Obituary of Henry Sych

Henry Sych was born on September 18, 1921 on the family farm north of Gwynne. Henry attended Big Hay Lake School until Grade 6 and then quit to help his parents farm. In 1942 he joined the army and was trained and stationed at Sooke, BC. A few years later he met the love of his life, Sophia Hanas, and they were married on November 9, 1950. To this union, three sons were born: Morris (Theresa), Larry (Marlene) and Jerry (Ariadne). Henry and Sophia took great pride in their family and farm. The farm started out small, as the land had to be cleared of brush and then broken. This was very hard work but they managed to slowly increase the amount of cropped land. As if the farm was not enough, in 1973, Henry started a second job, working for Bawden Drilling. It was only intended to be a short period, but over the years it grew to a full time job. With his work he managed to travel to remote sites in Alberta and the NWT. He retired from this job in 1986 but he continued to farm. He always talked about his work at Bawden with great pride. Henry and Sophia moved to Camrose in 1998 but Henry did not retire from the farm. He continued to go out to the farm almost daily to do chores and ensure that the crop was seeded or harvested, depending on the season. He would comment that he operated a John Deere combine for more than 65 years. Henry looked forward to having the grandkids come to the farm for the weekend and summer holidays. He enjoyed having them around, but by the end of the weekend he was ready for them to go home. Henry and Sophia managed to go on many trips across Canada, USA, Mexico and Cuba. On these trips they met and made many new friends. Henry leaves to mourn, his loving wife Sophia (Hanas) of 63 years; sons Morris (Theresa) of Red Deer, Larry (Marlene) of Millet and Jerry (Ariadne) of Bittern Lake; grandchildren David, Danny, Heather Giorgi , Julie Lien and Brittany, eleven great-grandchildren; brother Paul (Bari); sister Millie Podgurny; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents Harry and Mary Sych; brother Mike and sisters Bessie Galenza and Irene Demuynck. His smile and presence will be missed by his family and friends. In lieu of flowers, donations in Henry's honour may be made to the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute or a charity of choice. A prayer vigil was held on Monday, June 9, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. from the Burgar Memorial Chapel. A Celebration of Life and Divine Liturgy was held 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, June 10, 2014 from St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church (5010 - 48A Avenue) with Rev. Greg Faryna officiating, and assisted by Rev. Paul Lysak. Interment followed at Camrose Valleyview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in Henry's honour may be made to the Mazankowski Health Institute or a charity of choice.