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View Tree for Olga PachkowskiOlga Pachkowski (b. Jan 02, 1927, d. Sep 04, 1999)

Olga Pachkowski was born Jan 02, 1927 in Ethelbert MB, and died Sep 04, 1999. She married Peter Filewich on Aug 13, 1951 in Toronto ON, son of Dmytro Filewich and Sophie Shasko.

 Includes NotesNotes for Olga Pachkowski:
A WOMAN HE COULDN'T FORGET - Article from The Simcoe Reformer Friday Oct 9, 1998

Olga Filewich shakes her head in disbelief and repeats the same words over and over again. "After 55 years," she says, as her voice trails off quietly. "After 55 years..." It was 55 years ago that the 71-year-old Simcoe woman met a handsome young man in a military uniform on a train in Western Canada. She gave him her picture, and never heard nor saw the young man again.
The young man, however, never forgot about her. Now, more than five decades later, after living, working, and raising a family in Winnipeg, Karl Bereza has suddenly returned. The 74-year-old widower always kept the black and white photo of Olga that showed her standing in front of St. Michael's Church in Toronto and often wondered about her.

"I was always thinking of her," Bereza recalled in an interview while sitting in the garage of Filewich's home in the south end of Simcoe. "I was always wondering how she was doing, how she was. Even while my wife was still alive I'd tell her about Olga and she'd tease me. 'Go see your woman Olga she'd say."

About eight years ago, Bereza was visiting Filewich's home town in Ethelbert, Manitoba, and talked to residents to see if anyone knew where to find her.

"What!" says Filewich, apparently hearing this for the first time. "You were still married and you were asking about me?" Bereza's wife died in January 1997, and he made another effort. This summer, he picked up the phone book and found a cousin of Filewich's living in Ethelbert. She gave him the number of Olga's brother in Burlington, Ontario, and the brother gave him Olga's number in Simcoe.
"I thought she was still out west," says Bereza. Instead, the woman from the train had married Peter Filewich, also from Manitoba, and the couple lived in Toronto where Peter worked as a barber for 20 years. The Filewich's then moved to the Simcoe area in 1969 to share-grow a tobacco farm and finish raising their three daughters.

Bereza, meanwhile, returned to Winnipeg after the war, married, and raised one son while working in the automotive supply business. Filewich says she had only the faintest memory of
their meeting when Bereza first called her around the beginning of August. To make his point, Bereza sent her both a photo of himself from 1945 and the photo she had given him.

Then the gifts started arriving. There was a speaker-phone, answering machine, fruit basket, and a dozen yellow roses - on four different occasions.
"I told him 'Karl, slow down. Too much, too fast,"' she said, while the sounds of the Norfolk County Fair played in the background only a block away. Sitting in the shade of Filewich's garage, the two septuagenarians recalled the first time they met. It was a beautiful day in July, and Filewich was returning to her hometown with a friend after working the winter in a Toronto restaurant. Bereza was on vacation leave from the army, also returning to his hometown in Manitoba.
The train broke down just west of Kenora, Ontario. The passengers spilled out onto the tracks while waiting for a new locomotive to arrive. People were milling around, talking and visiting in the warm sunshine.

Bereza walked up to Filewich and her friend and started talking. When they got to Winnipeg, they had coffee, small talk, and joked around. That's when Filewich gave him her picture and the two went separate ways, literally and metaphorically speaking.

"That was the last I saw of him, until yesterday (Oct. 5)," says Filewich. Neither is sure what the future holds. "We're not getting married or anything like that," says Filewich. Adds Bereza: "I looked her up as a good friend."

The two plan to keep in touch through letters and telephone calls and enjoy their time together over the next week. "We've got lots of catching up to do," says Filewich. "We have lots in common. We're both Ukrainian. There's lots of photos for us to go through." Bereza plans to drive up to Ottawa and Montreal t6 visit nieces and nephews before returning to his Winnipeg home.

"If Olga doesn't mind and I have the time, I may just stop back here on my way home," he says.
Filewich says she appreciates Bereza for more than just the company. Her health has slipped a bit recently, and she can use the help around the house.

"I have to go paint a post," says Bereza, pointing to one of the pillars holding up the carport, while Filewich walks back towards her house.

"She has the same laugh, the same giggle," he adds. "She has the same smile."


More About Olga Pachkowski and Peter Filewich:
Marriage: Aug 13, 1951, Toronto ON.

Children of Olga Pachkowski and Peter Filewich are:
  1. Diane Filewich.
  2. Janet Filewich.
  3. Darlene Filewich.
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