Obituary of Mary E. Zdunich

April 24, 1924 - September 17, 2023

 

On September 17, we lost the kindest and most devoted mother and friend. 

 

As with most, Mary had a life of challenge, accomplishment, and new experiences but her spirit of tenacity and farm girl resilience always were at her core.  

 

Mary was born in Croatia to Joe and Matilda and began her life on the first family farm. At the age of one, together with her mother and two older brothers (Tony and John) she left Croatia. They sailed from Cherbourg, France and landed at Pier 21, Halifax for the start of their new lives in Canada. Their first adventure in Canada was the long train ride across the country to southern Saskatchewan to join her father and maternal grandparents. 

 

Her parents farmed and raised another eight children: Kay, Pete, Nick, Joe, Frank, Anne, George, and Fran. Mom and the other three oldest children attended one-room rural schools where they all completed their education. As she grew up, Mary learned all the valued domestic skills of the day, and she learned them well – whether making meals for just the family or helping her mom cook for threshing crews at harvest time. Mom was so accomplished at baking cakes and cookies – and oh those pies! From her mother and grandmother, she learned to sew, crochet, knit, and do embroidery. Her sewing abilities included everything along the way from children’s clothes like dresses and skirts for Darlene to suit jackets for Ken and Allan. She made the curtains and drapes for the houses we lived in and donated her time to make clothes for others and doll clothes for church bazaars.

 

Following grade 12, Mary left the farm for the “bright lights” of the city.  Her first job was as a nurse’s aide in the baby and children’s wards at the hospital in Princeton, BC. Later, Mom and her sister, Kay, went to work in Saskatoon, SK. Following marriage to Gabe (predeceased) in May of 1948, and a short farming stint, they moved to Saskatoon where Ken, Allan, and Darlene were born.

 

In the fall of 1960, Mary and Gabe moved to Calgary, AB, knowing better opportunities awaited. Home was in the growing community of Brentwood which quickly filled with young families and other mothers with whom Mary enjoyed many social activities. The family joined the new parish of St. Pius X, where Mom remained a life-long parishioner.  She was a member of the Catholic Women’s League for over sixty years and a founding member of the St. Rita’s Group.

 

Mom was employed with Simpson Sears Credit Department and was pleased to take advantage of the staff discount. One of her first purchases was 3-speed bikes for the boys. And naturally as Darlene grew, she received her new bike too.

 

Once the family was settled, Mary, always looking for personal improvement, upgraded her skills at SAIT and Henderson’s Business College. She also had a lifelong passion for reading – newspapers, magazines, and books were always in the house. Her focus was true stories – never fiction – about people, places, and events. Mom frequently left her books with notes in the margins, passages underlined, and pieces of paper marking meaningful pages. TV was off after the 6:00 pm news, unless it was a documentary.

 

Family celebrations like birthdays, barbecues, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas were very important to Mary and her skills in the kitchen produced memories of superb meals, particularly her homemade buns. Mom instilled her love of baking in Darlene and special times were their making of dozens of cookies and tarts for Christmas.

 

After a variety of work experiences Mary went back to her first attraction – healthcare. In the mid-1970s Mom went to work at Foothills Hospital and then as secretary to a Department Head in the U of C medical school.

 

With retirement, Mom was ready to begin a series of travel adventures, often alongside her children. She saw many parts of Canada and Europe, and several states in the US. Mary delighted in telling her friends about the people she met and what she saw and learned on her travels.

 

Her appetite had been whetted by a 1979 trip to Halifax, where Allan took her to Pier 21 for the second time and then they toured the Maritime provinces as the start of a leisurely drive back west across Canada, echoing 1925, but this time able to enjoy and remember the sites in a way a one-year-old would not. And if the road trip with Allan wasn’t daring enough, Mom had a great adventure with him one sunny afternoon on a hot air balloon ride floating across southwest Calgary and west over farms and fields.

 

Other trips Mary remembered most fondly included:

 

… a six-week trip to Europe with her sister, Anne, which started with a multi-country tour followed by a month touring Croatia and Bosnia, where Darlene joined them. They were able to see the village church where their parents were married and Mary was baptized, and the remains of the family home on the farm her parents had left. Another important stop included the pilgrimage site of Međugorje.

 

… Darlene and Mom continued having a variety of adventures and holidays together. Two memorable destinations were enjoying the sights and beaches of Hawaii and touring around Italy. Visiting Pearl Harbor to view the World War II memorial was an important stop in Oahu. Mary and Darlene spent a few weeks in Italy where it was special luck to hear Pope John Paul saying mass in St. Peter’s Square and a day spent in Pompeii visiting the ancient ruins that Mary learned  about in her school days.

 

… on her 81^st birthday Mom and Ken flew to London, UK, to begin a two-country tour which at its core was a remembrance of D-Day (the year she turned 20) and built around the hospitality of Ken’s colleagues/friends. In the south of France, she saw the ancient castle city of Carcassonne and along with thousands of others, in Toulouse’s main square, watched the inaugural flight of the Airbus A380. Travelling to Normandy meant walking along Juno Beach, a place of great poignance for her. In London, Mom and Ken rode the tube almost every day to another site related to the wartime period. Two evening highlights were Piccadilly Circus and Berkeley Square (where Mom sang Vera Lynn’s “A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley Square”). Mom received a personal tour of Duxford air base, which reminded her of the World War II planes flying in the skies above the family farm in the war years. Afterwards, they went to visit Shakespeare country where more friends provided a tour of Stratford-on-Avon, including Shakespeare’s home and gravesite.

 

Mary continued her travels with Ken on his business trips to Houston where she made new friends and introduced them to her famous raisin pies. She developed a taste for Mexican cuisine and it was a favorite for many birthday celebrations in Texas.

 

While Mom was still driving, two of her regular destinations were Sunday Mass and outings for lunch with her Saskatchewan lifelong friend. Always enjoying going for walks, even in her early 90s Mom and a neighbor often went ¾ of a mile to Tim’s for a coffee but, not donuts as those were fattening! 

 

More recently she was part of a group that went for suppers on Saturday evenings, most often a Chinese buffet for the abundance of choices and knowing there were always many flavours of ice cream for dessert.

 

In 2021 Mom moved to her last home – the cozy, pleasant Brentwood Care Centre.

 

There she joined a new “family” and made new friends. Her tablemate in the dining room was a perfect match – both being Saskatchewan girls who had many of the same recollections. Mom loved to sing (never too loudly) and often when she started, others would join in. One favorite was “Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?” A popular TV channel was one that featured pictures from around the world in which everyone tried to guess the locations.

 

Several of the Health Care Aides loved to sing and when they were helping Mary would often start singing and Mom would join in. It was amazing how staff, often from other countries, who were young enough to be her granddaughters knew many of the same songs.  Hymns and “Mary Had a Little Lamb” were always hits!

 

While Mary was no longer able to head to the neighborhood coffee shop, she and her favorite physio aide bonded in their thrice weekly exercise sessions.  Mom had several favorite activities while living at Brentwood Care Centre: reading, doing word puzzles, or coloring and playing dominos with Darlene.

 

Mary was well cared for, enjoyed her meals, and was very content.  We could not have asked for more! Her gentle approach to life and “membership” in the sisterhood of caregivers endeared her to all the staff. We cannot say enough good things about Mom’s “Brentwood” experience:  the many Health Care Aides, the staff serving meals in her dining room, Recreation, Occupational and Physio Therapists, the entire Nursing team, and Doctors. Every one of them cared for Mom with compassion, respect, and love. In the background the Dieticians and Food Services Team Lead designed and daily prepared tasty meals (we know, sometimes we sneaked nibbles).

 

At the last family meal in September, Mom’s fortune cookie read: “Talents that are not shared are not talents”.  How appropriate!  Mary enjoyed a life that was filled with family and friends; joy, successes, learning, and always wonder. Let’s remember and celebrate her long and happy life!

 

Mary is survived by her sons Ken and Allan, daughter Darlene (Roman), two brothers (Frank and George), and numerous nieces and nephews, and their children.

 

A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Pius X Church (2424 - 24 Avenue NW) on Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 1:00 pm. Reception to follow.

 

In living memory of Mary E. Zdunich, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes.