Obituary of William 'Willy' HANUS

William Hanus was born in Poltava, Ukraine on September 10, 1931 and passed away in Calgary, Alberta, January 20, 2018 at the age of 86 years.

William (Willy/Bill) is survived by his loving wife Bronislawa (Bernice); son Nick Hanus (Janice Scrivens); grandsons Kyle (Tasha) Hanus, and Brad Hanus (Erica Miller), brother Mike Hanus (Sharon); and numerous extended family members.

He was predeceased by his parents Katherine and John; grandparents; and older brother Nick.

William immigrated to Canada from Ukraine, settling in the Taber/Lethbridge area with his family. A few years later, the family moved to Calgary.  He acquired a job at Engineered Homes (Genstar Corp.) where he worked for nearly 40 years, rising to the position of yard foreman, in charge of thousands of dollars of inventory.  After retiring in the mid 1990’s, Willy and Bernice moved to their dream home in McEwan.

William was a good husband, father and grandfather; a hard worker who was loved by friends and neighbors, always willing to give a helping hand or words of advice.  He particularly loved getting involved in renovation projects with his great neighbor friends, Tony and John. He was always concerned for the future and well being of his grandsons, Kyle and Brad.  He was also like a grandpa to the children of  Tony and Melinda.

Willy used to love watching the Montreal Canadians hockey team until the Calgary Flames came to town.  He also loved football and was a big fan of the Stampeders right to the end. In his younger days, he loved to go fishing with his family but as his back pains got worse, he hung up his pole.  As much as he knew it wasn’t real, he also enjoyed watching wrestling on TV even watching while in the hospital.

Though William was a homebody and loved being in his castle, he really enjoyed the Alaskan cruise that he took with Bernice, Nick and Janice. It was made more special when his neighbors John and Arlene ended up on the same cruise.

Willy was a good listener and made friends easily, he was always interested in what other people were doing and asked many questions.

As the end of William’s life came near, he made peace with God and was ready to go.  He talked of his love and adoration for his family and friends and particularly of his loving wife, Bernice.

The family of William Hanus puts out a special thank you to the doctors and nurses of Unit 47 at the Tom Baker Cancer Center who made his last weeks on earth as comfortable and pain free as possible, in particular his oncologist, Dr. Hoa.  A special thanks also to his friend and neighbor Tony who was there for Willy and Bernice from start of his illness to the passing of his life.