Raymond Roman Zaworonok

It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Raymond Zaworonok on June 16, 2025 at the age of 72 in Calgary, Alberta.

Raymond was born in Edmonton, Alberta on October 23, 1952. He was the second of three children born to his parents Iwan and Katherine but the first of the kids to be born in Canada not long after his parents and older brother Peter came to Canada from Ukraine.

Growing up in Edmonton, Raymond loved practicing karate earning his brown belt at a relatively young age. After graduating from high school, Raymond went on to attend the U of A studying geology before being lured away by the promise of money in mining.

Raymond and his then wife left university and headed to northern BC to mine at Granduc in Stewart. Never wanting to be too far from his brother and best friend Peter, they soon headed to Thompson, Manitoba where he worked as a miner for Inco. In Thompson, 2 daughters Galadriel and Aurora were born and the family of 4 headed further north to Lynn Lake to go into business as the owner of a Petro Canada bulk plant.

Tired of the cold and looking for a new adventure, the family moved to Kamloops, BC in 1989 where they owned and operated a motel. They say that you can take the man out of mining but you can’t take the mining out of the man and so Raymond headed back up to northern BC where he mined asbestos and gold.

In the early 2000s Peter became very ill and so Raymond headed back to Thompson to help temporarily with Peter’s business. Temporary turned into more than 25 years of the two brothers running the business and while they talked of retirement together where they would go explore the beauty of B.C., sadly Raymond passed before these plans could happen.

Raymond’s two girls who affectionately called him Papa were his pride and joy and he was so proud of them and all that they accomplished. In 2002 Galadriel married Mike and Raymond gained not only a son in law but also a friend. In 2009 and 2011 Galadriel and Mike welcomed Lasha and Eva. Never one to be traditional or boring, when asked what he wanted the kids to call him, Raymond said Grumpy would be just fine. Grumpy and his grand daughters enjoyed meals out together and listening to his endless stories about his life. How many of those stories were true remains anyone’s guess…

When not working in Manitoba Raymond split his time between BC and the home he shared with Aurora in Calgary. We take peace in knowing that he died at home with Aurora’s fur babies close by.

Missing his big fish stories and feeling the void his passing has left, Raymond is survived by his loving daughters Galadriel Jolly (Mike) and Aurora Zaworonok as well as his two granddaughters Lasha and Eva Jolly. He is also survived by his brother and best friend Peter(Noreen) Zaworonok, sister Christine (Tony) Onyshko-Meier, his stepfather John Stefaniuk, and his many nieces and nephews.

If we could summarize our father’s life it would be this… the man, the myth, the legend . Gone too soon but never forgotten.

As our dad never liked attention on himself, we have chosen not to have a formal service. Instead, we would ask that you take a drive into the woods, mountains or to your favourite lake and take a moment to appreciate the beauty that we know he loved in nature too.

Cremation to take place a Foothills Crematorium.