Agnes Joyce Ananichuk

I was born on November 22, 1945, in Brantford, Ontario to Samuel and Pauline Ananichuk. I was the younger sister to Mary Teylouni and John Ananichuk. I became an aunt to Carol McLaren (Peter), Keenan Teylouni (Wendy Warring) and Kim Teylouni, great-aunt to Alyssa McLaren and honourary aunt to Ariana Chaster. Well, if you are reading this, then I must be dead. Cancer got me. What can I say - I was here for a long time and a good time. If one can be lucky in life, then I must have lucked out big time. To whom much is given, much is required. I'm not sure that I lived up to my end of this deal. I was fortunate to attend post-secondary institutions despite having failed grade 12 and being directed to clerical training to ensure that I was employable. I attended the Ontario Bible College, the University of Windsor, then the University of Manitoba and finally the Victoria College of Art.
I got to live in Brantford, Toronto, Windsor, Winnipeg, Regina, and Victoria. All splendidly Canadian, all filled with wonderful people and all providing wonderful, diverse, and stimulating environments. Plus, I got to live in interesting times. At the age of 28, and finally seeking my first full time permanent job, I was given these pieces of advice - "never tell them you can type" and "even if you have only some of the requested qualifications, apply for the job anyway - that's what men do". As a woman in these times, despite education, one would be placed in a clerical position and if you didn't apply because you felt you weren't fully qualified, you would never know what would have happened. So, with this in hand, I was most fortunate in my work life. I worked primarily on training social assistant recipients, apprenticeship and trades training, and women's issues. I may not have enjoyed every job, all of the time, but I was never bored, always challenged, got to work with some exceptional people, and was encouraged and supported by extraordinary women.
Simultaneously with my work life, I was also lucky in love and met and co-habited with George Ford for over 46 years. He is an exceptional human being who accepted me for who I was, treated me as an equal, sought my views and insured that I was included in all decision making, put up with my foibles and supported me in all my endeavours. Let's face it, I nabbed a winner!
In the last third of my life, I attended art college and pursued the visual arts of printmaking and collage. In this pursuit, I found incredible satisfaction, conceiving of an idea, assembling materials, bringing the idea into reality and producing a completed project. There is a beginning, process and completion, then you move on to the next idea. The joy comes in making the idea a reality. I had a wonderful and privileged life. Thanks to all!
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