Mary Rzepa (nee Gordichuk)

Peacefully with family by her side, Mary Rzepa passed away at the Portage District General Hospital on January 28, 2025, two days after her 98th birthday. 

She is survived by her son John with grandchildren Cole Rzepa and Randi Lynds; daughter Frances (Peter Hochbaum) with grandchildren Scott Klassen (Jenny) and Jazmine Klassen (Jeremy Whitford); great grandchildren Jamie, McKenna, Leo, Olivia, and Sigrid; sister Margaret Clark, brother George Gordichuk, and many nieces and nephews.

Mary was predeceased by her husband Frank; infant son Michael; parents George and Katie Gordichuk; sisters and brothers-in-law Effie and Joe Strilec, Helen and Jerry Spalding, Anne and Ed Knott, Agnes Marriott, Garry Clark, Tony Rzepa; sisters-in-law Christa Gordichuk, Annie Demchuck, Carrie Weatherhead and niece Marlene Holtz. 

Mary was born on January 26, 1927, the eldest of seven children and attended South Ridge School. Her stories about living on the family farm in those years were memorable and spoke to a much different, simpler time. She and her sisters were often tasked with taking the cow down to the ditch to graze and they all stooked grain after their dad had cut it. There was always much work to be done on their small mixed farm, much of it hard, physical work, and she took it all in stride…“well, it had to be done, so you just did it.” In her late teens, before her brother was born, she worked as a domestic helper for a family in Winnipeg, returning when she was nineteen to help her mother who then had two children under two, plus the older ones. In 1953, at the age of 26, she married Frank Rzepa and they settled on their farm in the North Ridge District, where she resided until her passing. After marriage she worked in the non-officer’s mess on CFB Portage, but it was on the farm where she worked most of her life and was most content.  

Mary had an attitude on life that belied her age. She was very tolerant of others who did not share her background or views. She remembered Sioux Village being flooded and subsequently moved, wondering why the Province didn't build a dike for them instead. A widow for decades, she knew that women could do anything they set their minds to. Mary's mark of a person was how they treated others, not their material possessions. She didn't waste time gossiping and if she didn't have anything nice to say, she kept her thoughts to herself. Her small stature contained a large, kind spunkiness which will be missed by all who were fortunate enough to know her. 

Above all, Mary was a pragmatic woman and practicality always won. She's left us at least two years’ worth of food in the freezer and pantry! Jazmine remembers her grandma taking her to a store to pick out some clothes she liked and then bought one of the outfits for her birthday present - it might not have been a surprise, but Mary knew her present would be the right one. 

Throughout her long life, Mary saw many things come and go -- horse power, vehicles, electrification, refrigeration, running water and indoors toilets, the rail line that used to go from Delta Beach to the States, inter-city buses dropping people off all along 331, the evolution of farm machinery, the Diversion and dike along the river being built, and so much more. When asked what the biggest invention had been in her lifetime she understandably couldn’t pick just one; when asked what her biggest achievement was, she was more definitive: “my kids.” 

For Christmases and Easters Mary would always cook up a delicious traditional Ukrainian feast complete with candles on the table. Up until December she would still make a big Sunday dinner for her and John, the only difference being that she had started splitting the preparation, some on Saturday and the rest Sunday morning. She took great pride in her strawberries, raspberries, large garden and numerous beautiful flower beds. It was rare to see her sitting still, there was always something to do and she loved the rhythm of the year – from planting to weeding to harvesting and preserving before wintertime – she was a farm girl through-and-through! Many of the temporary foreign farm workers were in awe of her energy and stamina and they made sure to take care of her. The doctor’s orders to “take it easy” and “not overdo it” this past year were met with a grain of salt as she confessed that she didn’t know what else to do, this is what she’d always done. Last strawberry season she went out in the heat and picked two or three pails with one of the workers because she “wanted to do it one last time.” She was an avid bowler and enjoyed meeting up with her friends in town for coffee. For many years she was involved with the Curtis Ridge Community Hall and was like a living encyclopedia of the Hoop ‘n Holler area – no need for Google because her memory was amazing. 

Thank you to the staff at the Portage District General Hospital for their wonderful care and to her special friend Sheri Blaylock.

A memorial service will be held at McKenzies Portage Funeral Chapel on Friday, February 28, 2025 at 2:00 pm. A family interment will take place at Hillside Cemetery at a later date.

In lieu of flowers donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated. 

A tree will be planted in memory and cared for by McKenzies Portage Funeral Chapel. www.mckenziesportagefuneralchapel.com