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Richard Day uploaded photo(s)
Saturday, October 23, 2021
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Helen and her BC grand-kids!
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Loretta Floresco posted a condolence
Friday, October 22, 2021
Helen, you were a wonderful sister-in-law. You had nothing bad to say about anyone. It was nice to have you in my life. See you on the other side. John's wife, Loretta
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Katherine Floresco posted a condolence
Friday, October 22, 2021
Sending hugs to all the cousins and family. The last memory I have of Aunt Helen was at one of the other cousin's wedding's in London. I sat with her, Aunt Rose and Aunt Dolly. They shared lots of stories of the old days. She also shared memories of my dad, John. I would send pictures of my son, Ailric and updates when he was younger. She was always interested. I would try and call every Christmas to say hi when he was younger too. Lots of hugs and will miss you. Katherine
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Richard Day lit a candle
Thursday, October 21, 2021
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I am so glad we had a Thanksgiving with Helen in the last days of her life, with family surrounding her. It was lovely to have her with us. She was always very kind to me and accepted me into the family whole-heartedly. Her gentle, smiling, loving presence is gone but will live in our memories. My deepest condolences to all the family and particularly to dear Julia who has cared for Helen for so long and so well. Thank you Julia for all you have done for dear Grams.
When Susan and I visited Helen and Julia in 2018, Helen and I sat down at the kitchen table and she just started talking about her life. I scribbled down notes, because it was such a surprise to me. I would like to share what she said with all of you, bits and pieces of her memories. Here is what she said:
Notes taken October 4, 2018 at Didsbury Alberta
Her mother Annie Persunka was from Austria but met her husband-to-be in Romania. Helen’s parents immigrated to Hamilton Ontario the year after the Titanic, that would be 1913. Helen was born in 1926.
Helen’s father was Nikolas Floreskul (later changed to Floresco by a brother).
“Father had a big brick house and he walked to work at Dofasco, also known as Dominion Steel. The house was big and very nice with a laundry chute from upstairs and closets” (rare those days). He sold it and moved because it was too far to walk to work. The new house was smaller and didn’t have closets or bathroom. One time in that house I asked my Daddy for money for the church, he gave me 1 cent! My Mom never went to church because she couldn’t speak much English.”
Family: Helen had 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Her older sister died of pleurisy as a child. Her older sister and sister Rose got pleurisy and went to the sanatorium - the older sister didn’t come back. “One family had 5 daughters that didn’t come back from that sanatorium, all died of pleurisy” said Helen.
Her father died 1929 (?) he worked at Dofasco but her mother didn’t speak English very well so she didn’t know to ask for his pension. He earned 65 cents an hour(?)”
“Mother died 2 years later probably of cancer she suffered a lot. Brother Johnny had to stay home to help her. She told Helen’s brother George that he should go ahead and marry his fiancée Dolly no matter what happened. They were married 1 week after she died, I was 23 then. Dolly’s family lived on a farm outside town. I loved to go there.”
“After Dad died Mother got a job at a cannery but she couldn’t keep it. Things were tough then and money was scarce. Mother used to get a Mother’s Allowance from the government but it was only $42 a month. In those days bread was 9 cents a loaf.
Later when the house was sold each kid got $700 each. Helen bought a bedroom suite with the money.
Mother would bake ‘korovai’ bread - traditional woven Ukrainian bread and we would eat all the raisins out of it!”
“Mother gathered seeds from the park and rose cuttings. She said ‘she pays taxes’ so thought it was ok. She grew flowers outside. They had a nice lawn but she didn’t want anyone to walk on it. We played baseball down the street but if the ball went in her lawn she would knock on the window at us...”
Helen was tying to get a job at Dofasco, she used to go everyday to the employment office there but didn’t get a job until the guy there found out that her brother worked for them, then he said he would have given me a job right away!
Helen and her girl friend were the best typists in the high school. Helen got some jobs after she graduated but the Dofasco job paid the most. She used to work on the assembly line checking sheet metal pieces, she had to inspect them and reject any with holes by pressing a foot lever. “That was a very good job.”
“I had two fellas and picked the wrong one! Garry never had beer in the house. He used to drink with George Sawkins, they had a big family.”
“One summer I went picking strawberries at Dollies’ family farm and earned $42! I bought an outfit like a movie star for $40! We used to ride our bikes and sing that’s how we spent our time, but Isabel is gone now.”
“I was friends with Sophie & Violet in high school, she died in her late 20’s. They were a year older than me because they repeated a year in public school, but I didn’t. They were cheerleaders for the football team, but I wasn’t (even though lots of people thought I should) - because my typing teacher didn’t want me to. I really enjoyed the high school years. It used to cost 3 cents to go on the streetcar. It was a long way it would take maybe a half hour to walk. I used to go home on the streetcar for lunch and I would meet Ted Linstead who liked me, and we would talk.”
Bill Lee - later in life he was Pierre Trudeau’s campaign manager when he first won the election.
“He was the student council president and was popular. He always smiled at me in the cafeteria. We went to a party where he went with his friends. We played a game where boys and girls drew cards and if they matched, they would go out in the hall and kiss. We kept getting the same cards and I think some how he had something to do with it!"
“I liked him and his friends they were nice kids, but I knew he had a girlfriend named Chatty. I used to see him and his friends at Lake Ontario. We used to hang out at Hutch’s On the Beach. [NB: there is a picture online] One time he & his friends were Boy Scouts, and they were swimming at the beach. One of the boys got caught in an undertow and my brother Bill ran to join the crowd that gathered but no one could save him.”
“Later I met him when he was in the Air Force. He took me to a movie and took me home in a taxi but he already had a girlfriend from a rich family, and I knew he was in a different class than me.”
[NB: it was confirmed in Bill Lee’s online obituary at legacy.com that he was born 1924 in Hamilton and was a pilot in WW2. He was married to Chatty for 68 years and died in 2011. He is credited with contributing to “Trudeaumania” in the 1968 election.]
“Neil Hartsberg was the other fellow, the one that I didn’t choose. His brother worked at Dofasco that’s how I met Neil. He used to go to see cars races with his friends.”
[we found a Neil Hartsburg around her age listed in Edmonton, none in Ontario it may be him. We offered to call him but she was too shy] “I bought a lot on Lake Erie for $50 & wanted to build a cabin there but later after I was married and went to Burlington I sold it for $150."
“When we sold the first house in Hamilton we got $13,000. Moved to Burlington that house sold for $19,000. We moved to Mt Pleasant near Brantford the kids liked it there they had a big shed and I caught them smoking. Ricky’s friend used to smoke & one day my package of cigarettes on the top of the fridge disappeared & I kind of blamed Ricky.”
“I was sad we couldn’t take care of the kids better - one time Karen had to go to school when it was cold in just a sweater, she had no coat. I was sad that the boys didn’t like their father.
Garry worked at Ford and was on the list to go to Australia to work at the plant there, but he was 10th in line & his name didn’t come up.
One time he tried to start his own business selling building supplies, but he didn’t have enough money to make a go of it.”
Helen said she wants to be cremated and she wants the family to come together and scatter the ashes on the hill behind Karen’s house where the wildflowers grow, and people go walking and biking on the paths. She wants me to read the 23rd Psalm when the ashes are thrown.
Richard Day
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Tracey lit a candle
Thursday, October 21, 2021
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Tracey posted a condolence
Thursday, October 21, 2021
We will miss Grandma Helen. She was kind, always interested in our kids, she had a wonderful sense of humour, a warm smile and a sparkle in her eyes. Rest In Peace dear Helen. ❤️
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Heather Van Esch lit a candle
Thursday, October 21, 2021
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Lynne Forrester and Sandy Richardson posted a condolence
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Helen always had a smile on her face. She loved her dogs, visiting with friends, family and sharing dinner with us. We'll miss you Helen.
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The family of Helen Chandler uploaded a photo
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
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The family of Helen Chandler uploaded a photo
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
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