Brittany and Bruno Caumette 

Entered November 18, 2017

What lovely photos of Baba!! She has been a memorably part of my life since I was a kid, giving us our first taste of Ukranian food (was she the source of my interest in culture and food???) and sharing silly jokes with her amazing accent! Baba was, in fact, Baba to so many, and she will be greatly missed. Her spirit will remain in our hearts forever, and every time I see a pierogi I will KNOW that it cannot be as tasty as hers!! RIP Baba. Much love to the Sharples family.

Janice and Philip Gale 

Entered November 18, 2017

We will be thinking of Baba and her family. . Baba was not only generous and kind, she was funny and very Independant. She kept a beautiful home and garden. She had a wonderful disposition and loved her family.
A good life. We will miss her dearly.
Janice and Philip

from Buchkivsky Family 

Entered November 18, 2017

We are so sorry for your loss. Our thoughts are with your family. We are glad we had a chance to know a kind, warmhearted woman pani Tekla was. Rest in peace pani Tekla.
Vichnaja pamjat.

Randy Sears (Friend)

Entered November 18, 2017 from New Brunswick, Canada

This is a beautiful picture of Baba...her wonderful personality shows through the smile. The sun DOES shine on her!!!
We will all miss her.

Beth Sears (Family friends)

Entered November 19, 2017 from Grand-Barachois, N.B.

Baba held a special place in our hearts. We will miss her for her warmth, caring, smile, and sense of humour. We are grateful for the memories of all the celebrations we spent in her company over the years. We are so sorry for your loss.

The Sears family

My Mothers Love

The sweetest voice I ever heard
was my mother singing like a chirping bird
Her gentle hands would touch my cheek to
let me know i’m in her keep

I was a wild child she would shake her head
Whenever my actions she would make her dread
Scolding me was not her style
A heavy sigh and then a smile

How blessed I’ve been to have her near
From childhood till now I never felt fear
Her love kept me strong whenever a fog would appear
She had the words to make it clear

The brightest stars did appear when Amanda & Stephanie
were born one year
Their little hands she loved to hold
Into the garden they would disappear
Many raspberries they would pick
Together they would sit and eat them all

Our roles they did reverse one day
I knew it was now my time to repay
The love, the song, the strength I will carry on
As It is my turn to be strong

Getting old is hard enough
My mom was brave but it was tough
She was in pain year after year
I wanted to keep her very near
It was my turn now to wipe a tear

My heart hurts at the thought of not having my
little baba to hold dear
To make her laugh when I know it hurts
I know she accepts that the end is near

Sleep now my sweet little mama dear
Rest your head on my lap and have no fear
You did more than anyone could have ever asked
You gave your love no questions asked

I can’t imagine a life without my mom
But just like her I will be strong
She taught me well so I must go on
Until my time has come and gone

Lesia Sharples

We are all here to honour & remember Tekla Bilyk  Dawidowich my mother in law who was unique in so many ways...I mean how many mother in laws iron a son in laws socks & underwear?  When I first moved to Toronto from Vancouver I lived with Baba and was treated like royalty.  I thought I may have married the wrong Dawidowich.....haha


EARLY HISTORY:
 
BABA was born 1927 in a small farming village called Neznaniw which means “unknown”.  Sadly baba's mother died when she was just 2 years old.  Her father remarried and had a son and another daughter.  the entire family lived off the land.  . A few years ago I asked BaBa about her childhood and she remembered fondly  playing in the wheat fields harvesting crops and surviving the cold Ukrainian winters walking a mile to school her teeth chattering all the way. 
 
EXPERIENCE
 
Tekla had a desire to travel from a young age and kept threatening to run away from home and her dad would just play along and say sure sure....Some family friends were leaving for Germany and asked if she would like to come along and at 15 she packed what little she had and started her adventure.  She met some wonderful young girls who were all in the same position looking for work while staying at a shelter for unmarried girls.  While in Hanover Germany she met her future husband – Wasyl Dawidowich who was working in the same factory as she was  as a tailor.
 
Soon they were married and Tekla gave birth in 1949 to their son- Dmytro  aka James. They were sponsored to Canada by a wonderful man who loaned them the money for the passage. 
 
Upon arrival in Halifax the customs agent asked the couple what their occupations were. Neither of them spoke English so the agent just assumed that they were farmers & shipped them off to Dauphin Manitoba in the middle of winter  this was not the paradise they were hoping for and immediately Wasyl took the train to Toronto and once he found a job & a small apartment he sent for Tekla & Dmytro.  

Wasyl decided to buy a motel in Florida one year and just assumed we would all be thrilled and would want to move to Miami with him.  ...He was wrong.  Tekla went down to the motel which ended up being just hard work and not much fun.  She loved all the customers but resented being there and eventually came back to Toronto.  She was fortunate to find employment at the University of Toronto where she worked until she retired at 65.

The world changed for Tekla when Amanda & Stephanie were born.  They were now the stars of the family.  For the first time in her life she felt unconditional love & happiness.

Baba had very high standards when it came to organization & time management.  Dmytro would face the wrath of baba when he would show up an hour late for dinner with his hair down to his shoulders....One Easter Jim & his wife Frances showed up an hour and a half late for brunch and baba was so furious she just tore a strip off him.  Lisa to the rescue fell to her knees and said "look baba...it's Christ!!  he has risen...which calmed baba down and we all had a good laugh.




Tekla's passion was gardening her huge backyard working from morning to night...There was no reason to have a huge vegetable garden but you didn't dare tell her that.  We all got to enjoy the fruits of her labour.


Baba was always super organized and proactive. During a snow flurry she would watch the snow accumulate to a ¼ inch then head outside to shovel her driveway – even though she didn’t drive. It would annoy her if the neighbours didn’t clear their driveway like she always did.
 
Up until the last couple of years Baba was extremely active in the Ukrainian cultural community. Whether it be singing in the Ukrainian women’s choir, being a member of the Ukrainian women's league, attending fund raising events, volunteering at old age homes or making perogies with her fun friends at the Ukrainian Church.
 
We heard many stories about the beauty of her native Ukraine but she would always finish by saying  how much she loved Canada and proud she was to be Canadian. 
When Tekla turned 78 Lesia was able to convince her that it was time to give up the gardening and move into a condo.  Her arthritis was getting progressively worse & she knew that it was time to leave the garden behind.  The condo at Sherway was ready when she turned 80.  We celebrate her birthday by taking the family to Punta Cana which she loved.  The first day there Lisa told her to put on some sunscreen but she replied "the sun don't touch me" and sure enough she got burned.

 During every hospital stay she delighted the nurses that took care of her as she would make it her mission to discover everything about the nurses’ backgrounds, interests, and family status. She was always polite and genuine and never complained no matter how painful the procedure was –which included 2 heart surgeries. All the nurses in the ward called her Baba.
 
PERSONALITY:
 
Baba had a wonderful sense of humour and unique expressions, which I call BaBa’isms. The Ukrainian accent and delivery of these expressions always cracked us up.  If she needed to get her hair done she would tell me “I look like a vitch – Baba Yaga”.  The only person she ever disliked was a politician and she told us " I hate him". She would meet a new person and say “Hi I’m Baba…I’m old”
 


LOVE:
 
Baba loved talking to everyone...young and old.  she would know the background of each person she would meet and then tell us...he's Portuguese...she's Italian Her physiotherapist was Indian....he from India...very smart his wife is coming soon. Children always gravitated to baba...she always had candies in her pocket so she could share them.

Cloverdale mall was her go to place for shopping.  She loved going to the "pick & choose for chinese food and would meet up with other old folks who would sit around and chat for hours.  She made friends with all the wheels trans drivers who knew her by name.  She liked to tip everyone who did anything for her...it made her feel good to tip.

– life will go on but it won’t be the same without her. We will all miss her.
 
However, we are here not to mourn Tekla – but to celebrate her life and the positive impact she had on everyone she met.
TOAST:
 
If you have a glass – let’s toast and celebrate Tekla’s life.
 
Vichnaya Pamyiat