Condolence From: Jesse Schewchuk
Condolence: Vernes Derkatch Lozinski
“You Are Our Sunshine”
1935 - 2022
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. The sun radiates energy, mainly as light, and is the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Grandma was our sun. She radiated love, was a ball of energy and her light shone so bright. And we were her solar system.
Vernes Dolores Derkatch was born to Walter Derkatch and Edith (Koroluk) Derkatch on February 27, 1935 in Hyas, Saskatchewan on the family farm. She was actually named Veronika when she was born, deemed Vernes by a school teacher who wanted to differentiate her from another student with the same name.
From her father’s previous marriage she had a sister named Victoria and a brother named Nick. Her siblings from both of her parents were Helen, Anastasia (known as Nettie), and Walter.
On the farm in Hyas, the family grew assorted crops, planted a garden every year, tended cattle and raised chickens and turkeys. They regularly attended community social activities and church services. Walter, Grandma’s younger brother, recounts that as kids, Grandma would chase Walter around the yard and lock him out of the house, peering out the window making faces taunting him. He also said that Grandma would curl his hair and try to put shorts on him to dress him up like a girl. Grandma adored her little brother and was devastated when, due to one of life’s difficult circumstances, they were separated at a very young age.
On March 5th, 1949 the happiness of the family was shattered when grandma’s mother tragically and suddenly passed away. Her father was away at the time of her death for stomach cancer procedures and treatments, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. The kids spent 4 months alone without parents or supervision, Walter was just 8 years old and Grandma was 12. Grandma had to step up in the absence of an adult caregiver and assumed the role of nanny. She did all of the cooking and cleaning, and took care of Walter whilst going to school. During this time, she wrote letters to her father on behalf of her mother so that he could be strong during treatment and return home to them. And, return to them he did, but tragedy struck once again, as her father passed away shortly after in December of 1950. After both parents died, Grandma went to live with her older sister, Nettie, and Walter went to live with Helen.
Grandma met the love of her life when he was hired by her father to do some odd jobs around their family’s farm. Grandma’s first response when asked to tell stories about Grandpa was to talk about how goooood-looking he was! Grandma was just 10 years old when she prepared and served her first meals to Bronie in her family home. Always the flirt, she would sit above him in the upper balcony at church and mischievously flick wax down onto his head during mass. He would respond by slowly turning his smiling eyes up to glance at her, and her heart would melt. She always giggled when telling that story.
Grandpa recognized that Grandma suffered tremendously in her home life and doted on her with special attention, wanting to take care of her. Their relationship blossomed and in 1953, when Vernes was 18 years old, and Bronie 26, they tied the knot and started a life together that would span a spectacular 69 years.
Their first daughter, Edith, was born in August of 1954. Soon after, in the spring of 1956, Bronie found work with CN and the family of 3 relocated to Edmonton, Alberta. They found a 2 story home near Grandpa’s work and began to expand their family. Debbie, Tim, Chrissy and Kathy were born to complete their family of 7.
Grandma had fierce family values. After losing her parents at such a young age, she treasured building her own legacy. For her own children growing up, she instilled these values, which shaped them to become responsible, upstanding adults and citizens. Every Saturday was a chore day and nobody could leave the house until it was clean and all was in order. The children would even have friends come over to help so they could go off to play. She had a passion for sewing and crocheting and used to make all of their coordinated clothing and elaborate costumes. Grandma also crocheted a blanket for almost every special occasion. One year, she asked each of her 11 grandchildren to choose 2 favourite colours and crocheted a unique blanket for each and every one of us.
Grandma spoiled her family and shared a love language of gift giving. From taking her girls on an amazing trip to Vegas, to sneaking smarties from her purse, to shoving our pockets full of goodies or a 5 dollar bill during the long porch goodbyes. “Don’t tell Grandpa”, she would say with a wink and a sly grin, as if he didn’t know.
She cherished her children and kept their families close. So close that 3 of the 5 children lived on the same block as her for most of their lives. She shared a special bond with each of them.
Edie, the eldest, shared Grandma’s love for life and emulated Grandma when she took care of her siblings just as Grandma did her own.
Even though Debbie lived away for many years, Grandma did everything she could to provide equally and visited her and her family whenever she had time off to celebrate all of their special events.
Tim was her only son. Her special boy. She always kept a plate warm for him particularly when he was working and treasured every coffee visit.
You would find Chrissy with her gardening across the backyards of three city lots or in the kitchen cooking up a storm for our family feasts.
And, Kathy, was the baby who shared a career with her for many years at Safeway and took over her awe-inspiring cake decorating artform.
Grandma’s family grew in marriage through her in-laws Orest, Michel, Patti, Gary, Frank and Pedro.
Grandma was a swanky career woman and worked at the neighbourhood grocery store Shop-Easy in Calder, now a historical building, before being recruited by Canada Safeway, where she worked for over 20 years. Grandma was always done up, often compared to Blanche from the Golden Girls. She was glamorous, and the hardest working person around, but always managed to strike a balance between work and a good time.
Yes, Grandma was the life of every party. So much so that Debbie recalls how Edie, our mother, used to invite her to parties with her friends to spruce things up. And boy, could she dance! Polkas, two steppin’, waltzing, the butterfly, and heel toe and away we go, just to name a few. She would take every opportunity to get up and dance and to turn up the music on the stereo at home, even when Grandpa kept asking to turn it down. She would say, “Shhh, Bronie. Just you nevermind.” And Grandpa would just smile. Resistance was futile.
Grandma and Grandpa even joined a square dancing club! Gramma loved to get dressed up in her fancy skirts and perform on stage. Many hall parties were celebrated and usually ended up with Grandma up dancing on the tables. Good thing Grampa was always there to make sure that all the tables were sturdy! She was usually the last to go to bed and that’s because once home, she would be sharing shots of moonshine and playing cards to endless hours of the morning… Holla!!
Grandma was an absolutely outstanding cook and baker. She was known far and wide for her fancy character cakes and delicious squares that she made from scratch for everyone. But this required great attention to detail. She would throw out batches of food if it wasn’t quite right. It was always to perfection. Grandma would cater weddings with her good neighbour Lil Chamber and anyone who she could recruit from her big family to help out! It’s a wonder at all that she had time to cater when she was always busy at home gardening, canning, shelling peas, making perogies, antipasto, jams, dills, beet relish… the list goes on and on. And that was just her spry, youthful energy she embodied perhaps due to all of the time she spent with babies!
To say she loved babies would be an understatement. She loved to snuggle, swaddle, cuddle and bathe every baby. In our family, it was a new baby’s inaugural ritual to be bathed in the signature pink plastic bathtub for the first time visiting Grandma. Also signature was Grandma’s delicious raspberry kisses. She would dive into baby's folds with such vigour as though she was going to devour them with love. She passed this love of babies on to her daughter Edie and they spent their adult years as best friends revelling in the joy as our family grew. In February 2003, tragedy struck once more when Grandma lost her first baby, Edie, after a brave battle with breast cancer. And, life would never be the same. But it would change, go on, and our family continued to blossom.
One of her favourite things of all was watching all her grandchildren and great- grandchildren grow up and she would love to show us off to dear friends like Madeline. She always made sure all her kids sat by her in church. And, just in case we weren't there, she ensured she had many pictures taken to boast of her big, beautiful brood. Yes, we were all very well versed in the family portrait sessions where we posed for what felt like hours gathered around Grams and Gramps, grinning from ear to ear trying to find a camera lens to look at beyond the array of flashes that blinded us for a few hours following.
But I think some of the fondest memories with Grandma were those intimate moments before bed while she scratched our backs with her perfectly polished nails, tracing numbers of letters on our backs for us to guess or how in the morning she would wake us with tender melodies before nourishing us with a bountiful breakfast.
In fact, I wrote this poem 20 years ago for her describing our childhood experiences with her:
We live under her wing of love
A tender watcher from above
She gives her warmth, her love, her care
Unselfish love which none compare
When we were small we watched her feet
Dancing to a polka beat
The room would spin, music would play
She would teach us to dance all day
And as we slept, cuddled in her bed,
She’s scratch our backs and stroke our heads
Then while the sun rose in the east
We all awake to grandma’s feast
If I awoke at her house today, I’d find it all the very same way
The food the laugh the dance for hours
Make us glad that grandma’s ours.
___________________
I went to visit grandma a couple of weeks ago and upon my arrival, Grandma looked up, lit up with that girlish joy in her eyes, pointed to me and exclaimed, “She’s one of mine!”
That was it. We were hers and she was ours.
And, this was the life and the legacy that her and Grandpa built together. On July 20th of this year, her soulmate joined their daughter in heaven. Now, Grandma is at peace with them too.
Burn bright, our beautiful Sun! Oh, Heavenly One. The light you ignited in all of us is one that can never be extinguished.
Thursday October 20, 2022
