LESCHYSHYN: Funeral Service for Mr. Michael Leschyshyn of rural Battleford was held on Friday, March 28, 2014 @ 10:30 a.m. from the All Saints Ukrainian Catholic Church With Reverend Father Vladimir Simunovic officiating. Prayers were held on Thursday, March 27, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. also from All Saints Ukrainian Catholic Church in North Battleford. Memorial donations in memory of Michael Leschyshyn may be directed to the Canadian Cancer Society, Saskatchewan office 1910 McIntyre Street, Regina, Saskatchewan S4P-2R3 or to the Oncology Department at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Sasktchewan, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N-5E5. Left to cherish his memory are his loving family; daughter: Lorraine Thompson; grandchildren: Brandon Leschyshyn (Carlyn McColm) and their children Riley and Cruz Leschyshyn; Blair Thompson, Corey Thompson, and Amber Thompson; three sisters: Grace, Jean and Nettie. Mike was predeceased by his wife: Helen; his parents; two brothers: Peter and Fred and his sister: Olga. Eulogy of Mike Mike was a very strong but compassionate man with a love for farming and animals. It was very rare to not see a smile on Mike's face and no matter how busy Mike might have been he always found time to share a good story. Mike enriched and enlighten all who shared in his life. Mike was born at the family farm near Highgate on Jan. 24, 1929. He was the oldest of 7 children born to Steve and Leona Leschyshyn. Since he could walk Mike was a farmer, helping his dad with the land and the livestock. Whether it was feeding the cattle or hitching up the team to take his siblings to Winding River School. He took well to the role of big brother, although his younger siblings may have said he was bossy. School was not a place he wanted to be as he would have much rather been out in the field plowing, seeding or stooking grain with his dad and sister. School did help to teach Mike English as Ukrainian was all that was spoken at home. Finally Mike decided that he would leave school so that he could help more at the farm but he never stopped learning. By now farming was in his blood and he knew that this was his life. After his mother passed and his father sold the family farm, Mike was forced to move to town and get a job and he had several. He gained knowledge and experience from working with CN, general construction and concrete, just to name a few. More so he saved every penny of his paychecks so he could buy his own farm and that he did. In 1962 he met Helen Cousins who was a desk clerk at the Beaver Hotel in North Battleford and in June of 1963 Mike and Helen married and made their home at the family farm. In October of 1964 their daughter Lorraine was born and before you knew he had a pair of overalls on her. Mike continued adding to his farm as a few cows turned into a hundred, a few pigs turned into 20 and there was no shortage of chickens and ducks. There was always a faithful dog and several cats following him as he went about his daily chores. Mike continued to add to his farm as he purchased land by Bressaylor from Joe Sayers. Joe was a kind soul who shared many stories and was always ready to offer you a plate of rabbit stew. As time went by it became more difficult to continue the 25 mile move, so he rented out the land at Bressaylor. But he still managed to continue to share the joys and hard work of farming with his wife and daughter till Helen passed in May of 2003. Mike was very proud of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and enjoyed spending time with them. He was glad to have more time to enjoy simple things like going for a ride on the quad, or taking them for a walk in the bush to gather mushrooms for his special "mushroom gravy". Of course they all got numerous lessons on how to fish, the most important "be quiet or you'll scare the fish away." His pride showed when his grand-daughter Amber caught a 16lb Jackfish using a hook he recommended and doing what he had taught her. Lorraine gained a love of the farm life from working side by side with her dad since she could walk. When younger she looked forward to haying time, as that surely meant that there would be a couple of little bunnies coming home in her dad's lunch box. Even at the busiest times Mike always made time for a Sunday morning fishing trip to Cochin with Helen and Lorraine. Years later Mike and Lorraine would take the boat out to Twin Lakes to see who could catch the biggest Trout. Lorraine enjoyed helping by driving the equipment to Bressaylor or the service truck to help combine year after year. Mike would give her "heck" for driving too fast down the dirt roads because she was only 13 or 14 and didn't have a license, but Mike was proud that she was willing to help out and take his Advice and stay to the Back roads. Mike and Brandon spent a lot of time together. With Lorraine being a single mother of Brandon, he quickly grew close to him. Whether it was morning chores, fishing, or picking mushrooms Grandpa always took his time to teach him how everything worked and why he was doing things the way he was doing them. Brandon will always remember the 3 wheeler rides to check cows in the pasture. This is where they had some of their most valuable time together, usually after supper when the sun was getting ready to set they would sit on 3 wheeler and watch the deer graze in the hay field. Once Brandon grew a little older, Mike taught him how to shoot guns, trap, and actually ride that dangerous 3 wheeler by himself. Mike always made an effort to be at Brandon's hockey games. The 2 would usually go to the North Star game afterwards if the schedules lined up. The most memorable times for Brandon came on the lake. They fished together well over 150 times. It didn't take much to convince these two to drop what they were doing at the farm and load up the boat and travel a few short miles to Twin Lakes. This is where Mike taught Brandon how to delicately fish for rainbow trout. Brandon moved out to Lloydminster and started his own family. His 2 children Riley and Cruz loved their PAPA. He knew they were noisy a lot of the time but looked past that because he knew they thought the world of PAPA. Riley loved his famous horsey rides on his knees and Cruz well.. loved their naps on the floor by the kitchen table. Brandon, Carlyn and their kids will greatly miss grandpa and PAPA. They will always remember what Mike has taught them, and the stories Mike shared them will live inside them until the day they meet again. Blair always enjoyed going fishing with his grandpa at Twin Lakes. Many a fishing stories were created with Blair and Mike even though Blair was not able to take Grandpa's advice on being quiet. He would sit in the ice shack next to grandpa and even managed to bring home a few big perch despite talking. Remembering a time when grandpa told him he could ride the "three wheeler" but only around the yard and slowly because he had Corey and Amber on with him, Blair seemed to have "misunderstood." He sped off to the pasture to go 4X4 ing. Well that just caused them to roll the trike. Luckily no one was hurt and they made it back to the yard to find grandpa waiting for them. Needless to say he was very upset and it was a long time before Blair was allowed on the trike. Corey and Amber were also upset, because of this they were not allowed to drive the trike either. Corey looked forward to going ice fishing with grandpa each winter. Corey did follow the advice and was quiet. He soon came to realize that it really didn't seem to help them catch more fish. So it didn't really matter if they caught any fish, Corey enjoyed the time spent talking with grandpa on their fishing trips. Corey helped grandpa on the farm this past fall. After the daily chores were done, it was time for a pot of coffee and a lot of good stories. Corey even learnt how to tag the calves. After this Corey had a new found appreciation of farm life and admired his grandpa all the more. Chores aren't easy when you have cattle and it is -40 out. Amber always looked forward to going to the farm. She loved to visit grandpa and he always had baby kittens or a new born calf to show her. She enjoyed fishing trips with her grandpa whether it was minus 20 or plus 20. Her fishing lessons with grandpa allowed her to be the only one to catch bigger fish then he did. Something that she was proud of and so was grandpa. He also taught her how to drive the tractor. When she was 5 she remembers sitting on his lap on the John Deere and grandpa let her drive by herself. This went fine till she almost ran into the shop. She is a much better driver now. Her love of animals, the outdoors, country music and especially fishing is something she will be eternally grateful to her grandfather for. Mike loved the outdoors. Whether it was watching the deer walk past his front window, having 5 baby kittens in the house because it was "too cold for them to be in the barn" or lying next to a new born calf till it was strong enough to get up. His love of fishing was unsurpassed. Whether it was from the shore at Cochin, taking the boat to Twin Lakes or Ice fishing almost anywhere. I am sure there is not anyone here that hasn't heard one of Mike's fishing stories. There was never a day where Mike wasn't outside doing the things he loved most, until the day he faced a battle he couldn't win. You were greatly loved and will be sadly missed. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Trevor Watts of Eternal Memories Funeral Service & Crematorium. Condolences for the family may be directed to
