Obituary of Kay Ockochinski
The family of Kay Ockochinski of the Canora Gateway Lodge, formerly of Yorkton and Theodore, beloved wife of the late Edward Ockochinski sadly announce her passing on December 31, 2024. Kay was 95 years of age.
A private family graveside service will be held at a later date.
Memorial donations in memory of Kay Ockochinski may be made to the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan as gifts of remembrance.
Kay (Katie) Ockochinski November 3, 1929 – December 31, 2024
Born November 3, 1929 to Mike and Magda Spilchen, Kay was the sixth child of eight, though there was a girl born shortly before Kay that didn’t survive and was named Katherine or Katrina and the name was given to Kay. She said she never felt like it was truly her own name. She was called Katie for years then preferred Kate and finally introduced herself as Kay.
Kay attended three different schools in the Good Spirit Lake area. She always liked outdoor work and chores better than anything domestic. Feeding animals and cleaning barns was better than cooking and cleaning.
At the age of 17 she was a beautiful bride in a double wedding ceremony with her sister Mary. Kay married Edward Ockochinski and Mary Married Paul Korchowski.
Kay and Ed farmed in the Insinger/Theodore area and later moved closer to Theodore when their oldest son Rudy was to start school. Rudolf, Randolph and Lloyd were their children. Rudy passed away at the age of 36, just a year after Edward who was 67 at the time of his death.
Kay had worked at the Yorkton Hospital as part of the cleaning staff for a couple of years. After Ed’s death she worked as a nanny/housekeeper for a father with two young sons. She then worked as a live in caregiver for an older woman. When Ms. Anderson passed away the family asked Kay to stay on and take care of her son, Russell. After he passed away, Kay sold her farm home and bought a house in Yorkton.
Kay did a bit of travelling with a friend, with bus trips to Florida and Alaska and brought back many pictures.
While still working for the Anderson family, Kay started to raise her grandson, Jesse, the son of her oldest son, Rudy. She had her hands full seeing him through lots of challenges and lots of adventures mothering a child from 9 years to 25.
Kay was gifted at crochet, knitting and sewing. When her first three grandchildren were small, she knitted matching jackets for them all in denim blue and perhaps her most spectacular work was a square table covering crocheted in a snowflake pattern which at first glance would make you think of as machine made, being so precise.
Kay loved gardening and her garden in Yorkton was visited by many in her neighborhood. Many of the neighbors would stop by in the spring and buy bedding plants, especially Kay’s wide variety of tomato plants. She kept much of the family supplied with produce and loved to sell produce out of her garage. One of the most popular items were her borscht kits which included every vegetable needed to make a good-sized batch of borscht, all cleaned, packaged and ready to go.
Kay began to exhibit signs of dementia and was becoming unable to live on her own and she moved into the Gateway Lodge in Canora in November of 2018. She loved to help with pushing wheelchairs, folding wash cloths and participating in activities while she was able to walk. The staff were always fond of her and very good to her up to her passing away on the last day of 2024.
Kay was predeceased by her husband Edward in 1987 and son Rudy in 1988 as well as her parents: Mike and Magda Spilchen, sisters Pauline and Ann, brothers Bill, John, Peter and Paul. She leaves to cherish her memory her sister Mary, her sons Randy (Julie), and Lloyd (Marion) and grandchildren: Edwin Ockochinski (Cristal), Charles Ockochinski (Christie), Lisa Quigley Ockochinski (Lar), Jared Ockochinski (Chrystal), Erin Ockochinski (Brett) and Jesse Ockochinski, her great grandchildren: Leland, Emma, Hannah, Karter, Mackenzie and Ffion.
Sleep in peace Kay, sister, mother, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
