Obituary of Donald Ross Cherwoniak

It is with deep regret that the family of Donald Cherwoniak announces his sudden passing on May 1, 2008 in Saskatoon at the age of 68 years. The following is part of the eulogy that Donald's daughter, Stacey, read at the funeral. Dad was born November 4, 1939. He always said that he survived the dirty 30's and how tuff it was. He was one of 6 children born to Iowen and Nick Cherwoniak; a sister, Beryl, and four brothers Norman, Herb, Gordon and Woody. Dad met Mom in 1964 and they married March 11, 1967. Mom was working at the Hospital in North Battleford and Dad farming at Medstead at the time. Mom looked after Grandma in the hospital and when she went home she told Dad that she met the nicest lady, the rest is history. They were married 41 years this past March. Mom and Dad were very happily married; he was a devoted and loving husband. Even when we said goodbye when dad went into surgery I could see the love and adoration in his eyes and smile when he looked at Mom. Dad started out his young life farming with his dad and brothers, he drove cream truck as a young man and as most of you remember he was also in the cat business for a short time. He spent 12 years working on the grader for the RM of Medstead and later he was also a RM councilor for 6 years. He farmed for many years and truly did love the land and it showed through the many crops that he grew. He took pride in knowing that farmers feed the world and he contributed to that. He spent many days at the farm with Glen and me tending to the Limo cows which he loved and admired. Dad had a wonderful witty sense of humour. He was noted for his one liners and quiet gentle manor, a proud honest man of his word, you knew exactly where you stood with him. He was not the type of man to show his affection but you knew if he was teasing you things were good. Though he never said it out loud I knew how proud he was of his family just by the way he looked at us and his actions. He was a very special man to all of us and we will miss him so very much. Donald leaves to cherish his memory his loving wife of 41 years, Helen of Medstead, SK; his children Stacey (Glen) Long and their children Tyler and Taneal of Medstead, SK; Kerry (Elaine) Dehker and their children Shaun (Anita) and daughter Donna, and Kyra of Kelowna, BC; his sister Beryl Jones of Rabbit Lake, SK, his brother William "Woody" (Gloria) Cherwoniak of Medstead, SK; his sister in-law Yvette Nicholas of Medstead, SK as well as nieces, nephews, other relatives and countless friends. Donald was predeceased by his parents Nicholas and Iowen Cherwoniak, his infant brother Gordon, his brothers Norman and Herb, his father in-law Albert Chartrand and his brother in-law Irvin Jones. The funeral service was held on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 2 p.m. from the Medstead Community Hall with Rev. David Jensen as the officiant. Stacey Long read the eulogy and the soloist was Bill Martodam who sang One Day At A Time and I Will Never Forget You. Congregational hymns were In The Garden and Beyond The Sunset. Honorary pall bearers were all relatives and friends who shared in Don's life and the active pall bearers were Archie Latimer, Jim Johnson, Gerry Boyd, Gordon Robb, Dwaine Long and Larry Poor. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Witchekan Wildlife Federation. Donald was laid to rest in the Medstead Lutheran Cemetery.