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Obituaries
Margaret Pronyk 1942 – 2007
BPW Canada lost one of
our Past National presidents September 13;
Margaret Pronyk died after a difficult illness,
and she will be missed by her BPW friends
across the country. Margaret had been a
member of our organization for over 30 years,
most of those years in BPW Thompson, where
she filled many roles including club president,
and the last few years as a member of BPW
Penticton. She served a total of 12 years
on the National Board, and was president
of our Canadian Federation from 2000 to
2002. Her belief in what BPW stood for was
strong and she put her whole heart and soul
into her work with the organization. |
Margaret
was born in Winnipeg and lived most of her
life in Thompson, Manitoba. She was a woman
who cared deeply about her family, was devoted
to her husband Fred, proud of her children
Brenda and Rob, grandson Daniel, and son-in-law
Denny, and pleased to be welcoming Rob’s
fiancé Denise into the family. She
was a hockey grandma, following Daniel’s
career with great passion and going to the
games whenever she could, always waiting
to hear from him about the games she missed.
I suspect Margaret will continue to be at
Daniel’s games, because she just wouldn’t
allow it to be any other way.
Margaret
packed a lot of living into her life. She
was a businesswoman in Thompson, where she
raised her family; she looked after the
books for small businesses in her community
through her company Bird Bookkeeping. She
made the time to be a school trustee, and
I know how much she enjoyed that community
work because her eyes sparkled as she talked
about the children in the classrooms. Margaret
worked as Returning Officer for provincial
and federal elections, and she held positions
on many Boards in her community of Thompson,
including Airport Authority Board and Chamber
of Commerce. She was also a Life Member
of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority.
Margaret
believed strongly in mentoring; passing
along her knowledge and skills was very
important to her and she was always there
to help others, to listen and to give advice.
She lent a helping hand to people she met
in the business world, to fellow-BPW members,
and to others in the community. She helped
people believe in themselves, encouraged
you to trust your instincts, reminded us
that ‘the biggest critic you have
is yourself’.
A
wise woman, Margaret was knowledgeable,
and had an excellent memory. People trusted
her judgement and respected her opinions.
She strongly defended what she believed
in and she put heart and soul into everything
she did. If something mattered it was
worth doing well, and she attended to
every detail. As one of her friends has
said, she gave 150% all of the time. I
admired the way she was always so clear
about an issue; we might not always agree
with her but we always knew exactly where
she stood! She was also sensitive and
caring, ready to sing other people's praises
but humble about her own accomplishments.
But the people of her community knew how
hard she worked and they made her Provincial
Woman of the Year before she left Manitoba.
One of the honours she most treasured
was being chosen as BPW Canada's Woman
of the Year, because she knew that was
recognition by her peers.
Margaret
was a spiritual woman and she was very active
in the United Church, both in Thompson and
in Penticton. She worked on committees and
church boards, and cherished her involvement
in UCW, but her first love was singing in
the choir. Music was an important part of
Margaret’s life; from the time she
was a child she sang, and had a beautiful
voice. She did solos for weddings and funerals,
belonged to the Aurora Singers in Manitoba,
and the Tune Agers choir in Penticton. One
of the hardest things for Margaret when
she learned of her illness was the knowledge
that she would no longer be able to sing.
BPW
Manitoba and Canada were fortunate to be
the benefactors of Margaret's ability to
work through difficult situations and pull
people together for the good of the organization
and what it stood for. A BPW mentor has
physically left us but her legacy will live
on.
Submitted
by Peggy Whitley, BPW Penticton,
with help from Susan Hancharyk and Elaine
Elliott, and from Barb Ezart and Marge Donovan
To
all our members who lost loved ones this
year we pray that you will find the strength
to go on, taking one day at a time. May
the Lord be with you and your family. |
