On Saturday, December 19, 2020, our mom Jean Zeleny, at the age of 99 years passed away peacefully in St Joseph’s Hospital. She was born in the “Coal Dock” area of Fort William on March 2, 1921, the youngest child of Nicholai and Maria Cherniwchan. The name was Anglicized to Chanook when her older brother John went to School. Mom attended Vocational High School & the Ukrainian School at Prosvita.
Although her first language in those early years was Ukrainian, she was completely bilingual… She had outstanding marks in both the English & Ukrainian schools, but in Grade 10 she had to leave school because her mother needed help at home. Her dad had died 3 years before in January of 1933, and her mother had to work to support the family. With her brother’s John & Bill working outside the home to bring in much needed money, she did the household chores of cooking and cleaning. Everyone carried their weight to support the family.