Marie Ann (Blackmouth) Romanik

In the waning summer afternoon of Sunday September 5, 2021, Marie Ann Romanik died in her 83rd year at Guelph General Hospital in the loving presence of her two daughters. Strong-willed and filled with indomitable spirit, Marie did not go gentle into the good night but remained true to her character until the last of her “nine lives” came to a close.

Collector of recipes (especially anything sweet) and strays of any kind (cats in particular). Lover of bowling, euchre, slot machines and rye & ginger, not necessarily in that order (and if combined then all the better!) Consumer of reality TV (The Bachelor) & potatoes of every variety.  Dancer of the polka and regular attendee of the Friday night Ukrainian dances held in Toronto back in the “good old days”, Marie has now rejoined her beloved dance partner Bill whom she has missed every day for the past two and a half years.

Devoted Mom to her children Lisa Swan (John) & Julie Glac (John) and indulgent Baba to her grandchildren Matthew, Cameron, Sydney & James, Marie was also the community Baba or Mom to anyone who needed her. She was The Treat Lady to dogs and also humans, particularly small ones who might be soothed by an always handy lollipop from her Mary Poppins bag of tricks. Marie was generosity personified, but she was no sweet little old lady. She had sharp edges and an opinion on everything…popular or not! Marie had an organizational system for any occasion and expected it to be followed. She endured many hardships throughout her life, the most defining being the loss of her mother at the age of ten. The loss followed her and taught her that survival equaled perseverance.

Born to Mary Blackmouth but raised as the daughter of Nick and Annie Chornopysky/Blackmouth, Marie was the youngest “sister” of a large family that included Mary, Ethel, Eileen, Olga, and Mike. She honed her motherly instincts early, babysitting her nieces and nephews in the family home on Humberside Ave. She looked after the household for her Papa and went to work for the Dominion grocery chain immediately after graduating from Western Technical-Commercial School so that she could contribute to her family. She married her love, Bill, and they raised their two daughters while she ultimately evolved into a career woman. Marie spent many happy and fruitful years indulging her Type A personality traits as an Executive Assistant at Carlton Cards and developed a lifelong love of the greeting card! She catalogued and remembered every important life event for those she cared for and acknowledged every milestone.

Family was everything to Marie, and you didn’t have to be related by blood to be family. She was not one for flowery sentiments or mushy expressions of affection (she left that to the greeting card writers!) To Marie, food was love and she demonstrated her love in every home cooked meal, every carrot cake or peach cobbler she made, to commemorate an occasion or sometimes for no reason at all.

While Marie would have wanted us to celebrate by holding one last big gathering, she was practical enough to know that Covid makes for an impractical situation. A small, private gathering will be held in her honour. Marie will be deeply and forever missed but for those she has left behind, we will do as she would expect…and “just get on with it”. And maybe, bake a treat and pass it on.

In lieu of flowers, donations to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) http://www.jdrf.akaraisin.com or Upper Credit Humane Society http://www.uppercredit.com would have been meaningful to Marie.

MacIntyre Family Funeral Home

519-833-2231