Martha "Susie" Zurba

Martha passed away peacefully on Wednesday September 8th surrounded by family after a courageous battle with cancer.  Martha or Susie, as many others knew her was born on November 25, 1948 in Dauphin to Steve and Berendina Bogoslowski. She was the only girl having 4 brothers. Her mom was a Dutch war bride and she was proud of her Dutch heritage. She received her education in Dauphin attending Whitmore and

Mackenzie Schools. Mom and her brothers attended the Salvation Army Church as children. Sadly, her mom passed away when she was 18 years old and she took on the respsonsibilty of helping to raise her 3 younger brothers, the youngest only 8 at the time. Not long after her friend Crystal, who would later become her sister in law, introduced her to her future husband Ralph and they were married on January 26, 1972 at her dad's house on a cold and stormy night. They were married for 49 years. They welcomed 6 children in 7 years! And she was proud of every single one of them: Dina Tammy, Ralph Jr. (Peewee), Teresa, Michelle, Stephen and Jason.

Mom lived in Dauphin her entire life, except for one year when the family moved to Thompson. She was a stay at home mom for most of her childrens lives. There are many memories of our time growing up. Trips to Winnipeg and Brandon in the summer to get new school clothes and supplies; we always had the staples - garlic sausage, bread and chicken to eat on the way! As a family we also made many trips to visit relatives in Hudson Bay, SK and even a trip to Flin Flon for a week one summer to visit friends. A lot of Sunday afternoons were spent visiting family in the country. We also went beer bottle picking and attended many auction sales. Mom was also the team manager and score keeper for the Dodgers baseball team. She would ensure her children all attended the Salvation Army Church. Martha was the leader/instructor of the tambourine group for the church, teaching all 3 daughters. She was a member of the church home league ladies group for years. There were many memorable trips with the ladies group including the time we broke a bed in the hotel room! Martha loved to do crafts and made many cross stitch table cloths. Her one sport that she participated in was bowling and was a member of a ladies team for years. She loved bowling so much that each of her children also participated in the sport. In 1993 she went to work at Chicken Jacks with her daughter Michelle. She was a great cook, and her butter tarts and pies were always a hit along with her omelettes and soups. Eventually, she continued working there with Tammy as well. She then went to work as a cook at the Dari Dip for a number of years, before she was ready to retire. Martha had a few things she loved besides her family, doing crafts, bowling, cheesecake, wings, bingo, playing cards, watching cooking shows and Elvis Presley, whom she blames Alvin for! After all, he bought her the first Elvis memorabilia. Alvin was also her canasta partner for years and as kids we watched them play. It was a great honour that we could play with her once we were old enough. Mom loved growing flowers and was a great gardener. Mom enjoyed canning to ensure her cupboards and freezers were full, she did have three freezers! She canned pickles, beets and more.  If you were lucky enough to get an invite to one of her meals, you were sure to leave with a full belly. She would start to prepare about 2 months before Christmas, making perogies, cheese rolls, cabbage rolls and of course all her baking! She loved to bake! Mom was a great cook, making everything from borscht, pies, cookies, soups, pickles and more! She was often asked to cook for other people. She was also an honourary Girl Guide member and helped out with bake sales, banquets, fundraisers and events. She was the cook for many big sleepovers and was remembered by many of the leaders, wanting to know where she was if they didn't see her. Mom was encouraged to enter a pizza making contest and won the 2014 pizza award for the best homemade pizza in the parkland. She was always asked to help make perogies for the Girl Guides and the Sche Raz dance group fundraisers. In time she started a new career as Grandma, welcoming 12 grandchildren in total, seven grandsons and 5 granddaughters. However, she was Grandma to many others. She would often help Tammy with her daycare and many of those kids still call her grandma. Grandma attended all events and activities she could, such as hockey, baseball, rugby & football games, school concerts, dance recitals and graduations from pre-school to high school. She was very proud of her all her grandchildren and would often comment about them to others. She also loved playing games with her children and grandchildren, which included canasta, sticks, pool, trump and poker. Mom loved going out for afternoon coffee, which usually lasted about two hours. It was a time to visit and chat with friends. She was often accompanied by her children and grandchildren.

Mom loved going to Country Fest attending her first one when Kenny Rogers came to play. She also volunteered at the Ukrainian Festival with Girl Guides and was very proud to see her daughter Teresa and granddaughter Karlee dance on the main stage. One of her favourite times was the trip by train to Churchill in 2010 with the Dauphin Girl Guides. She attended as the camp cook. She did everything we did including driving the tundra buggy and hiking about a km in the tidal flats out to the Ithaca, a ship wrecked boat in the bay. She never let Tammy forget that this ruined her good shoes! During the lockdowns with not much to do, the one past time mom was still able to do was play the Kinsmen bingo every Saturday night with her little bingo buddy Ethan. They came close, but never won. Over the past few months she traded in Alvin for Peewee and Tammy who alternated as her new canasta partners. In fact the last two games she played with Tammy as her partner, they won! She loved to laugh and always had a quick comeback! Mom had a big personality and made friends wherever she went. When asked by a friend what was her best moment of her entire life, she said 'I love my family, I have 6 kids that gave me 12 grandchildren. My best moment would have to be when I met Ralph, without him, I wouldn't have what I got!'

Martha was predeseaed by her parents, Steve & Berendina, her inlaws Alec & Sophie Zurba, her brothers Hank, Rudy and Frank Bogoslowski and her sister in law Crystal Zurba. She is survived by her family all of Dauphin; husband Ralph; daughter Dina Tammy; son Ralph Jr & Tiffany (Cody, Taylor, Ethan); daughter Teresa; daughter Michelle & Ken Ushkowski (Dylan, Kailyn, Karlee); son Stephen & Angel (Desi, Gina); son Jason & Susan (Courtney, Steven, Zach, Matthew). She is also survived by her youngest brother Joe Bogoslowski and very good family friend Alvin Ferance as well as her sister in law Irene Bogoslowski, her brothers in law Harvey Zurba, Zenon & Margaret Zurba, Marvin Zurba, Norman & Sharon Zurba, sister in law Gail Starling and many nieces & nephews, extended family and friends.

A celebration of life was held for Martha on September 18, 2021 at Selo Ukraina at 11am with internment at Riverside Cemetery. For those who wish to make a donation in Martha's name can do so to the Manitoba Cancer Society or the MS Society of Canada.

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