Mrs. Helen Myhal

Obituary

HELEN DARIA MYHAL

Helen (Halya) Myhal (née Laptuta) passed away peacefully on April 19, 2020. She will be greatly missed by her daughter Natalie (Ken) and son Taras as well as surviving friends and extended family members. Helen was predeceased by Boris, her husband of fifty years, and by her brother, Yaroslav.

Helen was born in Belzec, Poland, near the current Ukrainian border, to Stepan Laptuta and Karolina Rozhok. Stepan was employed as a government customs inspector, and mother, Karolina, as a teacher. When she was a young girl, the family lived in Zalishchyky (Ternopil oblast) where Helen greatly enjoyed the region’s lush summers. At age 9, the family moved to Horodok (Lviv oblast) where they lived until the second world war forced their dislocation from their homeland. In 1944, with the approaching Soviet front, the family fled westward to Slovakia, then to Graz in Austria and to Wangen near the Swiss border in the French zone. Helen was able to find work with the refugee organization, UNRA, until 1948.

The Laptuta family arrived in Canada in 1948, initially settling in Vancouver where Helen married Boris Myhal in 1949. Soon after, the Myhals moved to Toronto where Helen worked several jobs while Boris pursued his studies at the University of Guelph. When Natalie was born in 1952, Helen became devoted to raising her family. In 1955, the Myhals moved to Ottawa where Boris began his employment with the federal government and where Taras was born in 1957.

Helen lived in Ottawa for 45 happy years raising her family, enjoying time with her many wonderful friends and running a nurturing household. She loved entertaining, gardening, embroidering, walking great distances and participating in the life of the Ukrainian community. Boris passed away in 1999 after a long illness. The following year, Helen moved to Toronto to be close to her children.

Helen enjoyed a full and active life well into her mid-nineties and was fully independent until her last several years which she spent in the care of the kind staff at Copernicus Lodge in Toronto. Helen will be remembered as a loving mother, devoted wife and great friend who always encouraged those around her to enjoy life and flourish.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be considered to either Ukrainian Canadian Social Services (Toronto), Copernicus Lodge Foundation or St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation.

Due to limits on gatherings brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the service at the Cardinal Funeral Home (Annette Chapel), will be a closed family event. Helen will be buried beside her late husband, Boris, at Notre Dame Cemetery in Ottawa. When circumstances allow, the family will bring friends and family together for a celebration of her wonderful life.

Vichnaya Pamyat!

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