Olga Gegolick, an Ageless Senior Tells the Story of Her Life

Olga Gegolick, an Ageless Senior Tells the Story of Her Life

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

Olga Gegolick was born in Hairy Hill in 1933 where she grew up on a farm with her parents, four brothers and one sister.

“My earliest memory is my grandfather used to carry me to the road from the farm and I hated his moustache so he used to tease me about this. Till today, I still don’t like beards or moustaches and prefer a clean cut person.

Also, I was a real tomboy growing up; I used to race with my brothers and I always won. I used to love to climb trees. I was very active and I liked to be with my father on the farm. I didn’t like to be in the house.

We were poor when I was growing up. But I didn’t know another way and I thought of this as normal. We were happy with whatever our parents gave us. We had enough food and a couple of pieces of clothing, but we never had any toys. So, we invented our own games. But I remember how happy we were when our father came back from town and brought us some candy.

As far as school went, I liked school and learning. The subjects that I was best at were biology and geography. I also had a lot of friends at school and got along well with most of my classmates. I liked good kids. I went to school at Shalka, Alberta from Grades One to Nine. Then from Grades 10 to 12, I went to school at Hairy Hill.

After I finished school I went to work for four years at Singer Sewing in Vegreville which were the best years of my life!

Olga during our visit at Vegreville Centennial Library.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

I met my future spouse Walter when we were both hanging around Vegreville. I had a crush on him because he was good looking and nice. I was thrilled when he asked me out one day.

We then got married. Married life was good but hard. Walter was a good man. But we were poor in the beginning as he just owned a quarter of land and we had to make payments on it and on the combine and other farm equipment. I was working on the field helping my husband from day one. I continued to help him all our married life.

“Walter and I had two sons; Sonny and Darrell. I enjoyed being a mother and my children turned out well. But Darrell passed away from cancer when he was just 19 years old. There is nothing harder than this for a mother to face. It is awful to lose a child,” Olga explained with a tear falling from her eye. My husband passed away in 1985 and I never got remarried. I have three grandsons: Dustin, Dayton, and Davin who grew up to be wonderful people and I also have eight great grandchildren.

“As far as hobbies, when I was younger there was no time to do this but when I became a senior, I played the guitar and sang and continue to do this. I like to perform for Perogies and Jam and at the local jamborees. I like to sing country and western, folk, and all types of music.

I also volunteered a lot for long term care facilities, Ladies Hospital Auxiliary, Royal Canadian Legion No. 39 Ladies Auxiliary, and Royal Purple. I loved to volunteer and I enjoyed everything I did.

My health now is good. I like to play music and participate in floor curling. I live in my own home on a farm in Hairy Hill and I drive.

“The advice I would give young people about life is enjoy yourself when you are young because you get old very fast. Do as much as you can; travel if you can afford to. I traveled for 26 years to Yuma, Arizona which I really loved.

“My wishes for the future is to bring joy to people’s lives through music and to continue to enjoy my family and my eight-year-old black lab, Buddy. I like to go for walks with my dog.”