Michael Hnatiuk

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Mike Hnatiuk on July 12, 2026 at the Sandy Lake Personal Care Home at the age of 106 years.

The second youngest of 10 children for Effie and Donald Hnatiuk, Mike was born on the family farm in Sandy Lake on November 4, 1919. In the end, Mike would spend 101 of his 106 years residing in the town he was born in. He left at the age of 19 to enlist with the Canadian Armed Forces where he served a total of five years, assigned to the Royal Canadian Corps of Engineers during WWII. His unit served in France, Belgium and Holland. Upon returning from overseas, he married Hazel Junop from Saskatchewan and they had three children. Mike went on to purchase and run his own farm in the Sandy Lake area and had a fulfilling 40 year farming career of which he was very proud. Upon retiring, he and Hazel built a house in the town of Sandy Lake which Mike would reside in for another 35 years. He devoted much of his time in retirement to helping fellow farmers in the area with odd jobs, to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Sandy Lake and the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 184 Sandy Lake.

Mike might be described by some as an accidental and reluctant centenarian. He was strong and unwavering in his belief on a great many subjects, one of which being that he was actually a year older than his birth certificate proclaimed. He was a fierce proponent of the healing powers of eating raw garlic by the clove. He didn’t believe in food expiration dates, he had a lifelong sweet tooth and frequently requested fried chicken, kubasa, big macs and cinnamon buns be smuggled into his room at at the Sandy Lake Personal Care Home. For many decades, his afternoon “medicine” required the use of a shot glass and a toast of “diborja”!

Mike will be fondly remembered by his son Dale Hnatiuk of Winnipeg, daughter Evelyn Lockhart of Kelowna, BC, grandchildren Candace, Sheldon, Cheryl, and Michelle (Jason), great granddaughter Presley, and numerous generations of nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife Hazel in 2012, his daughter Sharon in 2007, and by all nine of his siblings.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of St. Michael’s, Box 86, Sandy Lake, MB, R0J1X0