We Remember
KERELIUK, Metro “Matt”
October 13, 1929 — November 20, 2025
At ninety-six years of age, Mr. Metro Kereliuk (known to everyone as Matt) passed away at Lakeview Lodge in Kelowna, British Columbia on Thursday, November 20, 2025.
The last of his generation, Matt was predeceased by his wife and partner in all things, Amelia – also known as Emily, after sixty-nine years of marriage. He was also predeceased by all his brothers, sisters, and in-laws. His memory will be carried on by his children, Miles (Linda) and David (Marie); his grandchildren Sheena, Taras, Tanya, Adam, Daven, Krista, Riley, Jarrett, and Erin; his great-grandchildren Hunter, Angelina, Nova, Hart, Lola, Bentley, Hudson, Lincoln, Olivia, Owen, Holden, Helena, and Charlotte. He is also remembered by Cathi (Donald) Ross, Deborah Taylor and Candi (Wyane) Marceniuk, along with many extended family members and friends who kept in contact and were so important to him.
Born to the late Maxim Kereliuk and Mary Buyer, Matt started working sooner than most. After his father died, he left the farm at fifteen and stepped into the menswear department at Eaton’s in Dauphin, Manitoba. What began as necessity stretched into twenty-four years that carried him across the map: first from Dauphin to Hamilton, ON then to Toronto, ON, where he and Emily married and had their two sons. From there he brought his family to Manitoba, spending time in Winnipeg before circling back to Dauphin once more to oversee several departments.
He held his Ukrainian heritage close, as if it were a story passed from hand to hand. During his years in Dauphin, he sang in a choir and danced with a troupe; later teaching those same steps to others. He felt pride when he remembered how he and his fellow dancers rode into the very first Dauphin Ukrainian Festival as Cossacks on horses, bringing old legends to life. Wherever he lived, he supported the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church, keeping those traditions lit like a small, steady flame.
When Eaton’s closed, he carried on as the store manager at Stylerite, also known as Ralph’s Department Store, in Portage la Prairie, MB. Matt had a natural gift for putting people at ease. That talent eventually convinced him that he could run his own place, so he and Emily bought the Old Mill Esso on the south end of Portage. It was a petrol station, motel, and convenience store all rolled together. Emily quickly became famous for her sandwiches, which, as the family often said, earned far more than the fuel ever did.
After four years spent measuring fuel, folding towels and wondering when the days might grow shorter again, they chose the sensible course and sold the business, heading west to be closer to their sons. They settled in Peachland, British Columbia, where Matt discovered that retirement, for him, had all the appeal of a chair with one short leg. Before long he had marched himself into the menswear department at The Hudson Bay in Kelowna, where he spent another twelve cheerful years discussing jackets, trousers and the general state of the world with anyone who wandered past. Only then did he retire for a second time, and the two of them settled fully into life in Kelowna.
In May 2020, he lost Emily. She had taught him how to look after himself, but even with those skills well learned, quiet days grew heavier; loneliness set in. But, at least he still had music, dancing, his grandchildren, and the many nieces and nephews he kept in touch with nearly to the end.
A service to honour Matt Kereliuk will be held at a later date. His sprit will ever be carried on by those he left behind.
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