CHARABIN: Mrs. Dorothy Charabin of North Battleford passed away on Saturday, June 15, 2013 at the age of 84. Dorothy is lovingly remembered by her daughter, Laurel Charabin; son, Dale (Lynn) Charabin and their children Ashley (Adam), Rhett, Ali & Dane, Neil (Kristin), Max & Grady, Ryan (Lindsay) & Hudson; son, Tim (Tracey) and their children Eric, Daniel & Matthew; son, Glen (Iris) and their children Joseph & Naomi; sisters, Hazel Fuller & Betty (Victor) Iwanchuk; brother, Roy Van; sister-in-law, Sylvia (Stan) Sharpe; as well as numerous nieces & nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, Kenneth Charabin; parents, Louise & George Van; sister, Rita (Bill) Stewart; mother & father-in-law, Fred & Pauline Charabin; sisters-in-law, Irene Van & Nel (Bob) Bouey; and brother-in-law Walter Charabin. A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 @ 2:00 p.m. from Third Avenue United Church with Reverend Frances Patterson officiating. Memorial donations in memory of Mrs. Dorothy Charabin may be made to the Battlefords Trade & Education Centre, 702 102nd St, North Battleford, SK S9A 1E3.Funeral arrangements for the late Mrs. Dorothy Charabin have been entrusted to Nicole Welford of Eternal Memories Funeral Service and Crematorium. Recollection Of DorothyCharabin Dorothy Shirley Charabin was born in her family home of Borden Saskatchewan on November 15, 1928; her parents were George Washington Van and Lousie Mary Van. She was the 3rd eldest of 5 children. Some memories from childhood that Grandma has shared with us are: In 1935 they made an announcement of the Borden Bridge construction (we refer to as the old Bridge) and having the engineer and 2 of his workers stay with them during the construction. With this bridge being one of the biggest in North America of that time it would have been an event to remember. In June of 1939 all of her school boarded the 6am train and headed into Saskatoon to see King George VI and Queen (Marten) Elizabeth. The year that the war was declared the house had to have silence during lunch so her Dad could keep abreast on what was happening in Europe. Needless to say a few ears got "clipped" if anyone made any noise or talked during the radio announcement. Her younger sister Rita developed Scarlet Fever and they were all Quarantined for a month, then Grandma developed a mild case and missed another month of school. At the age of 14 she and her mom joined the united church and enjoyed girls camps at Bright Sands and eight mile lake as well as teaching Sunday school for a few years. Dorothy graduated from Borden High school, she wanted to become a nurse but she could not afford the schooling. So in 1947 she applied to a job add at the "provincial hospital" (which we now refer to as the Saskatchewan Hospital) for on the job training as a nurse. She worked there until May 1949. While we read through her books, we found her first recollection of her beloved husband Ken called "The joy of dancing"; she wrote, "When I first danced with Ken I was very shy and felt as if I wasn't a good enough dancer for him. But he held me close and our bodies seemed to match. He led so nicely and kept his strong hand on my back and we danced. It was a great joy and I began to relax." On June 18, 1949 she married Kenneth Stanley Charabin. From there she became a farm wife (and admittingly a green one at that). Their first house was a farm house on Ken's family land in the East Hill District (which we now refer to as the "old farm"). She does admit that she was not a gardener. When Ken asked her to lead the horse while he plowed the garden, the horse knew she was not a horse lover and stomped on her foot and well ..that was the end of that. From that point her father-in-law come to help. The first time Grandpa gave her a driving lesson in the 1949 Fargo Truck she said "Ken forgot to tell her about the brake" and even though she didn't have her foot on the gas it approached the porch and only stopped when it hit the steps- so Grandpa had some repair work to do. In 1950 Dale was born and a year after that Laurel. Around 1957, after a few harsh winters their family of four moved off the farm and into North Battleford. She became involved with Centennial Park School and started driving bus for the special needs students. She always had Laurel's best interest in mind. In 1965 Tim was born and Glen a few years after that. After living in and fixing up a couple houses in North Battleford they decided to move back out to the country and built a new house that Grandma specified had to be near a highway. Together they started Charabin Seed Farm Ltd. Grandma was the book keeper for many years and started the tradition of delivering hot meals to the fields during harvest; in first class - which is a family traditional that continues. Grandma's love for family and friends led them to purchase a cabin at pelican point and spent summers out there enjoying the company and lifestyle of the lake. Today we still carry on that tradition, all gathering together at pelican point at the cabins. But this year will be a little different without her. Grandma was a very creative person with a love for the Arts, she expressed this in many ways. With grandmas' gift to be creative she bought a sewing machine early in her marriage and she sewed clothes for the kids, herself, others and many costumes; and became a very good seamstress. Dorothy loved to paint- she took instruction from Grutrude Martense ,several university class, became part of the Art Club in 1961 with her art going to several art exhibits, competitions and sales. She also excelled at Pottery, weaving (including dying and carting her wool), decorating, designing, photography and many crafts. Grandma was a VERY well organized person; her passion to document everything has left a lot of history and many memories for us. History was very important to Grandma. She was always very involved in all the planning of family reunions, developing many history books, documenting all her photos and slides, many home movies, keeping journals and speaking often of our ancestors and going as far as visiting some of them in Poland. She kept in touch with almost everyone. She was adventurous and enjoyed traveling - she and Grandpa were fortunate enough to travel many areas of Canada including Expo in Montreal, the Maritimes and BC. As well as many areas of the USA (Florida, Hawaii, San Francisco, Phoenix) and abroad to Europe, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Fiji, Costa Rica, Brazil, Mexico and Caribbean Cruise's to list a few. They later purchased a place in Palm Springs, California where they enjoyed the winter months. Grandma has many friends from all over the world that she had made on her travels and she had kept in touch with most of them on a regular basis (this is was only possible via snail mail). She enjoyed sending updated photos and cards of her family just as much as she enjoyed receiving them. Dorothy loved to entertain. She was always organizing some event or function. And it wouldn't be any function until there was a theme. If it was a gathering at the cabin it would have to have a pelican on it or it had to be tie-died. If it was a Van related reunion it was - Dutch so costumes complete with wooden shoes or aprons and shirts for everyone. If it was Christmas it was handmade personalized stockings or Christmas sweat shirts all individually designed and tailored for everyone. Kindrachuk & Charabin reunions had lots of homemade invented games, unique name tags, painting of Easter eggs and even little skits and plays organized and acted out. I know if she had the opportunity to embrace the digital camera, computer, internet or face book she would have done so; as she was always on top of the latest trend and fad. I am sure she would have had every machine available so she could have printed off her own pictures, mugs, hats, place mats, books, shirts and MORE. Christmas at Grandma's was always a big event. Some of our fondest memories of Christmas was everyone gathering on Christmas eve, kids, grandkids, brothers, sisters, in-law's, niece's, nephew's. It all started with a traditional slideshow made by her with "the night before Christmas theme", then everyone slept over and when the Christmas Morning bell rang we would all gather and open gifts together. With so many people this took several hours. With having 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren she was able to fill her passion for shopping with always finding the perfect unique gift for each of us. She was a perfectionist in many ways. Her house was always well kept, organized and even those thousands of Pelicans, they too were always well displayed and shiny. Grandma always had time for a visit, some of our favorite memories lying across her lap and getting a back scratch while she asked how our day was. Or when we called she was always happy to hear from us and quickly asked how everything is going. If you were ever with Grandma she would be sure to point out how beautiful the clouds were, the sun sets, the trees, the moon, or just how perfect the rolling hills in the distant were that day. She would always found something positive to comment on. Grandma spoke often of being blessed with a prosperous full life. She was proud of her tight knit family and many dear friends. She was a wonderful daughter, sister, wife, aunt, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend. She has passed on many wonderful traits and traditions that will be with her family forever. To those of you who have been granted the opportunity to haven known her, We know a fond memory will remain. Grandma you will be greatly missed but always remembered. Written by Ashley Lesmeister (Granddaughter)
