Retired teacher’s ‘application’ for heaven resonates around the world By: Kevin Rollason Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022 Last Modified: 1:42 PM CST Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022 Updates

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This article was published 21/02/2022 (941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The perks are heavenly and the pay is divine.

Judging by the attention her “resumé” has received, retired Winnipeg teacher Beatrice Fediuk is a star candidate for a higher calling.

Her obituary — in the form of a resumé submitted as an application for eternal life — was written by her daughter Michelle Samagalski and was published in the Free Press on Saturday.

“Dear Lord, Please accept my application for Eternal Life. My resumé is as follows,” the obituary begins.

The touching tribute for Fediuk, who died on Feb. 12 at 94, includes her references, training, experience, volunteer work, and even hobbies.

Under objectives, it says: “To be honest and compassionate; to treat everyone with respect; to demonstrate integrity in all I do, and to live as independently as possible, as long as possible.”

A Free Press tweet about the cleverly written “application” has helped it go viral on social media around the world.

The original tweet, which included photos of parts of the obituary, at last count had been seen by more than 365,000 Twitter users. Newsweek, the New York Post and Daily Mail in the United Kingdom published stories about the obituary, as well as numerous other websites and blogs.

wfpremovefromapp:

 

I’ve seen people who have written their own obits and write funny ones, but Beatrice Fediuk is the 1st to put in a resume to get to Heaven. She has references, experience, volunteer work and she says if the Lord needs more you know where she is #RIP #wfp https://t.co/uVBMOnXEIb pic.twitter.com/45QQcMiGXX

— Kevin Rollason (@KevinRollason) February 20, 2022

 

:wfpremovefromapp

Samagalski, says she’s blown away by how the obituary, which she began crafting days before her mom died, has resonated with so many people.

“I wanted to do something that was unique,” said Samagalski on Tuesday. “But, at the same time, I wanted to hit on all the usual stuff people hit on in their obituaries.

“She was a wonderful lady, but of course, I’m biased.”

Some admirers and media outlets assumed it had been penned by Fediuk.

“Of course, she didn’t write the obituary. I don’t know why people would think a dead person would write it,” her daughter said.

Fediuk did have a couple of stipulations for how the write-up should be constructed.

“She was an organized person,” said her daughter. “She gave very detailed instructions about her funeral, but not much about the obituary. She did have two very strong criteria for it and nothing else. She wanted to make sure people knew about her volunteer work — that was important to her.

“She also didn’t want a photograph to go with it. She did not ever think she took a good photo and she was a teacher, so every year she had a photo. But she was very clear to me she didn’t want a photo of her in her 30s.”

Samagalski said she thought about using a years-old photo of her mother wearing a pair of Moose horns taken at the restaurant Montana’s… but then thought better of it.

“People looking for family information 30 years from now might come across that as her only published photo. I thought I better not.”

Samagalski said because the obituary went viral, many of her mom’s former students commented on it.

“It has been amazing,” she said. “I’m sure my mother will be laughing so hard. She had a good sense of humour.

“Writing her obituary was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I think I cried more writing it than I did at the funeral.”

“She wanted to make sure people knew about her volunteer work– that was important to her.” – Michelle Samagalski

Mary Juliete Beatrice Fediuk was born in Fannystelle on Oct. 22, 1927, to Alfred and Eugenie Hamel. The family already had six children and she was the baby. Hamel owned a grocery store in the town about 50 kilometres west of Winnipeg and also served as the area’s reeve.

Both her parents, and all of her siblings, predeceased Fediuk so, as the resume says, “They… are already with you in Heaven and can provide references for me.”

Samagalski said her mother’s older brother, who married later in life and didn’t have children, paid for his sister to study and board at St. Mary’s Academy in Winnipeg.

Fediuk received her teaching certificate at Normal School, and then taught in Swan Lake and Tyndall. That’s where she met John Fediuk — her husband of one day shy of 60 years — while she was a boarder at the family home of Evelyn Wawryshyn, who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and was later inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

Fediuk later taught in Winnipeg at Tuxedo, River Heights, Aberdeen and Sargent Park.

Then it was off to kindergarten at Earl Grey in the mornings and La Verendrye for the afternoon class.

Her obituary says: “Lord, you know that I never had any “teacher’s pets,” for gifted children already have a greater chance of success. Rather, I put my heart into teaching those with learning challenges, or difficult family situations. It was here that I feel I did my best work.”

Samagalski says her mom loved kindergarten.

“Kindergarten was her gig. And she loved teaching children in difficult situations. She once saw a child with bruises and she reported it to the principal but he didn’t take it further. She was devastated, but that was before there was mandatory reporting.”

Fediuk volunteered at her church, St. Ignatius Parish, as well as the Manitoba Music Festival and schools in Winnipeg and Texas. She knit scarves for underprivileged children and prayer shawls for the sick and dying.

Fediuk liked to clip out jokes and stories she saw in newspapers to put into a special envelope.

Wrapping up the resume, it says “Lord, I hope that you will find that I have met my objectives and deserve a place in your heavenly home.

“You know where to find me to further discuss my qualifications.”

Fediuk, who had lost her voice and mobility to a rare form of Parkinson’s disease, spent her final year at the Tuxedo Villa Personal Care Home and was diagnosed with cancer.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca