Miroslaw Waplak

Peacefully on January 28th, 2023 at Holy Family Nursing Home, surrounded by family, Miroslaw Waplak passed away at the age of 81.  Funeral services will be held on Thursday, February 2nd, 2023 at 11:00 A.M at Sts. Vladimir & Olga Cathedral, 115 McGregor Street. 

Long obituary to follow. Flowers greatly declined.

Donations for “Pomich Ukraini” (Aid for Ukraine) can be made in support of Ukrainian Soldiers to the Ukrainian Canadian Social Services Inc., Manitoba Branch, 777 Pritchard Ave, Winnipeg Manitoba, R2X 0E8

An income tax receipt will be issued.

Miroslaw  Waplak

(May 1st 1941 – January 28th,2023)

Miroslaw was born on May 1ST 1941 in Lublynets Novyj (Lublinіec Nowy), the eastern part of Ukrainian land then, now Poland,  to Mychajlo Waplak and Anastazja Groch, the second wife of his father.  From the first marriage of Mychajlo with Eva Wankewich there were 4 children: Mychajlo, Andrij, Dmytro and Kateryna.  With Anastazja there were also 4 children: Nastia, Miroslaw, Petrus and Maria. Nastia and Petryk died as babies during the epidemic of scarlet fever. During the Operation of “Akcja Wisla” in April 1947 the Waplak family, as well as other Ukrainian people from Lublynets Novyj and Staryj, were resettled to the village of Rusinowo, province of Walcz.

“Operation Vistula (Polish: Akcja Wisła; Ukrainian: Опера́ція «Ві́сла») was the codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of 150,000 Ukrainians and Rusyns (Boyko’s and Lemko’s) from the south-eastern provinces of post-war Poland to the Recovered Territories in the west of the country”. (Info. from Wikipedia).

As a young child, Miroslaw was sent to elementary school to learn the Polish language and other subjects.  During and after school, he worked on the farm helping his parents.  Therefore, there was no spare time for playing with other peers.   While working, he enrolled in “Technikum Les’ne” (Forestry College) in the small city of Moya Wolya, where, after his graduation on September 26th, 1968, he obtain the title of Forester-Technologist and start to work as a forester.  He was taking care of over 2500 hectares of the forest, planting new trees and bushes, taking care of all the spots of blueberries and mushrooms, managing the financing, and supervising the working people. He was able to recognize the singing of different birds, and the roar of the animals, he knew all the flowers, grass and insects and he like to watch the rutting of the dears. He also was an avid hunter. The forest was his love and life. From October 21st, 1961, to March 29th, 1963, he fulfilled the mandatory duties of service in the Polish Army as a senior private soldier.On October 25th, 1969, he married a young girl, who came to Rusinowo from Lithuania.  Her name was Barbara Choroscin and together they have 4 children.  He worked hard taking care of his family, trying to give them the best life possible.  His dream was to give his children a good life and the best education possible. He also tries to help other people as well.  Everybody liked him, not only for his good looks but mainly for his good heart. When political life in 1980-this became unstable, and life became difficult, he was dreaming of emigrating to Canada.  During the Celebration of the Millennium of Christianity in Ukraine (988-1988), Rev. Mitrat Wolodymyr Pyrchak, parish priest from Koszalin, in the summer of 1988, organized a pilgrimage of the young people to go to Rome for this event.  It was secretly planned and only a few people knew about it. Miroslaw learns about it and prepares his daughter Stella and nephew Jaroslaw for this.  They were going by bus, but in Austria, they were seeking Asylum from the Austrian Government. It wasn't an easy task.  It took tremendous effort to get help from other counties, especially Canada.  Father Pyrchak was an excellent organizer and he had many connections, including with Ukrainian Canadian Social Services of Canada Inc. They were working together with Immigration Canada in order to bring the young people here.  There were approximately 300 young people between the ages of 18-25.  About 50 of them were staying in Winnipeg, the others went to Edmonton, Toronto, and other cities of their choice.  The Members of the Board of Directors of the Ukrainian Canadian Social Services Manitoba Branch, mostly Wolodymyr Ilnyckyj and Yaroslava Demko, took care of those young people.  Their need was to find a place to live, a job and a good school for young people, whose age wasn’t over 21.  As an Educator, Ms. Demko took care of the young people and arranged a good school for them, watching their progress, and even attending parent-teacher interviews.   She also took care of Stella and other students as well. Together, with her close teacher-friend, Wolodymyr Melnyk, they organize lessons in English and Ukrainian Languages for them.  There were about 5 marriages and Ms. Demko organized Ukrainian Traditional “Vinkopletyny” (Bridal Shower) as well as weddings.  During this time Miroslaw Waplak tried to reunite with his daughter Stella and took his sons, 18-year-old Slawomir and 16-year Robert to Austria, leaving all his life fortune behind.  He always mentions this effort that was very difficult for him.  UCSS MB in Winnipeg has sponsored many immigrants from Europe, but they reached their limits.  Therefore, they found a new sponsor.  It was Plast Ukrainian Youth Association at 623 Flora Avenue in Winnipeg, which sponsored Miroslaw and his two sons here.  They arrived on February 19, 1990.  The Plast Organization paid for their rent to the Cathedral and for the other living expenses. Both Miroslaw’s sons went to Sisler High School.  Without the knowledge of the English language, Miroslaw was trying to find any possible job.  He was seeking private jobs, getting not even $5.00 per hour, digging the ground in someone's gardens, cleaning houses, shovelling the snow, cleaning three ships of the Paddle Queen boats, working with Furnace Company, Egg’s Company, Palliser Company, etc. as well as taking evening English courses. As we mention, Yaroslava Demko was very much involved in helping newcomers and Miroslaw and his family were no exception.  He came from Austria ill, with a serious stomach problem.  She took him to Dr. Gorski’s office, and he helped him tremendously.  After a while, his lease on Flora Avenue changes and he has no place to live.  Therefore, he came to Ms. Demko, begging her to let him stay in her house for a while.  That was the sorrowful time when she buried her only son Wolodymyr Kitash, who gave his life saving his friend.  The scripture says: “there is no more love than giving life for others”, but there is no imaginal pain for a mother to bury her own child.  Therefore, she let him stay for a while, even without paying, and he stayed there for 30 years, now.  Their relationship grew like a flower, without any speculations.  She was his mentor, and translator, taking him to the church, to doctors and to all kinds of events or even begging the police not to give him speeding tickets.  She even helps him to do his simple work, cleaning, shovelling the snow, etc.  And, most importantly, she manages to work on him to lose the habit of drinking and smoking.  Life is not black and white.  He had some marriage problems and divorced his wife. When I asked her through Stella if she would come back to him, the answer was: “No, but she wishes him all the best ''.  Miroslaw and Slava live like brother and sister and their life bursts into bloom. He helped her with all her duties in the church, driving her to numerous schools, where she was teaching and most often he helped her with social work at UCCS MB, mostly packing hundreds of parcels to send to Ukraine and Diaspora.  They work on a volunteer basis, helping needy people, meeting newcomers at the airport, going with them to the official’s offices, and finding the necessary jobs for them.  Her Mother, Olena Demko was living in Holy Family Home.  Miroslaw and Yaroslava visited her daily.  Every Sunday they both volunteer to help residents talking to their rooms, sitting with some of them and keeping them company.  All they did together.  And people appreciated that very much.  This was sharing love with them. While living in Yaroslava’s house, Miroslaw saved some money and, with her help, he both “little house on the prairie, at Stead, Alexander Municipality in Manitoba, just 100 plus kilometres away.  It was his dream house. He called it “Lisnychivka” (Forester’s Lodge). He was very happy there and loved spending time out there with his family and friends, whenever they came for a visit.  He planted some fruit trees and made a ground for the garden to plant some vegetables. He was very angry when he saw how neglected forest life in Manitoba is.  He has so many plans for his dream house.  But his fragile life came to an end. Miroslaw was predeceased by his loving parents, Mychaylo and Anastazja Waplak, little siblings, Nastia and Petryk, three half brothers: Michael, Andriy, Dmytro and Kasia as well as nephew Michael Waplak and his mother Kateryna. brother-in-law Stanislaw Ochrymowicz, lots of friends and relatives. He is survived by his loyal beloved common-law wife and true friend of 30 years, Yaroslava Demko, and her daughter Ollia. He is also survived by his first, divorced wife, Barbara Waplak (Choroscin) and their four children, as well as  8 grandchildren:  Stella (David) Gower; Slawomir (Irena) Waplak and Ethan and Nicholas; Robert (Tammy) Waplak and Gregory and Makalia;  Anna (Chris) Chmielewski, his son David, and their daughter Nicole,  as well as  Isabella, Claudia, Martyna- daughters of ex-son-in law Ryszard Otulak, his new wife Ksenia and baby Kalinka.

He is also survived by his sister Maria Ochrymowicz and her children Jaroslaw (Sophia) Ochrymowicz and Alexandra & Victoria; Grarzyna (Krzysztof) Matuszak and children Inga & Arek. Artur and Marlena and her parents, Bohdan and Lydia, cousin Anastazja Szwajkowska (Wankewich) and her husband Zdislaw.  He is also survived by his cousin in Ukraine Maria Shevchenko and 2 daughters Oksana (Valeriy) and Valentyna (Serhiy), all of them are medical doctors and their sons Andrij, Yurij and Slavko, granddaughter of his godfather Fecio, Luba Muzychka and hers 2 sons,   nieces and nephews in Canada: Irena Markewicz (Myron ) and theirs 2 sons, Paul and Peter with their families, Oresta Wowk (Michael) and their children, Natalia, Michael (Oksana), Marta (Nathan),  Zenon Waplak (Irena), Luba and Orest and their children), granddaughter of Andrij Waplak, Ania Waplak (Wolodymyr Demkowycz) and their daughters  Larysa and Natalia, many close relatives and friends as well as close relatives of the Demko’s side of the family.  Special thank you goes to all Doctors and Nurses, who took care of Miroslaw here in Winnipeg.  There are many of them.  He thanks his first, but the late already, Doctor B. Gorski, and after him thank you go to Doctor and Friend, Dr. A. Haresha, Dr. E. Bohm, Dr. S.  Srinathon, Dr. Taras Babick, Dr, M. Rafikov, the Cardiologists, Dr. Jolly, Dr. H.W. Smith, Dr. Luckman, and others.  A special thank you goes to the staff of Holy Family Home for their superior care. May God bless you all. Special thank you we send to the love of the Parish Priest of the Cathedral of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Cathedral, Father Ihor Shved, gave Miroslaw 3 times anointment, Confession and Holy Communion and gave the family moral and religious support.  We also thank Rev. Bohdan Borowec for assisting in the Funeral service as well as to Brother Alexander Pankiw for the ceremonial singing as well as the parish secretary Ollia Mala.  We also thank all of you. special people, who came here in this extremely cold weather, to share our loss today and gave their monetary donation for “The Aid for Ukraine” (Pomich Ukraini) to help Ukrainian soldiers to fight for freedom and truth not only for Ukraine but for the whole world.  May God keep us all in His Hands.  The flowers are kindly declined.   Special thanks go to the Management of Korban Funeral Chapel for their exceptional service. The Pallbearers are two of his sons, Slawomir and Robert, Grandsons Gregory and Ethan, and nephews Jaroslaw Ochrymowicz and Jozef Demko. The cross barrier is his youngest Grandson Nicolas Waplak. Finally, as is today, Miroslaw Waplak is sending us his message: 

“TO THOSE I LOVED, AND THOSE, WHO LOVED ME”

When I am gone, release me, let me go...

I have so many things to see and do,

You must not tie yourself to me with tears;

Be happy that we had so many years.

I gave to you, my love; you can only guess

How much you gave to me in happiness.

I thank you for the love you each have shown,

But now it’s time I travelled on alone.

I won’t be far away, for life goes on: So, if you need me, call and I will come.

Though you can’t see me or touch me, I’ll be near, and if you listen with your heart, you’ll hear,

All of my love around you is soft and clear.

And then, when you must come this way alone,

I’ll greet you with a smile and say: “WELCOME HOME!”

Спи спокійно, наш дорогий Мирославе, мій соколе,

Нехай канадська земля буде Тобі пухом!

Ти в наших серцях назавжди. Вічная Пам'ять!

We will remember you as long as we live: Vichnaya Pamyat!