Ann (Werny) Kuchuk was born May 2, 1922 and passed away May 22, 2011, at the age of 89 years.

Ann Werny came to Canada at the age of five years along with her parents and brother Bill from a small town near Warsaw, Poland. They settled near Edmonton and after a short time they moved to a homestead in Heart River. Ann attended school at Heart River but later quit to help care for her mother.

At the age of 18 she married her one and only true love, Bill Kuchuk. They had two daughters: Nancy and Mary.

Bill and Ann settled on a farm and Bill continued farming and driving school bus until 1965 when they decided to move to High Prairie. Ann got a job working at the Spaulding Hotel and eventually the High Prairie Hospital as head of the Housekeeping Department.

They enjoyed their life together and soon began traveling, going on bus trips. They made several trips to Las Vegas. In 1998, Bill passed away, leaving Ann to live alone. She soon found the house too big and much too lonely, so in 2002, she made the decision to move to the Pleasantview Lodge.

Ann was so pleased with her room at the lodge. If anyone asked her how she liked living at the lodge she would always reply, “I love it!”

Her room was quickly covered with photos of family and friends. Ann made many friends at the lodge and she loved the fact that you could come and go as you pleased, plus there was always some sort of activity for the seniors like bingo, excercising or card games. Ann liked the fact she didn’t have to cook for herself, do any house cleaning, or do her laundry. The lodge staff did that for her.

Ann was an avid crib player. You could bet that if you dropped in at the lodge after supper, Ann could be caught playing crib with her regular crib buddies: Gordon, Christine and Olivine.

The lodge became her home until she was admitted into the hospital May 9. This was where she spent her last 12 days until her death on the evening of Sunday, May 22.

Ann leaves to mourn: her two daughters, Nancy Starko and Mary Kowlachuk and their husbands, Michael Starko and Ed Kowalchuk; her granddaughter, Leanne Cox and her husband, Blaine, and their daughters, Kelly Mary-Ann Cox and Carley Katie-Lynn Cox, who brought extra joy to Ann. She treasured these little girls. In fact, Ann was looking forward to Kelly’s birthday party in June. Mary reminded Ann last week that she had to get feeling better because they had things to do and places to go.

However, God had other plans.

Nancy and Mary would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Robin Laughlin and Dr. Pam Edwards for caring for their mother. You need to know that their mother always felt there were no doctors better than these. They would also like to thank the clinic staff, hospital staff and the staff at the Pleasantview Lodge for showing kindness to their mother.

Ann will be deeply missed by her family and friends.

Her humour and zest for life will never be forgotten.