Halyna Lunycz

Obituary

Halyna (Helen) Sarachman was born in Verchivtsi near Sambir, Ukraina on March 20, 1927 into a poor and challenging life, as life was in those times in Ukraina. She loved going to school but unfortunately attendance in school was sporadic as educating girls was not the norm, but domestic servitude was. When the war broke out Halyna and her family were transported to Germany as labourers. Not long after their arrival in Germany Halyna was indentured into service at a resort in Austria. Her parents and young brother were allowed to return home and she remained behind. She was 14 years old. Her years in Austria, albeit short, were some of her best times. Although the owner of the resort was a strict task master, she treated Halyna almost as a daughter and taught her many life skills. There Halyna learned much about domesticity and expanded her limited culinary knowledge from home. She certainly could whip up some amazing stuff. She met her husband Michael Lunycz in Austria, and after the birth of their first child they immigrated to Belgium. She had 3 more children. She taught herself to sew, knit, crochet, embroider and these skills stayed with her all her life. All the family clothing was created by her hands. She was the first to have a knitting machine, and oh did she create some wonderful items. In 1957 the family immigrated to Canada hoping for a better and easier life, especially for the future of her children. She faced the challenges that all new immigrants deal with and had to work outside the home to help support the family. She worked very hard in many capacities and most often 7 days a week. After years of this back breaking work she went to night school on the days when she didn’t work afternoon or night shift to improve her English. Following this path brought this simple, wonderful, brave, daring woman from a small place in Ukraina to obtain a job as a bookkeeping machine operator in a downtown Toronto office. She retired from there and then there was absolutely no stopping her. She was a bottomless reserve of unlimited artistic talent. Embroidery, machine knits, sewing to a lesser degree by then, and then her beautiful bead work. Her exceptional pieces, which are a true work of art, are on display in the Ukrainian Museum of Canada at St. Vladimir Institute on Spadina Avenue. No matter what they asked her to create she delivered. There she also volunteered and shared her gifts for over 15 years. Oh, let us not forget that in her sixties she bought a car and got her driver’s licence (eventually), which gave her a freedom and social status bar none. Imagine when her brother came for a visit from Germany how proudly she drove him around. Needless to say, we suffered years of anxiety and heart palpitations, but she did it. She loved being with family and was game for any social events. She was a supportive, loving mama and a great baba. The best schmorny and knedli maker and the best back-scracthie baba! She spent the last few years at the Ivan Franko Home on Royal York Road, where she was happy. This was her home where she was loved and enjoyed a short life in the comfort of her culture, religion and language. What a fitting ending in the twilight of her life. She will always be part of us, as everywhere we look she has left her mark. She is treasured forever in our hearts. VICHNAYA PAMJAT MAMA

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Burial / Entombment / Cremation