"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Helen (Halyna) Bagan on Saturday April 20, 2019. Beloved wife of Zenon for 65 years. Beloved mother of Dana (Myroslav) and Ivanka (Ihor). Loving Babcia of Sophia, Stephanie (Peter), Juliana and Gregory.

Halyna was born in Warsaw to Maria (nee Trasewich) of present day Ivano-Frankivsk and Konstantyn Balas of Kyiv. When World War II broke out, Halyna, known as Lyalya to most, moved with her parents to Ukraine and attended school in Ivano-Frankivsk while her father worked in Lviv. In 1944 she fled Ukraine with her parents and lived in Berlin, then Lubeck, Germany before rejoining most of her mother's family in Toronto in 1946. Halyna studied to be a pharmacist at the University of Toronto. She met her future husband Zenon through family, as her mother and his father were already acquainted. Halyna and Zenon worked hard and opened a pharmacy in Etobicoke,. They raised two daughers, Dana and Ivanka. Halyna was an active and devoted member of the Ukrainian Catholic Women's League at St. Josaphat's Cathedral and espoused all of the charitable activities of that organization. Halyna was very dedicated to her four grandchildren, helping to chauffeur them to their extra-curricular activities while instilling in them a love for their Ukrainian heritage. Today we remember a vibrant, generous and outgoing wife, mother and grandmother.