ZINAIDA (ZINA) SMUTYLO

Our mother, Mrs. Zinaida (Zina) Smutylo, 90, formally a long-time resident of Nipigon, Ont., passed away Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre in Thunder Bay, Ont. due to complications arising from surgery to repair a broken hip.
Mom recently was a resident of Rainycrest Long-Term Care in Fort Frances, Ont. with Dad until his passing.
Mom was born in the town of Drozkopil (formerly Zurawnyky), Province of Volyn, Western Ukraine to Oleksander and Barbara Zymbaluk (Waschuk).
Mother was well-educated and spoke five languages fluently. She enjoyed music, the arts, politics, her garden and flowers, as well as Ukrainian embroidery and Pysanky.
She was a famed seamstress and pattern-maker. Mom designed and created beautiful originals for her family and her many clients.
Mother was a life member of the C.W.L. since 1949-50.
During WWII, Mom left home fleeing the German and Russian invasions, hiding in ditches, fields, and forests of Europe as she made her way to Holland in 1946-48.
She met and fell in love with Dad in Holland, and was sponsored by Dad and his uncle to emigrate to Canada in April, 1949.
They married in Toronto, Ont. on May 21, 1949, buying their first home in Nipigon.
Mom worked at the Ovillio and Normandie hotels as a chef before her children were born.
Surviving Mom are her children, Kornelia (John) Zygmont, Iris (Orest) Mihichuk, Daniel Smutylo, and Lisa Cameron; grandson, Justin Zygmont; step-grandchildren, Michael (Terri) Mihichuk, Angela (Kelly) Siemens; step-great-grandson, Dawson Mihichuk; and her half-sister, Miroslava Bachynska and family in Ukraine.
She was predeceased by her parents; sister, Pauline, and brother, Nickolas; and by her beloved husband of more than 65 years, Harry, who passed away in June, 2014.
Mom is resting at the Church of the Annunciation in Nipigon, where friends may call on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
A funeral mass will follow at 2 p.m., with Fr. H. Augustynowicz officiating.
Interment will be in Cliffside Cemetery in Nipigon.
Friends so wishing may make in memoriam donations to the Royal Canadian Legion Br. #32 in Nipigon, the 217 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Onondaga in Nipigon, or the Rainycrest Auxiliary in Fort Frances.
Funeral arrangements in care of Elliott Funeral Home Ltd., Nipigon, Ont.