Magdalena Bilokrely

Magdalena “Lena” Hawryliw was born on August 29, 1922, in Langenburg, Saskatchewan, to Eustina Lulchak and Nicholas Hawryliw. She was one of seven children: five daughters (Ann, Mary, Catherine (Kay), Julia (Judy)) and two sons (Peter and Matt (Mac)). Lena lived and worked on her parents farm, which was located on an acreage one-half mile east of Sheho, Saskatchewan. She attended Wolkowetz School, which was a one room schoolhouse open between 1906-1954. She later worked as a Telephone Operator at the Sheho Central Office.

In 1945, Lena married John Bilokrely in Saskatchewan when she was 23 years old. They gave birth to their first son David George on February 27, 1948. After this, John found work with the Canadian Pacific Railway, and their small family moved to Toronto, Ontario into a big house at 209 Close Avenue, Parkdale.

On July 25, 1949, Kenneth John was born, followed by Robert Nickolas on February 27th, 1951 and Larry on April 20th, 1956. David and Robert shared their birthday 3 years apart. The house was located next to Holy Family Catholic School, and around 1957 the Government announced plans to expand the school, buying their home forcing them to move. John and Lena then decided to move closer to Lena’s sisters Kay and Anne in Etobicoke, which brought them to 3 Milmink Street in Rexdale.

Sadly, on October 5th, 1962, David passed away at the age of 14 after a battle with Leukemia. The family was devastated, and was said never to be the same. Around the same time, John also started his own battle with cancer. However, on March 13th, 1965, the family received a blessing from God when their one and only daughter Deborah Ann was born, shining a light on a difficult time.

In 1975, Lena then lost her husband John to his battle with cancer, and he passed away at the age of 62. They had been married for 30 years. She then returned to work shortly after to support her family at the Kipling Acres Nursing home. She later worked at Albion Lodge Nursing home until her retirement in her 70s.

Every year Lena would grow a vegetable garden and beautiful flowers in her backyard. In the front of the house, she was known for her beautiful bright roses which would cascade the wall leading up to the front door. She was always the one to host holidays in her home. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, Showers – you name it, it would be at 3 Milmink. She was famous for making perogies from scratch by the hundreds with her bare hands, meat on a stick, cabbage rolls, Kielbasa, and many more favourites. She was always trying to feed everyone with an “Are you hungry?” or “Sit down and eat something!”.

Lena was living in King Nursing Home in Bolton, Ontario before she passed away in her 99th year on October 8th, 2020. She is buried at Prospect Cemetery in Toronto, and her grave is kept beautiful with flowers planted and maintained by her loving family.

She was a proud grandmother to Lianne and Nick (Robert), Alex (Ken), John and Michelle (Larry and Noreen), and Danielle and Joshua (Debbie and Wayne). She was a proud great-grandmother to Brianna (Lianne), Magda, Tavi, Otis, and Darius (Alex and Mark).

She was truly a remarkable and strong woman. Always generous, kind and caring, and while small in stature, she could be a force to be reckoned with! Her traditions are kept alive through having a cup of tea and cookies after dinner, perogies and cabbage rolls on holidays, growing roses and beautiful gardens, and always doing whatever is necessary to support and love your family.

Some famous Lena Quotes:
- "There's more to life than laughing you know."
- "The grass is always greener."
- "Who died and made you boss?"
- "Well nobody's a prize package."
- "You're only a spring chicken for so long."
- "When God made brains, they thought he said trains."
- "Where's your head? Well use it!"
- "I don't want any animals in the house!" (She has had several cats)
- "Oh get lost!"