Obituary of Mary Schabel

SCHABEL - Mrs. Mary Schabel beloved Mother, Baba and Pra-Baba, passed away on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at the age of 87. Mary was born on November 21, 1929 on the family farm near Lang, Saskatchewan, the youngest of 4 and the only daughter of Ewstachiy (Gus) and Barbara (nee Zagrosh) Sobczuk. Mary grew up and lived on the family farm near Lang, receiving her early education at Baldock and Lang Schools. She moved to Regina in her high school years when her parents retired from farming. There she attended Balfour Tech Collegiate. Following her schooling, Mary was employed at Western Dry Goods as a receptionist, Ford Motor Company as a telephone operator, and then at Waterman Waterbury also as a receptionist. During these years, Mary was actively involved in church, social and youth groups in Regina and at St. Basil's Ukrainian Catholic Parish. On October 5, 1957, Mary was joined in marriage to Walter Schabel. They resided in Regina until they, along with their 3 children, Alex, Barb and Cathy, moved to Ituna in 1970. Mary was a homemaker, a strong community-minded individual and a stellar volunteer - always ready to do whatever needed to be done. She had a small variety shop business for a time and helped with the family accounting business. Mom was always on the go. She liked to travel and to be with people…always making new friends along her way. She loved to write letters and greeting cards for all important occasions and "just because". She loved to talk on the phone, calling family and friends, to up-date them and be up-dated which helped maintain the many life-long friendships she (and Walter) had. Mom was also known for calling her favourite radio station to request songs and dedications for family and friends. Despite Mom's mobility challenges, she was a woman of indomitable spirit and an eternal optimist from whom a complaint was rarely heard. A testament to her faith and approach to many things (particularly later in life), could be summed up with her favourite sayings of, "все - так як ма