Obituary of Mike Gregorash

GREGORASH: Mike Gregorash, beloved husband of Maria, dear father of Shirley, and loving grandpa of Richard, passed away on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at the age of 91 years. Born to Jack and Teenie on December 12, 1925 in the RM of Harrison. Mike was the eldest of six children and had to go to work at an early age. He grew up in Rackham, Manitoba and after a few farm jobs, was employed with the Manitoba Telephone System. While working on the gang and travelling around Manitoba, he met up with Maria Klassen in Altona, Manitoba and they were married on December 18, 1953. In 1955, they were joined by their only daughter, Shirley. In 1957, Mike had the good fortune to get a permanent job with MTS in The Pas. They lived there until 1971 when they decided to go into business for themselves and bought the Twilight Motel in Swan River. They stayed there for a few years and then moved on to Dauphin where they opened up a Pic-A-Pop store. Always wanting to own a hotel, Mike and Maria decided to take a chance at it and purchased the Cartwright Motor Inn in 1976, where they stayed until they sold it in 1979 and moved into Brandon. Mike still wanted to work for himself, so he bid for a mail run from Brandon to Cyprus River. This meant leaving the Canada Post building six days a week at approximately 4:00 a.m. and getting home around 8:00 p.m. He did this for six years and then decided that he could retire and Maria could keep working to pay the bills. In 1983, he had his one and only grandchild bless him. Richard Miller was his pride and joy and he was one proud Grandpa, teaching him everything — good and bad. They had a lot of fun when it came to doing bad things! Mike did well for himself. They moved to the Cottonwood Acres area in 1985 and thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet. Mike was not a "city" guy and didn't like it when the neighbors could look through their windows and see into his. Mike loved to go for coffee and BS the boys in Shilo. He did this until a few weeks before his passing. He also used to gripe about cutting grass, but you know that he liked to be outside doing something. Mike was predeceased by his parents Jack and Teenie, mother and father-in-law Susie and Diedrich Klassen, brothers John and Nestor, sister Jean, sisters-in-law Agnes and Betty, brothers-in-law Bernie Klassen, Steve Scheschuk, Neil Silander, Jack Eitzen, Stan Giesbrecht and Leo Walton. He leaves to mourn his passing, wife Maria, daughter Shirley and grandson Richard as well as brother Ernie (Prince George, BC) and sister Mary (Kitimat, BC), brother-in-law Diedrich Klassen (Carrie) of Delta, BC, sisters-in-law Susan (Don) Snyder of Winnipeg, Marge Gregorash (Brandon), Linda Gregorash (Erickson) and Shirley Jensen-Klassen (Bonnyville) as well as numerous nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Mike's Life will be held at the Brockie Donovan Chapel, 332-8th Street, on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. with Funeral Celebrant Kim Lewarne officiating. Interment will take place at Rosewood Memorial Gardens. Donations in memory of Mike may be made to a charity of choice.