Date of Birth: April 9, 1945
Date of Death: July 27, 2025
Elaine Edel passed away on Sunday, July 27, 2025, 11:15 a.m., at St. Peter’s Hospital, Melville, at the age of 80 years.
Elaine was born on April 9, 1945, in the Municipality of Boulton, NE Sec. 23-23-27 of Manitoba, nine miles northeast of Inglis, MB. She was the third child born of six to William and Mary Wolchuk. Elaine was baptized at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Lennard, MB. She attended Hudson School a quarter mile west from the family farm until she went to high school in Inglis. Elaine left the farm in 1961 and moved to Winnipeg, MB, to study for a career in nursing. She graduated and started her career in Winnipeg from 1963 to 1966. That’s when Elaine met Rudy; they got married in 1967 and moved to Melville, SK. She worked as an LPN at St. Paul Lutheran Home until 1971 when she was expecting her daughter, Kim.
Elaine liked country music and used to sing and play guitar along with Rudy and her father, Bill. She liked to play cards a lot; her favourite card game was bid whist. She would always say, “You always need a good partner for the game.”
Elaine was an excellent cook like her mother. She liked to travel and go camping on weekends to Good Spirit Lake with her husband and daughter, which the family did a lot in summer, with friends and relatives meeting at Good Spirit Lake. Elaine also liked to go to Dauphin’s Ukrainian Festival and meet up with her sister Shirley and her family, along with her Uncle Jim and Aunt Betty.
Elaine worked with her mother at various jobs in Melville after the birth of Kim. She stopped working in nursing in 1972 and later moved on to work with her mother cooking at the Waverley and King George hotels in their restaurants, as well as Kentucky Fried Chicken on 3rd Ave. W. in Melville.
Elaine always opened her home to family and friends regardless of what holiday or weekend it was. When people visited Elaine’s home, nobody ever left hungry. She was known for being an excellent mother and homemaker.
Elaine and Rudy sold their home in Melville in 2007 and moved to Caronport, SK, to be closer to their only child, Kim, who was married to Brad.
Elaine leaves to cherish and celebrate memories: her sisters, Emily and family (Regina) and Lillian and family (Sudbury and London, ON); two brothers, Wallie and family (Melville) and David and his wife of Winnipeg, MB; son-in-law Brad (Caronport, SK); and many nieces and nephews from BC to New York, USA. She was predeceased by her husband, Rudy, in February 2020, and her daughter, Kim, in March 2024; sister Shirley Fron and family; mother Mary on April 18, 1995; and father Bill in September 2003.
Elaine’s funeral service was held Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, at Matthews Funeral Home, Melville, with the Rev. Dr. Jonathon Pettinger officiating. Pianist Amanda Beuhler led the congregation in the singing of the hymns. Jeff Marcynuk read scripture passages and Chelsea Wolchuk read a poem she wrote for her aunt. Interment followed in Melville City Cemetery with Wallie Wolchuk and Emily Marcynuk acting as urn bearers.
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Matthews Funeral Home, Melville.
