Sophie Gawryluk, (Susanna Rank) 97, Dickinson died Thursday, March 9, 2017 at St. Benedict’s Health Center, Dickinson. Sophie’s Divine Liturgy will be at 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic Church, Fairfield, with Fr. Yurii Sas as celebrant and assisted by Deacon Leonard Kordonowy. Visitation will be Monday 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Ladbury Funeral Service with a prayer service at 7 p.m. with Rev. Roger Dieterle presiding. Interment will take place at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Fairfield.
“Sophie” was born to Wasyl and Polly (Kordon) Dutchak at home on a farmstead north of Belfield, approximately five miles west of Gorham around March 1, 1920. Her mother died when she was three. Her original birth certificate was destroyed in a fire. School records and church records showed her as Susanna and Sophie Dutchak. She had two different birth dates entered in school records, one in February and one in March. There were two Susanna’s and her teacher dubbed her “Sophie” and it stuck for a life time.
She attended Snow School through the fifth grade. When she could read and count, her father had her quit school to help with their farm and small coal business. She remembered running the left side of a manual blade and bucket. By the age of 13, she was ready to work for others. She went from farm place to farm place working odd jobs for room and board. She said that sometimes it was just bread with hot water. She learned to work cows, plow a field, train horses and make soup out of old potatoes and a soup bone.
In the summer of 1936, Sophie met John Gawryluk who had just come home from the CC Camp in Minnesota and was looking for a wife. They married on October 19 and with a cow for a wedding present they began their life. They had four children, Maxem, Joseph, Rosie and Christine.
Sophie and John lived on the outskirts of Medora where she worked at the Buddy Ranch, the motel and cleaning for the Foley’s. They moved to Fryburg in 1944 where they farmed and raised white face red Herefords. In 1967, they moved to Belfield. John died in 1988. In 1992, Sophie married Harold Rank of Gillette, Wyoming. She moved back to Dickinson, after Harold’s death in 2014.
Sophie loved to paint Ukrainian eggs, sew, crochet, embroider, garden, can fruit, vegetables and make wedding flowers. She had a great artistic flair and made many prom dresses, wedding dresses and sometimes all the bridesmaid dresses. She also loved to polka, waltz and listen to Ukrainian music. She sang with St. John’s choir for many years and enjoyed Ukrainian Christmas Caroling and the old three day traditional Ukrainian wedding festivities.
She was able to be on her own until she was 95; still able to board the fun bus to Tin Lizzie’s once a week to her hot Red, White and Blue Lucky 7’s machines where she was always a winner.
She lived a full life, loved her grandchildren and was always up to going somewhere and trying something new. Her motto was “take no man made medicine; eat chokecherries, Corn Curls, Circus Peanuts, garlic and drink pickle juice mixed with honey, lemon and thyme”. Her spunkiness and mischievous grin shall be missed…
She was preceded in death by her husband John Gawryluk and three of her children, Rosie, Joseph and Maxem.
She is survived by her daughter Chris (Larry D.) Johnson. Grandchildren, Jennifer Johnson, Justin Johnson, Joshua Johnson, Tom Gawryluk, Brenda Gawryluk, Debbie Gawryluk, Teresa Alexander, Sharon Altoff, Tamela Olson and Scott Olson.
