Olga Srebrnjak

It is with sad and heavy hearts that we tell the world we recently lost a good one.  On Wednesday, October 30^th, 2024, Olga Srebrnjak (nee Jug) passed away peacefully and on her own terms at the age of 88.

She loved and meant the world to her late husband, Joe, her children Diane (Tim) and Rob (Cindy) but nothing topped her love for her grandchildren Christopher (Tessa), Mitchell (Anita), Catherine and Ryan. You just had to mention their names and watch her one green/one blue eye light up.

To counter the sadness, we say with elevated joy that she has now joined her family and friends above, where they are all living their best lives.  Mom is where she wants and needs to be and knowing that one day, we’ll all get to join that reunion, eases the grief.  Until then, we keep her in our hearts.

Where does one begin with the life of Olga?  Who was she?  How do we help you understand what she was to us? 

We wish we could give you more details about Mom’s younger years but once she arrived in Canada, she claimed Canada as her country, became a citizen and never looked back.  We can only give you snippets of her life prior to coming here. 

Mom was born in former Yugoslavia – the oldest sibling of 5. She was adopted by her aunt and uncle at an early age so that she could have a better life.  She always said how grateful she was for what they had done for her.  Mom has always been a free spirit and the adventurous sort, so it wasn’t a surprise to find out she had left to discover what the world had to offer.  She found herself in Austria where she worked as a maid and waitress.  We just recently found a letter from 1960 from her Austrian employer writing “To Whom It May Concern – That whoever should be lucky enough to engage Miss Jug in Canada, will gain an assistant & worker in her as can hardly be found anywhere nowadays.  Only the fact that she is emigrating to Canada makes me part with this model employee, for whom we will hardly be able to find a perfect substitute.” 

Yes, that was Mom and that was instilled into all of us.  Work hard, be strong, always laugh (even if it’s at yourself) and always be kind to people even if you thought they didn’t deserve it because everyone has a story for who and why they are.  Don’t get us wrong, she wasn’t a pushover and would tell you like it was, but you never left feeling like you had lost a friend. 

It was in Austria that she met our father.  They fell in love, made the decision to come to Canada – with Dad arriving first and Mom following shortly thereafter. 

Moving to a new country, without knowing the language or having any family here, didn’t daunt her in the least.  She cherished Dad’s family members living in Canada and they quickly became her new family.  Together with them and friends they created a whole new life here.  It was clear that family, family friends and special neighbours meant the world to them and without them, they wouldn’t have had the wonderful life that they did.  All the family gatherings and neighbourly moments created such special memories, which they often shared.  We owe a lot to our family/friends – especially when Mom had her accident, keeping her in the hospital for almost a year.  They all stepped in and kept life as normal as possible for our Dad trying to raise a then 3 and 14 year old.   We could see why they meant the world to Mom and Dad.  We also want them to know how much they mean to us for all that they did and continue to do.

Anyone that knew Mom, knew she was a social individual, which is probably why crossing the ocean was so easy.  A whole new world of people to meet and chat with.  She sold Avon, truly not for the money,  but to get out and meet people. The same could be said for all the painting classes, ceramic classes, TOPS and ladies prayer groups she joined, just to name a few.  Dad used to tease that Grandma went out for bread/milk in the morning but don’t expect to see her until dinner.  We’re sure she was wandering through grocery stores, chatting to whomever stood near her for too long, only for her to spill endless stories about her grandchildren.  But what she loved most was attending her grandchildren’s sports events where she could watch and cheer them on.  She was their number one fan, and the crowd knew it.  She was practically made an honorary member of one hockey team and deemed Super Fan of another. As you all know, Mom walked with a cane and wouldn’t hesitate to use it when she thought a referee had made a bad call.  To be clear, it was used to rap against the glass in hockey or in the air at soccer because anyone that knew her, knew she wouldn’t hurt a fly but when it came to her grandchildren, she was a Grandma bear and would say/do anything for them.

There were only 4 things that kept her at home.  Watching over her grandchildren, people coming to visit, baking and gardening.  She loved to bake and everyone that walked through her doors was treated to her now much-missed baking delights – especially her apple strudel, peach cookies and patizca.  The joke was always that she could take dirt/stones from her garden, never measure a thing and turn them into award winning desserts – unlike her daughter, who could take the best baking ingredients, measure everything and always turn them into stones.  Then there were her gardening skills.  Each flower, was strategically placed to have a continuously blooming garden from spring to fall.  Neighbours didn’t know it (or maybe they did) but she used to stroll the neighborhood and snip leaves/branches from their gardens of plants she liked and bring it back to hers.  She could take almost nothing and grow it into something. 

Mom was pretty much perfect in every way.  Good attitude, strong, kind, giving but everyone has their vice that trips them up.  Mom’s was her poor luck with vehicles and maybe we could even say playing the slots/lottery cards.  She’s the only person we know that has had a car run over her, not once but twice and lived to tell the tale.  It wasn’t till a neighbourhood incident occurred (to which we again say sorry about your favourite tree) that we finally said it was time to take her licence away.  Then the stories poured out that, yes, it was definitely time. 

Speaking of time.  We could go on and on but even Mom would have said life’s too short, so please wrap this up. 

Here’s the thing…..We are all stories in the end, remembered by the adventures we had, the achievements we made and the people we loved.  Mom made sure her story was a good one and we’re so honoured to be able to tell it. 

Mom – You’re in our hearts and always will be.  Until we meet again, know that we love you to the moon and back.  xoxo

It’s at this time that we’d like to say thank you to family and friends for the love and support we’ve been receiving.  A special and heartfelt thank you goes out to all the staff of King Nursing Home that cared for Mom. 

We will be honouring Mom with a private memorial service.  It is very kind of individuals who have been asking about sending flowers or wanting to donate.   In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make donations to King Nursing Home Ltd., 49 Sterne Street, Bolton, Ontario L7E 1B9, or a charity of your choice that is near and dear to your heart. 

Condolences for the family may be offered at www.EganFuneralHome.com