Carol Okrainetz

It is with heavy hearts that our family announces the passing of Carol Jean Okrainetz. Carol passed away peacefully on January 20, 2023, at the Swan River Valley Personal Care Home, at the young age of 77.

Carol was born May 25, 1945, in Flin Flon, MB to John & Minnie Kish.  She attended country school in Beaver Falls near the North Prairie area during her early years. Carol met Edward Okrainetz in 1959 and they were married on November 9, 1963, in Lady Lake, SK. They lived in Lintlaw, SK where Ed worked as a grain buyer.  Ed and Carol celebrated the birth of their first child Darcy Edward born March 25, 1964, and shortly followed by Geraldine Shelley on February 1, 1965. 

On January 2, 1967, the family packed up and moved to Thompson, MB where Ed started his new job at the mine, INCO.  At this time Carol was a stay-at-home mom and found many new hobbies such as sewing. Carol became very talented as she took on odd sewing jobs and even sewed her girls’ matching outfits.  She was asked to sew her first wedding dress, which she completed and was very proud of.   As the years went on Ed and Carol were blessed again with two girls, Charlene Rae born November 30, 1970, and Terri-Lynn Joan born February 11, 1974, to complete their family.

In December of 1977, the family packed into the old 1963 Mercury and headed to Swan River, MB to start their next chapter in life. Carol took on a job at the local fabric store where she was able to continue her passion for sewing. As time passed, she took on a casual job cleaning the office of dentist Dr. David Wilkie and then moved to her new position at the Westwood Inn Copper Kettle restaurant in 1979 where she worked as a waitress. Carol was known for having the ability to take large orders without having to write a single word down and not miss a thing! She enjoyed her job immensely, from the people she worked with to the customers she met throughout the years. Carol received an award from the Swan River Chamber of Commerce for employee of the month in March of 1982. She later went on to receive a loyalty award from the Manitoba Hotel Association for her 23 years of service as a waitress. Carol retired in 2002, in which she then dedicated her time outside with her flowers. Every spring she would visit all the local greenhouses and come home with way too many flowers but seemed to find room for them all. She could hardly wait for dad’s garden to come in so she could start making her spaghetti sauce and salsa. Carol loved to bake and was best known for her delicious homemade buns, cinnamon buns and orange buns, which always disappeared quickly.  Carol enjoyed playing cards and Rummy was one of her favourites. She was always very sneaky as she would never lay her cards down until she could go out, leaving us all with a hand full of cards and a paper full of points. Carol was also an active member of the TOPS Chapter #2190 for 35 years, were she enjoyed her weekly outings with the ladies and cherished the life-long friendships that were made.

Carol’s grandchildren were her pride and joy. She loved each and everyone of them dearly. She was a very present Grandma, attending all sporting events, concerts, dance recitals and perogie bees. Each grandchild was also lucky enough to experience going to garage sales with Grandma. They would stop by the community bulletin board first to write down all the addresses of the garage sales and then they would head out to find some treasures. Grandma would sometimes treat the kids to lunch after, but only if they behaved.  Carol also made many trips to Winnipeg and Ontario to visit Darcy’s family. Mom treasured the time she was able to spend with them and many memories were made. She would always make all her famous homemade recipes that they all loved and a few batches of perogies were always a must.  Shopping was high on the list of to do’s as well. They would often go to Toronto shopping or sometimes take a drive across the U.S. border to Buffalo or Detroit as the shopping was much better.  

Carol enjoyed taking family trips to Minot, ND where she excelled in her passion for shopping. We would often come home with lots of shoes and a car full of different grocery items that we couldn’t buy in Canada. Many Saturday trips were also taken to Yorkton where the day was of course, spent shopping. Our family also enjoyed many summers at Madge Lake where we rented a condo and Mom would just sit back and enjoy watching the grandkids play at the beach. Her favourite was roasting hot dogs over the fire and going out for ice cream.

Carol will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by her husband Ed of 59 years, her children Darcy, Gerry (Al), Charlene (Allan), Terri; her 9 grandchildren Christopher, Jessica, Carissa, McKenzie, Brenna, Justin, Jalen, Janica, Declen and great-granddaughter Olivia. She is also survived by her brother Ron Kish (Sharon) Calgary, AB, sisters Sylvia Kish and Maureen Strocen of Saskatoon, SK, in-laws Brian & Laurel Okrainetz of Preeceville, SK, Elsie Yowney of Regina, SK and Barry Okrainetz of Edmonton, AB. She also leaves to mourn numerous nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. She was pre-deceased by her parents John & Minnie Kish, parents-in-law Harry & Katie Okrainetz, brothers-in-law Delmar Okrainetz, Sy Yowney and Bob Lee.

In keeping with Carol’s wishes, cremation has taken place and a family celebration of life will be held at a later date. Donations in memory of Carol may be made to the Swan Valley Animal Protection League, Box 2735, Swan River, MB R0L 1Z0 or the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba, 10 -120 Donald Street, Winnipeg, MB R3C 9Z9.

“There are no goodbyes for us.

Wherever you are,

you will always be in our hearts.”

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