Obituary of Edward Windysh

WINDYSH - Edward Windysh was born on the family farm about 4 miles north-east of Hubbard, SK on January 3, 1937 to his parents John and Mary (Lulchak) Windysh and his six older sisters: Jean, Helen, Eleanor, Josephine, Mary, and Edna. He spent most of his childhood on that family farm. When he was about 10 years old, the family moved to Hubbard for a short period of time - an attempt to make a scholar out of Ed. But that attempt failed. Right from young, Ed had a love for the land and for the farm. Just as the saying goes - "You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy." Under the direction of his father, Ed seeded his first crop at 14 years old. When he was 16 years old, Ed's father died, and Ed took over the family farm with his mom. At 21 years old, Ed married his one and only girlfriend, Jean Tataryn, on July 13, 1958. Together they farmed for 49 years and raised their three children: Wilma, Winnie, and David. In 2007, the farm was sold and Ed and Jean retired to Ituna, SK. But that still didn't stop Ed from farming. When his daughter and son-in-law bought property near Ituna, Ed made himself a little shop to tinker around in. He would go there almost every day to work on one of his many projects. In summer, he would cut and bale the hay on that property - and he kept on doing that until he found it too hard to crawl up into the tractor anymore. Ed had a passion for horses and cattle. He spent many years raising and training Standard Bred Horses for harness racing. During his whole farming career, he always raised cows along with growing grain. One particular favorite cow he had was named Blue - the old granny cow of the whole herd. Ed had a talent for working with iron. When he would buy an old broken down piece of equipment at an auction sale, he would improvise, rework, and reinvent it in order to get it working again. Anyone in the neighborhood knew that they could come to him if they needed any welding repairs done. In his younger years, in order to make extra money to supplement the farm, Ed spent late falls and winters working on a caterpillar for Jimmy Haynes building roads and dozing bush for farmers. In exchange for bringing power to his own farm, Ed worked away from home installing power lines to other people's farms. He also spent quite a few years working as a rider at the PFRA pasture fall round-ups. Ed was a very ambitious man. He faced each and every challenge that came his way - not sparing the horsepower one bit. His famous words always would be, "Get at it - the job isn't going to get done by itself" or "Don't be a quitter". Ed loved music. Many times you could hear him sing while driving the tractor or car - mostly the old country songs. He didn't like the classical or opera music. He would say, "A hundred violins - and still no music." Many evenings were spent sitting beside the kitchen table - Jean singing and playing the guitar, and Ed and Wilma singing and learning new songs so they could entertain once in awhile at the old folks homes in the area. A couple of years after retiring to town, Ed and Jean were able to go on a trip to Ukraine. One of the highlights of this trip for Ed was being able to discover his family roots and meet many of his family members for the first time on both his mother's and father's sides of his family. Ed's family was very important to him - he was a provider, protector, teacher, storyteller, entertainer, and helper to not only his wife and children, but to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well. There was no one more generous than him - but yet very practical. He also had a deep faith in God. Ed knew he could make the plans, but he also knew God directed his steps his whole life. After experiencing deteriorating health, Ed was admitted to the Ituna Pioneer Lodge on January 19, 2018 and lived there until his passing on October 23, 2019 at the age of 82 years. Ed was predeceased by his parents, John and Mary Windysh; his sisters and brothers-in law, Jean (Bill) Milford, Helen (Henry) Korchinski, Eleanor (Jim) McTurk, Josephine (Joe) Pongracz, and Mary (Blake) Rees; his brother-in-law, Walter Tataryn; his sister-in-law, Shirley (Rokosh) Tataryn; his nephews, Don Korchinski, Milo Korchinski, and Gary Pongracz; and his nieces, Terry (Milford) Wowk, Pat (Korchinski) Beckman, and Sandra (Pongracz) Harden.Mourning his passing are: Ed's wife of 61 years, Jean; his daughter Wilma (Dave) Hrenyk from Ituna, SK and their four children: Ruth Elaschuk (children: Jaden, Ariana, and Brinley), Daniel (Amber) Hrenyk (step-children: Taylor, Logan, and Sophie), Jeanette (David) Peterson, and Jonathan Hrenyk; also his daughter, Edwinna (Tom) Avant from Battle Lake, Minnesota and their three children: Sally Avant, Ross Avant, and Jesse (Mike) Avant; his son, David Windysh from Ituna, SK; his sister, Edna (Merrill) Wright from Mission, BC; his sister-in-law, Evelyn Patrick (late Walter Tataryn) from Balcarres, SK; and numerous nieces and nephews. The funeral service was held on Saturday, November 9th 2019 at the Hubbard Community Hall with Pastor Trevor Cherry officiating. Tributes and a slideshow were given by family members and friends of Ed. A memorial luncheon followed by the interment which took place in the Ituna Town Cemetery. In Ed's memory, memorials to the Ituna Pioneer Lodge would be appreciated by the family. Condolences can be left at baileysfuneralhome.com During his life, and now at the end of his life, Ed would always say, "Never say goodbye - just see you later." Service Details. Service When: Saturday, November 9th, 2019 11:00am Location: Hubbard Community Hall Address: Main St. HUBBARD, SK S0A 1J0 Interment Location: Ituna Town Cemetery Address: 5th Ave. ITUNA, SK