In loving memory of Emily N. Bzowy, born March 9, 1925, in Olesko, Lviv, passed away Wednesday, June 3, 2025, in Grande Prairie, AB, at the age of 100 years.

Emilia Natalia Werniuk immigrated to Canada in 1930 at the age of 5. In the following three years, Stalin of Russia implemented “Holodomor” and starved 10 million Ukrainians.

Emily's parents, Vasil and Stephania Werniuk, bought a farm north of Rycroft, AB, and Vasil homesteaded an adjacent quarter. Emily then attended Greenway School until grade 9.

In 1941, at the age of 16, she married Walter Bzowy, and together they had six children. In 1958, when Emily’s father Vasil Werniuk passed away, the Bzowy family moved to the home Emily had grown up in; the Werniuk home place north of Rycroft.

Besides farming and raising her family, Emily also worked for Freison’s Market Gardens at Dunvegan, cooked for the convent in Spirit River, AB, and cooked at Courtesy Corner in Rycroft.

In 1972, the family farm was sold to Emily and Walter’s son, Stan Bzowy, and Emily moved her remaining family to Grande Prairie. This is where she worked in retail for 20 years. She retired from Woolworths Department Store at the age of 72. During her retail years, Emily also sold Nutri Metics for Con Stan Industries. She loved hosting home parties all over the Peace Country and achieved highest sales in Canada. In 1976, she was crowned the ‘Queen of sales’ in Las Vegas.

Emily travelled to her beloved Ukrainian homeland in 1993, where she connected with family and knelt at the graves of her grandparents.

Emily will be sadly missed by her son Joseph Bzowy of Edmonton, AB; son Stanley (Evelyn) Bzowy of Rycroft; son Eugene Bzowy of Rycroft; daughter Joanne Lynn of Grande Prairie; son Michael (Andrea) Bzowy of Cochrane, AB; sister Nadia Desgagne of Grande Prairie; niece Vivian Lunn (Murrey) of Grande Prairie; many beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren; as well as life—long friend and neighbor on the farm, Ann Kotyk of Rycroft.

Emily was predeceased by her brother Stanley Werniuk who was killed in action during WWII on April 12, 1945; father Vasil Werniuk on March 29, 1958; brother Mark Werniuk in May of 1974; mother Stephania Werniuk on July 2, 1992; dear life-long friend Lena Bonski on October 22, 1992; Uncle and fellow countryman of Ukraine Emil Kurylko on September 18, 1996; husband Walter Bzowy on August 9, 1998; son Victor Bzowy on July 28, 2001, great-grandson Ethan Hutchinson on May 22, 2009; cousin and fellow countryman of Ukraine August Podilsky on March 2, 2013; daughters in-law Susan Bzowy (Joe) on February 2, 2015 and Monica Bzowy (Gene) on May 20, 2018; as well as nephew Danny Desgagne on March 2, 2022.

Pallbearers – Grandson: Terence Bzowy, Peter Bzowy, Dayne Bzowy, Ayron Bzowy, Logyn Bzowy, and great-grandson Drake Adams.

A Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at 11:00 am at the Rycroft Community Hall in Rycroft (5208 47 Ave.). Interment to follow at the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery.