Mary Vandergucht

Mary Vandergucht (Slastukin) 

Mary Vandergucht, long time resident of Creighton, SK, passed away Sunday, July 23, 2023 at the age of 93 years. 

Mary was born on the farm, in the Pelly, area, to parents Fred and Dora Slastukin on March 6, 1930. 

Going to school as a child meant taking a draft horse or dog by sled! She graduated high school, and then attended Hairdressing College in Saskatoon.

On November 2, 1951, she married Marcel Paul Vandergucht. 

Mary worked in retail at Eddie’s and Stylerite, retiring March 1, 1993. 

She enjoyed family gatherings, baking, knitting, sewing, crocheting, and quilting. She was a member of the Flin Flon First Baptist Church. She was also a member of the Creighton Seniors and enjoyed playing cards, going for coffee and potlucks, especially with the seniors at the Heritage Manor. 

Mary was predeceased by her husband Marcel, on July 16, 1994, her parents, siblings and their spouses. 

She is survived by her children Karen (Chuck) Lamirande and Robert (Francine) Vandergucht, grandchildren Shawna Lamirande, Melissa (Scott) Henry, Matthew (Joanna) Lamirande, David (Katherine) Vandergucht, Danielle (Kevin) Mikituk, D’Arcy Vandergucht; great grandchildren Connor and Cody Rossum, Mason Cresin, Parker Henry, Lennon Lamirande, Oliver, Simon, Natalie and Jasper Vandergucht.

Mary was my grandma, and I’d like to share now a little bit about Mary’s life, and I hope these observations are helpful to you as you think about her and remember her.

Things were not always easy for Grandma. Her father passed away from a heat attack when she was just 10 years old and her mother died when she was 15. But she was determined. She worked hard and had a loving family and she was able finish high school and take a hairdressing course. Later she set up a hairdressing shop in Pelly.  It was during this time that she learned how to curl – which would remain a lifelong interest, and also met my Grandpa Marcel. They got married and moved up north to The Pas for a year then up to Creighton where she lived for 70 years.

Life in Creighton was good. She and Grampa made many friends. They enjoyed curling and playing baseball. Later in life they were always very interested whenever children or grandchildren would show interest in either of these sports. I remember her telling me about these times, and she said that it all changed once people started having televisions in their homes – they would come out less and stay at home more. I could tell that these ball games and bonspiels had meant a lot to her.

During her early years in Creighton Grandma met a very special lady named Mrs Miller. Mrs. Miller lived across the street and became a mentor for Grandma and a bit like family for her. I expect this was the kind of thing that developed for many who came to Flin Flon and Creighton area back then. They came without family and it was much harder to keep in touch, and so they found people to be like family for them. It was Mrs. Miller who invited Grandma to Church, introducing her to a whole new set of friends and more importantly to Jesus.  

Grandma and Grandpa were blessed with two children: Karen in 1954 and Robert in 1958.  They made many trips back to the Pelly area to visit her sisters and brothers (who all spoiled their kids with many treats and much love). Karen moved to Calgary after high school, got married to Chuck Lamirande, and had three children Shawna, Melissa, and Matthew. Grandma and Grandpa made many trips to Calgary as the kids were growing up and they enjoyed visits at their place in Creighton during the summers.  Rob got married in 1986 to Francine Gaudet, and they also had three children: David, Danielle, and D’Arcy. This is where I come into the picture.

Grandma and Grandpa had great times with grand children as well as times visiting with relatives and friends. Sadly, Grandpa passed away in 1994.

Grandma loved to watch her grandchildren growing up and had a big influence on their lives. I remember staying at her house sometimes when I was very little and going with her to the park at Creighton school. She would catch me at the bottom of the twirly yellow slide. We would walk like ducks on the way over and talk about how long our shadows were. I remember that she had a rechargeable flashlight and she would send me with the flashlight to go look for tigers in her closets.

Grandma was very supportive of us grandkids as we were growing up. She loved coming to our sports games (especially if they were baseball or curling), and other things like band concerts or school plays. She cared about us, and cared about our friends too. She appreciated meeting them, loved to hear about them and what they were doing. If she were still with us, and I was here visiting, I’m sure she would have asked me about friends from high school and their families.

Grandma had opinions about how we looked and dressed. One of her favourite to talk about was how we did our hair. Men should have short hair. She would tell us about how my dad had long hair in high school and how terrible that was. Then as teenagers my brother grew his hair out long and Grandma would ask him when he was going to get a haircut. She would offer to cut it herself or tease him and say that she could just give a quick little snip with some scissors. Grandma wouldn’t be impressed with my current hairstyle.

Grandma enjoyed practicing hospitality, and would often invite people over or meals, or tea, or cards. Over the years she made many desserts, cakes and pies she loved and loved sharing them with friends and family. I remember when we were kids we always wanted to know what was going to be for dessert, but Grandma would tell us that it was a surprise. We would always manage to find some reason to sneak into the fridge and find out what it was.

Another important influence that grandma had on us was through her faith in God. She actually didn’t talk about her faith with me all that much. I think it was something very personal for her, and she kept some of these kinds of things to herself. What she did, though, was encourage us to come to church. I have very vague memories of her bringing me to church with her when I was very young. Later, when I was 12 or so, she took us to church when we were staying with her, and that ended up being an important turning point for me in continuing to attend church and growing in my faith, and it was important for my parents as well. I’ll always be thankful for this thing that my Grandma did for me, which has had a huge influence in my life.

Grandma kept busy keeping a home with garden and lawn into her 90’s. She still made trips on her own to Calgary in her 80’s and later often travelled with Rob and Francine to visit children, grand children, and great grandchildren.  Grandma also kept up her devotion to the Church and was always ready to help out with school lunches and other Church programs.  She had a great group of friends, for many years, who enjoyed playing cards, celebrating each others birthdays, going out for coffee or tea and just being there for each other. In April of 2020 Grandma had a stoke, and wasn’t able to drive any more. This was a big deal for her and it took quite a while for her to come to terms with it. Grandma enjoyed having company and was blessed often with visits from Karen and Chuck, grand children great grand children.  She was blessed to have visits from nephew Johnny, nieces Winnie and Margie, niece Shirley and her husband Harvey.  The pandemic was hard on all of us, but very hard on Grandma. She couldn’t quite grasp the fact that you couldn’t even go to Church, and was glad when things got back to a new normal. 

On March 6, Grandma celebrated her 93rd birthday. In April she wasn’t feeling that great but would have no part in going to see the doctor. On May 23rd the lifeline sent an ambulance that took her to the hospital (she had fallen and the fall detection went off).  She was admitted to the hospital for a bladder infection but when the anti-biotic proved to be ineffective she was flown to the hospital in Saskatoon. Grandma was diagnosed with bladder cancer, and they did a procedure to try to scrape most of it away.  She was flown back to the hospital in Flin Flon and spent a few weeks there. Karen, Chuck, Rob, Francine spent many hours with her as well as her good friend Barb, but her eyes lit right up when her grandchildren D’Arcy, Shawna and great-grandchildren Conner, Cody and Mason came for a few visits. She moved to the Northern Lights Manor on Thursday July 20 and passed away peacefully Sunday July 23.

Thank you for your attention and for remembering Mary with us.

If friends so desire memorial tributes may be made to the First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 641, Flin Flon, Manitoba. R8A 1N5