often than not, an opinion....Even if he had somewhere to go,
or something to do - he always had time for people. This was
perhaps his most endearing quality - and one he will be long, and
maybe best, remembered for.
With his gruff and rough & tumble exterior, it's not often that we got
to see any other side of Grampa. Bernadette, with the help of his
family took good care of Ernie over the last few years and although
he might not always have outwardly expressed it, he was
appreciative of this love and support. I'm told that, at night before
going to bed, Grandma would bring Grampa his meds. Grampa
would take his meds, and look at Grandma and say: "Mom - you
know | love you, don't you?". She knew, of course, and she loved
him too. Ernie loved Bernadette, he loved his family and he loved
his friends.
|
Jerry and Margaret Yacyshen Family
1934 - 2009 (75 years)
