Nita Urness (nee Sinkevich), longtime resident of the Belloy/Wanham area and more recently of Valleyview, slipped peacefully away from us in her 93rd year, on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 to re-join loved ones who had gone before including: her husband Sanford Urness; her parents John and Ewdokia Sinkevich; her brothers, Morris (Sergie) and Nick; Sanfordâ??s brothers: Johnny, Marvin, Berlin, Clarence, Willard, Alvin and Melvin; Sanfordâ??s sisters: Alice, Pearl and Mildred; her sisters in-law: Yvonne, Mary, Rosemarie, and Anne Urness and Joyce Sinkwich; her brothers in-law: Lloyd (Bud) Woodrow, Ed Thacker, George Shenton, Alfred (Bunny) Fortier and Les Dodd; her Canadian aunts and uncles: Justin and Christina Sinkevich and Fred and Anny Kozeluk.

She will be greatly missed and forever loved by those she leaves behind including her sisters Vera Woodrow and Ruby Thacker; her sisters in-law: Martha and Helen Urness; her children Carolyne (Robert), Leslie (Lisa), Linda (Barry), and David (Marie); along with twelve dearly loved grandchildren: Tyson, Kristen, Todd, Jason, Stephanie, Abra, Brendan, Sarah, Travis, Lindsay, Adele and Emily, along with their respective spouses; and five highly prized great-grandchildren Mary, Bronwyn, Niah, Boden, and Azharia, each of whom was the â??apple of her eyeâ?? in his or her own unique way. She did her best to wait until she could welcome her 6th and 7th great-grandchild, both of whom are expected to arrive in summer, but it was not to be.

Besides her family, Nita had a wide range of other great loves. She loved her neighbors and friends, of whom she had a great many over the years. She loved her country (other places were great to visit, but she â??wouldnâ??t want to live thereâ??), her Alberta, and her â??Peace River homeâ??. She loved an ecumenical God â??all religions are the same, you knowâ??. She loved to garden â??if you have one, you will never starveâ??, higher education, politics â??I would have been a politician if I had been born in a different timeâ??. She enjoyed community celebrations and family get-togethers and she loved to travel - completing many trips including her favorite: a river cruise through Ukraine - especially to hot places, the last one being to Panama, where she would not consider removing her sweater until the thermometer had registered 90+ Fahrenheit for several days.

Nita lived through many hard times over the course of her life, the Great Depression, many crop failures, several devastating forest fires, WWII, the untimely deaths of Sanford and so many other relatives and friends; significant disappointment when the trajectory of her life took an unexpected turn. Yet throughout all the hardship and pain, she managed to recognize the silver linings and to celebrate them. She was an exemplary model of hope, faith, love, an unwavering belief in her fellow man and an inspiration to all.

Funeral Services for Nita will be held on Monday, June 15, 2015 at 1:00pm in the Wanham COCO Hall, with interment to follow at the Belloy Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the Lung Association â?? AB & NWT Division (P.O. Box 4500 Stn. South, Edmonton, AB T6E 6K2).