Sylvia Vera Pryhitko

January 17, 1940 – February 27, 2021

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Sylvia Pryhitko. Our lovely mom died on Saturday February 27th at St Boniface Hospital after losing a long and arduous battle with cancer. She was 81 years of age. She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Ron, three daughters, Debra (Said), Carol (Patrick) and Lisa (John), and 5 grandchildren, Lucas, Max, Jolie, Terick and Ayshia.

Sylvia was born at home on the farm near Elphinstone, Manitoba to Natalia and John Skotlas. She had many stories of life on the farm. She was the youngest with two much older siblings so she learnt to entertain herself when she wasn’t expected to be doing farm chores. She had no patience for children saying they were bored as there was always something that needed to be done.

At the age of fourteen her parents left the farm to her brother Maurice, and bought the Menzie General Store. Mom lived with her brother at the farm during the school year so she could finish her schooling.

In 1959 mom completed her one year Teachers Certificate and began her long career in education. She met her lifelong friend Beryl at that college and while attending a wedding as a bridesmaid, was introduced to our dad who was the photographer. After a quick engagement they were married. Mom went on to have three children by the time she was 26! and she continued to teach between babies.

She made the decision to go back to teaching full-time when Lisa started Kindergarten and never stopped until her retirement in June of 2000. Somehow, while raising three kids and working full-time she managed night classes and completed her B.Ed as it hadn’t been a requirement when she started her career.

As children we loved to visit the Menzie store to peruse the candy shelf, play with the cash register and steal Revels in the middle of the night. There was no running water or indoor plumbing so mom taught us how to fetch water from the town pump, accompanied us to the outhouse in the dark, and showed us how to feed the chickens.

She spent many summer days at the lake while we were young. Our parents bought the” run down old cottage” because they weren’t afraid of fixing it up. I remember her washing our clothes in an old wringer washer that had been left behind and forcing us all to use the scary outhouse.

Mom was extremely sociable, without hesitation she would get involved with and take on large scale projects. She often ran the plant table at the local Anglican church, cooked meals and organized events for Pembina Active Living. Mom was a loyal supporter of the Winnipeg Symphony and a 40-year subscriber to the Manitoba Theatre Centre. She perpetually owned two seats high up in the balcony section and loved inviting people to accompany her.

She was a champion seamstress, sewing dozens of dresses,Halloween and dance recital outfits for us. She tirelessly sewed costumes for every school play and performance for 40 years and continued to do so even after her retirement. Many charity projects flew through her fingers. She still has a stack of little shorts and dresses on her sewing table that were destined for an African mission project suspended due to Covid.

After her retirement, Mom was in high demand as a substitute teacher (for 10 years), but she gladly looked after her grandchildren whenever help was needed. She spent countless hours with the littlest ones, took interest in their activities and always let them know how very proud she was of their accomplishments.

An afternoon with Baba always meant creative crafting, games and freshly baked cookies. Meals were always a big part of her gatherings. After her passing we felt it was fitting to have a meal in her honour and made sure to set a place for her.

She touched many lives in her 45 years of teaching Elementary school. Always cheerful and endlessly helpful. Her former students often said that she was a wonderful and special teacher.

Her multiple illnesses slowed her down the last 5-6 years. Spinal stenosis made walking painful but she used her cane and later a walker. Still, she made it to the Reh-fit Center, got out of the house and enjoyed some physical activity. Her multiple cancer diagnosis and surgeries incrementally sapped her strength, and a cardiac condition drained her and our dad with many midnight trips to the Emergency room.

Mom cherished her friends and the memories of many vacations with Beryl and Paul, Jessie and Kirk. She so enjoyed visiting with Marie, talking and watching movies. She had a wide variety of girlfriends and looked forward to getting together and catching up during one of their monthly ladies’ luncheons. She loved casinos, gardening, crosswords, voracious reading,traveling and volunteering.

Even with her health failing she was upbeat and positive,friendly, kind and generous. We already miss her cheery “Hello” at the end of the phone. She was our favorite hello and our hardest goodbye.

We want to thank the staff at the St Boniface Hospital for all their care. Mom said they were a “class act”, so please in lieu of flowers make a donation in her name. Thank you also to the team at MAiD for their compassionate counselling. In accordance with her wishes cremation has taken place and for the time being there will be no service due to the Covidsituation.