Mr. Fred Hardybala, formerly of the Beaverdale/Willowbrook district, passed away peacefully at his home in Regina, SK on Feb 26, 2012. He was born on the family farm on Feb 29, 1928 to Phillip and Anna Hardybala (nee Hrebenyk). In 1934, with the untimely death of his mother and at the tender age of six, Fred, and his other siblings, endured many hardships until their father was remarried to Katherine (nee Lys) in 1938. Fred attended Silver Willow School from 1934 to 1942 where he completed grade 8 and then, like many youngsters at the time, started farming fulltime with his father and older brother John. As he grew older, he took violin and guitar lessons and participated with his friends in providing music at school socials and local barn dances. He especially enjoyed playing the guitar and collected several throughout his life. When he wasn't playing the music, Fred very much liked to dance, especially the polka, although he did have some trouble finding a partner that wasn't taller than he was. Fred attended the Sask School of Agriculture in Saskatoon during the winters of 1954 and 1955 where he completed courses to further educate himself in the farming practices of the time. Fred also took welding and mechanical courses and loved to take things apart to see how they worked. He purchased and moved onto his own three quarters of land west of Willowbrook in 1956 and continued to farm there until 1978. During that time he purchased and operated a bulldozer and began doing custom land clearing and breaking for other farmers in the area. He built his business to a two bulldozer operation and employed a number of local hands through the years. Under the name of Hardybala Construction he continued to clear land west into the Jedburgh and Parkerview districts. He even had a TV commercial made in the mid 60's by CKOS TV in Yorkton. He sold his land to his brother, John, in 1978 and moved to Calgary where he worked as a maintenance man for Alta Natural Gas until his retirement in 1994. During his time off work in the city, Fred enjoyed driving up into the mountains of AB and BC to hunt and fish or try his hand at panning for gold and searching for other minerals. He even leased a couple of small placer gold claims that he casually worked in BC, but unfortunately he never hit the "mother lode". He also enjoyed photography and took many sightseeing drives to destinations in Canada and the US. After his retirement, Fred remained active in Calgary by salvaging and recycling various metals and other materials. He moved to Regina in 2006 to be closer to the majority of his family and to work some new territory with his salvaging/recycling hobby. Fred enjoyed sending and receiving photos or just chatting with several family members and friends via email and spent many hours researching various things on the internet. He was especially interested in his family heritage and researched this on his computer as much as possible. Fred continued to live in his own home and remained active until his passing. At the age of 83 he was still building his own garage and planting unique fruit trees in his yard. Fred was always an honest and independent soul that lived his life on his own terms and at his own pace. His comical demeanor and unique personality will be missed and often remembered by his family, friends, neighbors and "business" associates. Fred gave generously to his church and various other charities throughout his life and, as such, memorials to Fred's life can be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Beaverdale Church. The Funeral Service was held on Saturday, May 26th at St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Beaverdale with Very Rev. Fr. Peter Pidskalny, C.Ss.R. officiating. The responses were led by Colette Karapita. The interment followed in the family plot at St. Mary's Parish Cemetery, Beaverdale with Alan Hardybala serving as the urn bearer. Condolences can be sent to the family by visiting www.baileysfuneralhome.com
Vichnaya pamyat! Eternal memory!
Funeral arrangements were in care of Bailey's Funeral Home.
