Born in 1921 on her parent’s farm in the district of Lake Eliza, southeast of St. Paul, with the aid of a midwife, Rosie continues to make the most out of every day, according to her daughter-in-law Eyvonne Petruk, who is married to Rosie’s son Ronald.
“She had three knee replacements and she uses a walker now,” but continues to be quite mobile, Eyvonne said, adding that before the pandemic, Rosie would often come to their home to cook some old family favourite recipes.
“She still says she remembers how to make bread and how to make perogies and all the Ukrainian dishes. She can tell me off the top of her head what to put in them.”
Rosie’s parents were Frank and Marie Krankowsky who had 10 children - six boys and four girls. She attended the country school of Lake Eliza and later helped on the family farm. She married Mike Petruk in June 1944, who lived just down the road in the Lac Bellevue district and together they farmed in the area until the mid-70s when they retired. They had two sons, Ronald in 1947 and Larry in 1953. Sadly, Larry passed away in 2018 at age 65.
Rosie’s cooking was well known by family and friends and no one ever went hungry when they dropped by the farm for a visit.
“She loved to bake and cook and always had homemade stuff. She always had the coffee pot at the ready along with fresh baking and homemade meals.”
Spare time is often at a premium on the farm but Rosie filled it with a variety of hobbies including gardening, sewing, quilting and playing cards.
Rosie’s husband died in 1991 at 71 years of age. Following his passing, Rosie continued to live on the farm, moving to Sunnyside Manor in October of 2017. All her siblings have since passed away, except for one brother, Johnnie, who is 95 and continues to live on the farm on which he was raised.
“He’s still driving tractors and making bales and looking after cows,” Eyvonne said.
Since her move to Sunnyside, Rosie has taking up reading books and enjoys watching TV.
“Before that she never read a book and now she’s read over 200.”
Eyvonne said that when she asked her mother-in-law how she felt about turning 100. “She said, ‘I can’t believe it. I eat well, feel well, sleep well.’ She just can’t believe she’s 100 and she enjoys living at Sunnyside.”
