Jan Picucha
July 15, 1921 - December 19, 2013
At 6:00pm on December 19, 2013 Jan very quietly left us to be with his beloved daughter Lydia, pre-deceased on December 18, 2006.
Jan is survived by his wonderful wife of 60 years. Barbara and his son Stefan (Carolyn).
Jan passed away with grace and dignity, with his family by his side, in the Misericordia General Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, after a short illness.
Jan came to Canada, along with a group of his military collegues, at the conclusion of World War II, working and living in various locations in Western Canada, such as Wartime, Indian-Head and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Calgary Alberta, then moving to a small coal-mining community high in the Alberta Rocky Mountains, Mercoal, Alberta, where he met, fell in love with and married his best friend and eternal soul mate, Barbara, who he always called “Baska”. Soon after, their daughter Lydia was born and later their son Stefan.
Jan, Barbara and family moved to Kitimat, BC in 1959, along with a healthy contingent of residents from Mercoal, to become a part of a new, vibrant and thriving community of which they all were a large part of for nearly 50 years. Jan and Barbara relocated to Nanaimo, BC in the Summer of 2006 to be with their daughter Lydia.
While living in Kitimat, Jan worked in the machine shop, maintenance division at Alcan Aluminum Co. for many years before moving on to work for Eurocan Pulp and Paper Co, also in the machine shop. He then became Supervisor in Eurocan’s machine shop for many years before eventually retiring to enjoy the finer things in life.
An avid member of the Kitimat Rod and Gun Club, Jan could be found most Saturday mornings down at the clubhouse with Lydia and Stefan. Jan absolutely loved the outdoors, camping, hunting and fishing. Many of Kitimat’s youth benefitted from his experience and teaching at the rifle range.
Jan became a member of the Kitimat Masonic Lodge No. 169 and the Kitimat Preceptory of Royal Arch Masons as well as becoming a Shriner and member of the Kitimat Royal Canadian Legion. Jan’s loves and passions included all the time spent with his family members and multitude of friends. Another of Jan’s passions was to exhibit the fine hospitality and warmness of friendship to anyone and everyone who visited and was welcomed into their home. This is where his Polish and Russian heritage surfaced and flourished. These passions all stayed with him to his final moments.
Barbara and Stefan would like to sincerely thank all Jan’s dear friends and co-workers for their out-pouring of condolences and best wishes. They would also ask that everyone honour Jan’s last wish to enjoy “one more good one” in his memory.
As per Jan’s wishes “to keep things simple” there was no funeral or ceremony.