William "Bill" Buleziuk

After a long and happy life filled with much love and laughter, our dad and grandfather passed away peacefully at the age of 96, with his family by his side. 

He is survived by his son Roger (Wendy) and daughter Della (Scott) Hall; Grandchildren Stefani (Keith), Ashley, Kyle (Chelsea), Tyler (Heather) and Riley as well as his sister Cynthia Halwas, sisters-in-Law Freda Buleziuk, Mary O’Staff, Mary (Richard) Drewniak, Marge (Orest) Fedorchuk and  Edith O’Staff, brothers-in-Law Alec Bulbuck and Frank Brewer and numerous nieces and nephews.

Dad was predeceased by his loving and  devoted wife, Elsie, of 65 years, his parents, Rosie & Peter Buleziuk, his daughter Debbie, infant daughter Sharon and his siblings, George, Johnny, Ida, Elsie, Anne, Nick and Mary as well as his Mother and Father-in-Law, Ted and Lena Ostafichuk and, in-laws George Holovach, Laurie Halwas, Valerie Buleziuk, George O’Staff, Lorne O’Staff, Eleanor and Johnny Ostafichuk, and nephews Perry Bulbuck, Barry Bulezuik, Ron O’Staff and Gary O’Staff.

Dad was born on May 26, 1924 in Lennard Manitoba to Rosie and Peter Buleziuk.  He was the fourth child of nine.    

He attended school in Lennard and often talked about how much he enjoyed it. Dad was so interested in learning and loved math and geography the most.  He always told us the story of how he used to ask his teacher when would they learn how to use numbers in the millions and how she said to him, “my dear boy, you and I will never see numbers in the millions.”  Numbers in the millions was just a small drop in the bucket of what he got to see in his lifetime.

Dad was a typical young adventurous teenager and had a lot of fun growing up on the farm. He loved to play baseball as a young boy and even tried skiing down the hill in the valley with skis that he made on his own

As a young man, he was very responsible and took care of the family farm, especially after his dad became ill.  Dad would have kept on doing this, if it had not been for his mom telling him at 30 years old,  that he should start thinking about getting married and starting his own family. Dad followed his mom’s advice and proposed to his life-long friend, and she said yes.

On a beautiful sunny day in October 1954, Elsie Ostafichuk and Bill Buleziuk were married in the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Lennard Manitoba.  They started their journey in a very small house on the hill over-looking their valley. Shortly there-after they moved into the well-known red house on the Ostafichuk homestead. This is where they raised their three children – Debbie, Roger and Della. 

Dad worked hard as a farmer and totally enjoyed it.  He was a strong man with a lot of stamina. He had so many different types of animals in his farmyard and almost every one of them had a name.  We often heard him rattle off the names of all of his cows and his horses.   A couple of them gave him a hard time but that just made him stronger. Dad also farmed three quarters of land where he planted grass, oats, barley and wheat. Growing all of these varieties meant that he could feed all of the different animals he had.

In 1969 mom and dad made the decision to move their family to Winnipeg to make a better life.  He immediately started working at a factory where he was only paid $1.75 an hour.  With this small amount of money, he managed to buy a house, support three kids and own two vehicles.  Simply amazing!! He always said that it was a very hard move but it was the right move.  Though he came to the city not knowing much about it, in no time he got used to driving on the city streets and became very familiar with all areas of it.  He was very proud of his accomplishment of conquering the big city.

In 1981 dad was finally able to buy mom the house of her dreams.  They had a beautiful home that mom could be proud of.  It was filled with a lot of love and always such good food.   Dad loved moms cooking and enjoyed the many Ukrainian dishes she made, but most of all he enjoyed her fried fish.  Their yard was always beautifully decorated with flowers right around the house. 

Dad had the pleasure of attending the weddings of all of his children.  He then had the delight of watching Roger and Wendy’s children grow up and then had the enjoyment a second time, when Della and Scott’s boys were born.  His grandchildren were so lucky to have their Grandpa and Papa for so many years and be able to spend so much time with him.  He was so proud of them as he watched them all grow into such beautiful young adults. 

Dad retired in 1990 at the age of 66 and spent almost 30 years at home with mom.  Mom and dad were so close to each other.  They did everything together from grocery shopping to planting gardens.  In their retirement years, they travelled back to the farm many times.  They also travelled to Las Vegas for a birthday celebration, California for his nephews wedding and then to Florida. He was always so amazed with the landscape of other places and although his eye sight was not very good he took in every moment of it.

His faith and love of God was very strong and he was a devoted member at St. Ivan Suchavsky Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He was part of the brotherhood, sang in the choir and spent many days at the church as a volunteer helping with peroghies and preparing the cabbage and whatever else that needed to be done. He instilled in us that we should always remember to forget the troubles that pass our way -  but never forget to remember the blessings that come each day.

Dad loved many things….  He loved to sing and as he got older and the words slipped out of his mind he continued on sharing his beautiful voice by humming.  Dad especially loved Ukrainian music and was always up for a good Ukrainian polka.  He enjoyed the outdoors and walked many miles through his fields and valley land at the farm and continued those walks each time he went back out to the farm.    He enjoyed picking all types of berries, however, you could never depend on him to fill a pail as he always filled his belly first. And of course, we cannot forget his love of maple walnut ice cream. But most of all he loved his wife of 65 years, his children and grandchildren. 

Dad spent his last year and a half living at the Irene Baron Eden Centre where he was welcomed with love and treated with the utmost respect and dignity.  Although he missed his wife dearly he found comfort there with these new friends that became his care home family.  He always commented on how clean the place was and how everyone took such good care of him. We will always be grateful to the employees of Irene Baron for how they welcomed dad, and all of us into his new home.

This wonderful father of ours was a special force in our family……. He kept us loving and laughing his entire life. He absolutely treasured his family and considered his grandchildren as his special gifts in life.  He leaves with us his unconditional love, his many stories of the farm and his belief that life is truly beautiful.  Although he will be greatly missed, we take comfort in knowing that dad and mom are together again.

We may forget some things you have said, 

 We may forget some things you have done,

 But we will never forget, how you made us feel.

We will treasure you and love you forever.

Vichnaya Pamyat