Yaroslaw (Yaris) Yarmey, 1912-2001

Yaroslaw (Yaris) Yarmey was born on Oct. 3, 1912 on the family farm near Tolstoi, Man. to Maria and Olexsa Yarmey, the fifth of eight children.

He died of a stroke on Oct. 1, 2001, two days short of his 89th birthday.

Yaris grew up with his father and mother teaching him how to farm and be self-sufficient. This remained with him, as he was active and independent at the age of 88. He was still living alone on the homestead and driving himself into town.

Last winter he managed to do some snow ploughing with his old D-4 cat, this summer he tended his garden.

Yaris enjoyed helping his neighbours in any way that he was able to, although lately, it was with advice. Often times he commented about how much he valued his many good neighbours.

As a young man, Yaris worked on farms in southern Saskatchewan, mostly during harvest. It was during this time, he learned how to fix machinery, becoming an accomplished self-taught mechanic. He increased his knowledge of animal doctoring, as well. He also met his bride-to-be on one of his trips. One year he returned to Tolstoi to help his parents move to a farm near Wilsonville, Ont. where he built them their home. This family farm is still run by one of the nephews.

During the Dirty Thirties, he worked wherever he could find a job. This often meant moving around the country, often by foot or on a freight train. At times, this meant piece work as a tobacco picker or vegetable harvester. He also worked building a farm machinery factory in Brantford, Ont. and parts of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Pauline (Kuzyk) and Yaris were married on Nov. 9, 1937 at Wolverine, Sask. They had five children together: Sallianne Sampietro (deceased), Eli (deceased), Yvonne Kalita, Metro (Mike), and Avenel Caudron. There are numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

From the early 1940s into the 1950s, Yaris worked in the pulpwood industry in various areas of northern Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Of course, most of this work was done by swede saw and horse team. It was also piece work, so as a healthy and vigorous young man, more than fair-money could be made. `Big money' had called: instead of $20 per month for farm work, you could make approximately $11 per day, loading three boxcars of pulpwood. But to quote dad, "Oh, but you had to move!"

Eventually, Yaris was to become one of the contractors buying pulpwood for a large company. Many summers were spent running a fire fighting crew. He lobbied governments in Saskatchewan and Alberta to reflect the needs of the people and get laws changed. He was part of the grassroots movement that formed what is now the NDP.

As times changed and the demand for pulp waned, a small sawmill was purchased when Yaris lived in Cold Lake, Alta. That changed his occupation to lumbering. When he moved to the Snipe Lake area in 1963 he ran a small sawmill operation at Silver Creek.

Yaris lived in various locations in the Gilwood area until November of 1966, when he moved his family to the homestead in what was to become the Lone Spruce district (that borders Gilwood). He was proud that he helped in the formation of that school district. The sawmill played a very big role in the development of the homestead, as did the support the D-4 cat provided by the work in the Swan Hills. Mixed farming gradually took the lead. The first cow was obtained through a trade for straw, with Alex Strebchuk. It had been a very wet summer, hay was scarce and dad had harvested very early in the morning on the frost. The oats were threshed using an old stationery threshing machine.

Eventually a herd of some 90 Hereford cattle replaced the mill. Yaris loved his cows, even teaching one of them to shake a hoof.

At the age of 74, Yaris had hip replacement surgery that basically ended his farming days, although he still managed to keep eight to 10 head of cattle until he was in his eighties.

Dad's love for Lotto 6/49 also emerged, as he challenged himself to figure out a method to win.

Dad's health did not allow him the trip to Tolstoi in 1997 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of his parents' arrival to Canada.

Dad lived through many changes in his lifetime. He was born the year the Titanic sunk, shortly after his birth came World War I and the flu epidemic, then the Russian Revolution and the Roaring Twenties. He saw the rise of communism and its fall, women's right to vote and the Second World War, the many scandals of the Royal Families, including King Edward abdicating the throne to marry a commoner. He lived through the first solo flight across the Atlantic, and the `great' stock market crash, as well as women joining the work force. He seen the space age grow, the age of computers, and the Y2K bug dilemma.

Yaris lived a full and satisfying life, he was his own man.