Obituary of Robert Andy Smerechynski

After a lengthy illness our Dad has passed peacefully from this life with mom by his side.

He leaves to cherish his memory; his wife of 53 years, Dianne; sons Darren (Shauna), Kevin (Barb) and Jayson (Cathie); and grandsons Kayden and Huxley. Others left with wonderful memories are his sister-in-law Nancy (Jim) Porth; nephew Chris (Kate) and their children Charlotte and Benjamin; niece Alyson (Jeff) and their children Nicholas, Erika and Victoria; Aunt Mary (Don) McMahon and numerous cousins and friends.

He was predeceased by his parents Steve and Katie and in-laws Stanley and Pauline Jachnicki.

Dad grew up in Medika, Manitoba, learning many of his future skills and his love of working the land on the family farm. He went to high school in Whitemouth and after leaving school was able to get a job with the CNR. Then with mom by his side he moved to Winnipeg.

The work ethic instilled in him from working on the farm served him well with his employment with CNR, Pioneer Electric and then TransCanada Pipelines in 1970, working there until his retirement in 2001. He enjoyed his years at the pipeline and his assignment to Stn 43 Spruce, allowed him to move his growing family to Hadashville, Manitoba, only minutes from his parents’ farm.

Dad enjoyed his job and the challenges it presented and took great pride in his station. He was well admired and respected by those he worked with. The best thing about the job was his ability to be close to home and the farm he loved.

Being able to work the land and work with the equipment brought him great joy. He enjoyed so much about farming, from the equipment to the different types of crops. He would spend hours reading farming publications, equipment manuals and watching the farm reports on TV. He actively worked the farm into the 90’s.

There was no challenge too big for him. He used his ingenuity to find solutions to problems he encountered or just to build things for fun. He could figure out a way to make anything work or run. He always had something in progress that needed fixing or something that needed to be built. Telling him it could not be done was an invitation to prove you wrong.

He had a thirst for knowledge. He did not waste his time watching or reading fiction. He wanted facts. You could often find him with his head in a newspaper or magazine, expanding his knowledge. He did not shy away from new technology. Once the internet was available this opened up even more information for him to research and absorb.   

He loved his community and was always willing to lend a hand where needed. He served as a building inspector for the area and when the new Hadashville Rec Centre was being built he was on the committee and devoted many hours to ensuring it was a place that would serve a large portion of the area's residents and would be a great gathering space. This was so important to him, as one of his great joys was gathering with family and friends.

Weekends were for family and there was nothing he liked better than having his family by his side, working together on the many chores on the farm or at the house and then settling back and enjoying a home cooked meal, a good drink and visit. The door was always open to anyone that dropped by. There was always plenty of food and good conversation to be shared.

In earlier years he enjoyed camping, packing up the camper and heading to the lake with friends. Going out on the lake with the power boat or hitting the lake or rivers with the fishing boat. Winters were for snowmobiling and wood cutting. He enjoyed picking up equipment and tools at auctions and garage sales. Tinkering with the equipment to get it running in top form. In retirement he continued to enjoy fishing and joined in on a few fly-in-fishing trips. He had more time to attend auctions, always picking up something interesting. Retirement also saw him and mom taking short trips over the border for shopping and to pick up his American Budweiser. He was always on the lookout for new tools and yard equipment. He enjoyed sharing his finds with us kids.

He loved a challenge and we loved giving them to him. He took interest in all the things we did, from snowmobiles, to hunting and fishing, photography, tree planting and gardening, woodworking, cars, atv’s and pets. He always wanted to know what we were up to and was always ready for help and advice if needed.

As the years went on even though he was no longer farming and the land was rented out, he could be found riding around keeping tabs on what was happening with it or taking inventory of his many projects and auction finds. Mom kept him busy with home renovations and visits from us now included many grand dogs and finally a grandson!

We will continue to use the skills and lessons he taught us, and we will make sure family is always priority number one as it was with him. We will make sure that these things are also passed along to Kayden and Huxley and that they will know how much their grandpa loved them and would have enjoyed spending time with them.  

Rest peacefully dad, we love you and will miss you deeply.

We would like to thank the staff at the Niverville Heritage Life Personal Care home for the compassion and care you provided him for the last 4+ years.

Cremation has taken place. A livestreamed memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB. Officiated by Proto Deacon Stefan Tyrawski.

In Lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba 10 – 120 Donald Street

Winnipeg, MB, R3C 4G2. 1-800-378-6699, alzheimer.mb.ca.