Obituary for
Charles Jr. Ribark
CHARLIE JAMES RIBARIK
1939 – 2018
Charlie was born on January 24th, 1939 and passed away quietly at his residence on May 3rd, 2018 at the age of 79. He was the only child of Charles Sr and Katherine (nee Frez) Ribarik. Charlie’s father came to Canada from Hungary in April of 1930 and worked for a farmer (Mathias Frez) in the Steelman area of SE Saskatchewan approx. 40 miles NE of Estevan. In October of 1931, Charles Sr married Katherine (daughter of Mathias Frez) and they lived with her parents until July of 1934. They then moved to a neighboring farm that they purchased later on. In 1975 Charles and Katherine sold all of their farmland except for one quarter section which was given to Charlie and moved into Estevan. Charlie did not like farming so he too sold his quarter section and moved to Estevan. He came to the Granum, Alberta area in about 1986-87, as a friend remembered.
Twenty years ago Charlie was working with Russell Morrow in Stavely, Alberta at Russell’s welding shop. Mr. Morrow had the misfortune of having a stroke some time previous and could no longer operate his shop and decided to have an auction. Many of the items in that auction were created by Charlie and are very unique.
Shortly after the sale, Russ and Charlie moved to Coalhurst for a few years, then came to the Hill Spring area where they lived on a local farm. After Russ passed away some 15 years ago, Charlie moved to Marshall Metals in Lethbridge for about 5 years. He then moved into Hill Spring where he resided until his passing.
As most of you know Charlie had a very creative mind. He also loved to tell stories, some of which you needed to question their authenticity. He once told the story that as a young lad he built his own helicopter out of odds and ends he picked up at the scrap yard. Later, a cousin of Charlie, (Richard Sichter) said the story was true. Apparently, a ball game was going on in town and Charlie decided to fly his helicopter around over the ball field when all of a sudden something happened and it crashed. Luckily Charlie wasn’t seriously injured. He also spoke of how he rebuilt an old warplane 12 cyl. Engine and hooked it up to a couple of trees. He revved it up and low and behold pulled both trees out of the ground. Luckily, again, the engine stopped and the excitement ended. Another story has it that Charlie built his own Ham Radio system while living in Estevan and would listen in on conversations between navy ships and Washington. He was soon after visited by the authorities and had his radios taken away from him. No problem, he built another one but was more careful in how he used it.
Unfortunately, Charlie did not disclose much about his family so it is very difficult to find out information about them.
Charlie was predeceased by his wife Brenda in about 1997 and by his father Charles Sr on August 26th, 1978 who is buried in the Souris Valley Memorial Garden Cemetery in Estevan, Saskatchewan. His mother, Katherine remarried in 1980 to Mr. Reginald Ball and passed away on May 13th, 1991, and is also buried in the same cemetery but with her second husband. Charlie will also be laid to rest with his father some time in the near future.
The Hill Spring community will certainly never be the same without Charlie, and he will be sadly missed by many. He often told me that he was so fortunate to spend his years in this village where he was so well treated. As one of his cousins remembered him, “he was ¼ of an inch away from being a genius.” May he rest in peace.
A Memorial Service will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hill Spring, AB on Friday, May 18th, 2018 at 11:00 a.m.
Condolences may be sent at: www.legacyfuneralhome.ca
LEGACY FUNERAL HOMES LTD., CARDSTON Assisting the Family. Phone 403-653-3222.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Charles Jr Ribark 1939 2018.source
Death notice for the town of: Estevan, Province: Saskatchewan