Colette Luella (nee Morin) Tomchyshen

Colette Luella Morin was born April 3, 1953, in Spalding, SK to Edgar and Martha Morin. She joined her four sisters Lenore, Beverly, Sharon and Marlene. Colette finished her secondary schooling in Melfort and then worked in Saskatoon as a secretary. Colette met the love of her life, David, at the Spalding bar in 1975, and they were married the following year in July 1976. Colette had a sweet little girl, Rachael Gina, from a previous marriage, and a son, Lindsay, was born to the newlyweds in 1977.

Colette and Dave moved to Wadena in 1978 to start their business, Tomchyshen Meats. Colette thoroughly enjoyed Wadena making many dear friends, driving her kids to all their activities and tending to her beautiful flowers in the yard.

After several years, Dave and Colette moved to an acreage north of Wadena, giving her an even bigger yard to beautify, then to Saskatoon a few years later. While in Saskatoon, Colette took a course allowing her to work in a daycare centre as a cook where she quickly became everyone’s grandma. Colette had a knack for quickly bonding with small children and the daycare turned out to be her favorite job ever.

One more move to Humboldt in 2022 would once again provide her with a larger yard and more space to expand her passion for flower gardening.

In 2013, Colette’s world turned upside down when she was diagnosed with cancer. This would be the beginning of a horrendous 11-year struggle that drastically changed her quality of life forever. In 2015, after countless radiation and chemotherapy treatments, three major surgeries, and every other test and procedure imaginable, the doctors gave her a grim prognosis and told her to prepare for the worst within a short period of time. But Colette was a fierce fighter and proved the doctors wrong, going on to survive another nine years.

Colette was predeceased by her parents Edgar and Martha, father-in-law Paul Tomchyshen, daughter Rachael and son-in-law Rob Durack.

Colette is survived by her loving husband David, son Lindsay (Renelle) of Vancouver, BC, sisters Lenore (Ron) Kole of Prince George, BC, Beverly (Frank) Kager of Spalding, SK, Sharon Witt of Calgary, AB, Marlene (Dick) Dunsdon of Midway, BC, mother-in-law Sophie Tomchyshen of Humboldt, SK, brother-in-law Gary Tomchyshen of Quill Lake, SK, sister-in-law Judy Kanak of Regina, SK, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life was held on Friday, August 30, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. from Royal Canadian Legion Hall Humboldt, led by Funeral Celebrant, Debbie Sarauer.  Memorial donations in Colette’s memory may be directed to Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan.