My father-in-law Bill passed away this morning (January 8). He had been in poor health recently, but weakened over the last few days.
Michael, his sister Margaret and I saw Pop yesterday evening, and Margaret and her husband Sid visited him earlier this morning. Within a couple of hours, Michael got a phone call from Menno Hospital, where Bill was a resident since May 2012, letting him know that his father had passed away just before noon.
Bill was just over 100 years old, having celebrated this milestone birthday last June; see Pop’s 100th birthday.
The fifth and youngest child of Wasyl and Luchenia (Tomelin) Demosky, Bill was born on 13 June 1914 in Dolina Lugovoya, a Doukhobor settlement near Pass Creek, British Columbia. When he was about 4 or 5 years old, his family moved to Saskatchewan, where Wasyl farmed. In June 1952, Bill married Ann Cazakoff, by whom he had two children (Michael and Margaret).
Bill was a faithful Doukhobor. His belief in God, pacifism, and non-violence sustained him all his life.
Rest in peace, Pop.
Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.
Dear Yvonne, So sorry about Bill. You were so lucky to have him for so long. What a lovely photo of him on this post. Rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marian. We were indeed lucky and blessed to have had Pop with us for so long. Our son Nicholas was able to see his "Deda" one last time before returning to college earlier this week.
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