Anna Drepko was born in 1925 in Novosilka, a small village in Ternopil, Ukraine. Her life as she knew it was disrupted when the second world war started and she was forcibly taken to Germany to work as a labourer. When the war ended, Anna immigrated to Scotland. There she lived in a hostel with young Ukrainian women, all of whom worked in a thread factory. In 1949, Anna met and married her husband, who was residing in Oldham, England, at the time and who coincidentally was also from Novosilka. They settled in Oldham for the next several years. Shortly after the birth of their first child, Maria, the family immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba where, four years later their second child, Myron, was born. Anna has resided in Winnipeg ever since.
Life in Winnipeg centered around the Ukrainian community, primarily the Ukrainian Canadian Institute Prosvita and the church. It was very important for Anna and her husband to raise their children according to Ukrainian culture and traditions: They enrolled them in the Ukrainian youth organization SUM, Ukrainian dance classes and ridna shkola.
Anna's passion was embroidery. i assume her interest may have been sparked while living and working in Scotland. Upon arriving in Canada, Anna spent a great deal of her spare time embroidering. As life in Winnipeg unfolded, Anna's time eventually became devoted elsewhere, but she did continue to embroider on a lesser scale until the early 1990s.
Anna passed away in Winnipeg on September 8, 2018. The following information is the obituary from the Korban Funeral Home website: Retrieved from https://www.korbanchapel.com/notices/Anna-Drepko on 2019-01-09.
"Peacefully, on September 8, 2018, after a lengthy debilitating illness, Anna entered into God’s Kingdom. Anna was born in Novosilka, Ternopil, Western Ukraine, to parents Antin and Kateryna. At the age of 17, she was taken from her home and family by the German army, to work forced labour on a farm in Germany. She was liberated by the American army when the Second World War ended, and spent time in a DP camp in Germany. From there she immigrated to Paisley, Scotland, where she lived in a hostel with other young Ukrainian women, all of whom worked in a thread factory. When Anna married her husband Hryhorij, they settled in Oldham, England, where their daughter Maria was born. In 1952, Anna and her family crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled in Winnipeg, where their son, Myron was born. Beginning a new life in Canada posed many challenges, but Anna and Hryhorij worked tirelessly to provide a good life for their young family.
Anna was very proud of her rich Ukrainian heritage, culture and language. She spent any spare moment embroidering traditional Ukrainian designs. Some of her vyshyvky are at the University of Alberta at the Kule Folklore Centre. She also ensured that her children attended Ukrainian School (Ridna Shkola), Ukrainian dancing, CYM (Ukrainian Youth Organization), and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Anna was a member of the Ukrainian Canadian Institute Prosvita, the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women, and Sts. Volodymyr & Olha Cathedral. In later years, she became a member of the Senior’s Club of Prosvita, where she loved to sing, dance and socialize. She also sang in the Dumka Choir.
She always yearned to return to Ukraine. In 1985, she was able to fulfill her dream. She reunited with her family in Ukraine for the first time after being apart for 50 years.
Anna was predeceased by her husband Hryhorij. She leaves to mourn her daughter Maria Stolarskyj, son Myron (Tania), grandchildren Laryssa, Teresa (Tim), Oleh, Kathryn (Jay), Alexa (Shane), great grandchildren, Luke, Sofia and Mia. Anna loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren. They were her pride and joy.
The family thanks Drs. Terry and Andrea Babick for their wonderful care. Thank you to St. Joseph’s Residence for the exceptionally kind and compassionate care of our mom for the past 10 years.
Funeral Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 13, 2018, at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, 250 Jefferson Ave., followed by interment at All Saints Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Oleh Stolarskyj, Myron Pawlowsky, Shane Yanke, Tim Stokes, Jay Comeault, and Andrew Leskiw."
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Pillow covers have been scanned and images are available for researchers upon request.
Images are not available online (donor's request).
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Embroidered wall hanging. Pattern is in cross stitch on black felt and features a village scene with people standing infront of a thatched roof house and a church. The picture is surounded on all four sides with a 9 cm wide boarder of geometric triangle and diamond motifs. There is a hole in each of the two top corners created to help hang the piece.
The donor provided the following description:
This piece brings back wonderful childhood memories for me as the daughter of the embroiderer, Anna Drepko. In 1960 we moved to Winnipeg's North End, to 405 Aberdeen Ave. from the Point Douglas area -an area settled by many Ukrainian immigrants. We came to Canada from England in June 1952, where my parents had lived and worked after the war for almost five years. It was here, in Oldham, that Anna met and married Hryhorij, a young man who coincidentally also came from Ternopil. Shortly after their first child, Maria, was born, the family immigrated to Winnipeg . Four years later, their second child, Myron was born.
My mom embroidered this tapestry sometime between 1953 and 1958. My first recollection of this piece was it hanging above our living room couch in our little three-room suite on Aberdeen Avenue. I was always drawn to it, kneeling on the couch and imagining that the people in the scene were relatives of mine in Ukraine.
In the summer of 1970, we moved to an area called West Kildonan. This tapestry had a place on a paneled wall in the basement rec room, where it remained for 38 years until Mom moved out of the home in 2008. That's when it came into my possession.
I cherished this embroidery as a family heirloom, and I was fortunate to find an excellent home for it at the Kule Centre at the University of Alberta.
My mother's passion was embroidery. During her early years in Winnipeg she embroidered during any free moment she had. I vividly remember sitting beside her, at age four or so, "sewing" with her. This piece was embroidered from a pattern, commercially made and printed in colour. I recall seeing the paper pattern but have no idea as to its whereabouts now. I may come across it yet.
Mom made this piece sitting in a small two room suite while still living in Point Douglas, with no television on (we didn't have one till 1962) and no music playing. She embroidered without the use of loops, magnifying aids or glasses. I imagine the thread was bought specifically for this piece at a shop on Main Street. As we did not own a car until 1965, we did all our shopping on Main Street, which was walking distance from where we lived. Throughout the years Anna also embroidered three large peacocks (two of which she gave as gifts), a few tablecloths , many pillowcases and embroidered blouses as well as a few dresses for herself. There are a variety of framed embroideries as well that hung on the walls of our home.
Mom had worked in textile factories after the war, first in Scotland, then in England. When the war started, she was forcibly taken from her village of Ternopil, in Ukraine, along with many others to Germany, to work agricultural labour for a landowner. It was very hard work for a girl of 15. After the war ended, Anna moved on to England and as a result, she didn't see her mother for over 40 years until she returned to visit Ukraine in 1985.
Mom continued to embroider throughout the decades, though her work became less frequent as time went on. My parents became involved in the Ukrainian community, and their time was devoted to the church and Ukrainian organizations. It was vital to them to bring up their children in the Ukrainian spirit, enrolling us in Ukrainian evening school, dance, youth organizations and church activities. The last piece that Mom made was a Ukrainian blouse for herself in the early 1990s.
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Embroidered pillow/cushion cover. Pattern is in cross stitch and features a large multi-coloured horizonal band of diamond motifs flanked on top and bottom with horizontal rows of diamonds and strips . Emboidered on 16 count Aida cloth the basic pattern is outlined in greys and filled with multicoloured threads. The image is centered on the cloth and fills a majority of the area. Closure is on the side and not finished. The back is of a thin white cotton.
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Embroidered pillow/cushion cover. Pattern is in cross stitch and features a large multi-coloured square in the middle surrounded by large diamond motifs and orange geometric shapes. Emboidered on 16 count Aida cloth the basic pattern is outlined in greys and filled with multicoloured threads . The image is centered on the cloth and fills a majority of the area. Closure is on the side and not finished. The back is of a thin white cotton.
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Embroidered square pillow/cushion cover. Front side is completely embroidered in cross stitch. The back is an unadorned piece of green cotton. Pattern features a large multi-coloured star motif in the middle surrounded by large orange curly motifs in each corner and bordered by a checker board pattern in pale green, pink and red. Closure is on the side and not finished. There is a tag attached to the corner with a safety pin. it. reads: Cust# Winnipeg Furniture4 10/02/2004 H38-23712 SAT, TOSS CUSHION & COVER
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Embroidered pillow/cushion cover. Pattern is in cross stitch and features a large multi-coloured parrot sitting on a branch among a grouping of flowers . Emboidered on 16 count Aida cloth. . The image is centered on the cloth and fills a majority of the area. Closure is on the side and was originally sewn shut . The back is of a thin white cotton.
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Embroidered pillow/cushion cover. Pattern is in cross stitch and features a a grouping of flowers in the middle and a 4 cm wide, multicoloured, geometric motif boarder around the edge. Emboidered on 16 count Aida cloth. The image is centered on the cloth and fills a majority of the area. Closure is on the side and was originally sewn shut. The back is made of 3 pieces of brown synthetic cloth sewn together.
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Embroidered square pillow/cushion cover. Front side is completely embroidered in cross stitch. The back is blue synthetic fabric with machine embroidered white lines. Pattern is in cross stitch and features a large multi-coloured, geometric red and pink flower motif in the middle surrounded by large multicoloured floral motifs and a grouping of 3 diamonds in each corner. the edge is emroidered with alternating colour squares of pink, green and red plus 2 yellow squares in each corner. Closure is on the back and was originally sewn shut.
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Embroidered pillow/cushion cover. Pattern is in cross stitch and features a large multi-coloured bouquet of flouers in the middle surrounded by smaller geometric flowers and leaves Emboidered on 16 count Aida cloth. Closure is on the side and not finished. The back is of white cotton.