Carol Lynn Puchailo

In the early hours of St. Patrick’s Day, in the serenity of her home and surrounded by the love of her children, sisters, friends, and pup Indy, Carol peacefully departed this world for the next unknown. Undiscouraged by cancer, her resiliency, strength, knowledge and courage enabled her to live every moment of the past 5 years with determination and joyful experience. Carol will be remembered as a loving mother, kind sister and daughter, caring friend and nurse practitioner extraordinaire who built a legacy of love, mindfulness and curiosity.  
In April of 1976, Syd and Adeline, and big sister Stephanie excitedly greeted baby Carol into their lives and home on the farm in Grandview. Not long after, sister Andrea and little brother Andrew joined the fun. Together they would have countless adventures in play and chores; Carol never backed down from a mud fight, never refused to help with milking cows or plucking chickens, always loved a good toboggan ride down a too-steep-hill and dragged her feet after hilling hundreds of potato plants. She was shy when neighbours would come over, but it didn’t take long for “Puggy”, as Mom would call her, to start entertaining and get into trouble with her siblings. 
Carol was raised in the Catholic faith and immersed in Ukrainian heritage. She enjoyed Ukrainian dance, getting the Easter basket ready for blessing, and took catechism very seriously; as an adult she would yearn to contemplate the complexities of spirituality. She grew up close to both Babas and Gedos and always looked forward to spending time with extended family and cousins. At a young age, Carol loved school, adored learning, had a natural talent for art, an eye for colour, enjoyed music and learned to play the saxophone. Throughout school, Carol achieved excellent grades and often made the honour roll. She discovered her passion for basketball in high school and focused intensely on developing her skills and shared a mutual respect for her teammates and coach. Her talent often had cited her as player of the game or MVP. She took up refereeing and coaching, and years later would coach her own daughter, Sonja. 
After graduating in 1994, Carol headed straight to the University of Manitoba with her sights set on a Bachelor of Nursing degree. She wanted to learn every aspect of nursing and just passing was never good enough. She devoured information, remembering each and every detail, a trait she continued in life-long learning. In 1998 she graduated with her BN and promptly started her nursing career with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority as a Street Nurse. For 5 years she worked with a wonderful team at Nine Circles which focused on providing healthcare and services for people living and working on the streets of Winnipeg. This was followed by two years of Northern Nursing in Tadoule Lake, MB, with Health Canada. The people she met, served and worked with, especially her dear friend Ann, held a special place in Carol’s heart and in her approach to her profession. 
In 2006, Carol moved to Regina to continue her career. It wasn’t long before her life direction changed again. She met Asi and they welcomed their daughter, Sonja in February, 2007. The family moved closer to home and settled in the Riverton area along the shores of Lake Winnipeg. Carol was back to work by November as a Community Health Nurse in Riverton and in August of 2009, excitedly welcomed her son, Kristofer! Her goals during this time were to be an exceptional mother, complete the Advanced Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Athabasca, study Acupuncture with the Acupuncture Foundation of Canada and become a certified Wellness Coach. Carol rarely changed her mind and made no exceptions, regardless of any obstacles. She achieved all of these goals as a single mother, while working full-time.   
In the final years of her 26 year nursing career she worked as a Nurse Practitioner at Percy Moore Hospital for 4 years, worked as an agency nurse as her schedule allowed and as a Nurse Practice Specialist with the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba. Carol never shied away from expressing concerns, gaps and issues within our health “care” system, and we know this contributed to her choices for her own health. Carol believed that one modality approach to caring for one’s health limits the ability to heal and be well. Carol cared deeply for her patients and advocated for every one of them to receive the care every person deserves. It was made apparent when she’d return home late after she was stopped by former patients telling her how much they missed her.
Carol, Sonja, Kris and Indy did everything together. At the top of the list is cooking and travelling often to visit family and friends. When they headed south of the border for a month-long family vacation, they took turns picking hotels and sights to see and created so many memories. While raising the children, Carol encouraged imagination and play, nurtured their athletic and musical endeavours and attended as many games and recitals as she could (often following up with a suggestion or advice on improvement). Carol is so proud of Sonja and Kristofer; their kindness, talents, intellect, humour and warm personalities. While nodding her head in awe, she would often say, “they’ve grown into really incredible people”.  Sonja and Kris, you are by far her greatest joy.
Carol’s life was full of love, spontaneity, spirituality, wanderlust, friends, laughter and tea. Riverton was her home and her friends became extended family. She valued meeting new people, personal growth and change. It wasn’t unusual for Carol to get up before the sun, meditate, pick up her friend’s children for an afternoon, even when the kids were with their dad, write a paper that evening and then go on a trip the next day. Grass didn’t have a chance to grow under her feet, and it won’t grow on top of her. She will be in our hearts and with the wind. 
Love always and forgive often.

A Celebration of Life was held for Carol on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 4:00 pm from the Watson Art Center in Dauphin, MB.  

The service was live streamed for those unable to attend. Click the link below.

There will be a Celebration of Life at the Hnausa Unitarian Camp, on the shores of Lake Winnipeg just north of Gimli, on Saturday, May 25, 2024 at 3:00pm.

Should friends so desire, donations in memory of Carol may be made to a trust fund for her children, Sonja and Kris Asmundsson. The trust is set up at the Fusion Credit Union, 36 Main St. N. in Gilbert Plains, MB, but donations may be made through any Fusion Credit Union Branch.
 

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