A community is grieving after a devastating accident claimed the lives of Tetiana and Veronika Rudei on Friday, June 27.
Daryna Malyukh, a southeast Manitoba resident who shares a bond with the family through their shared Ukrainian roots, says the loss is deeply felt by many.
“It's such hard and devastating news for our community and especially for our newcomer community. Roman’s family came two years ago here to Canada, escaping war, and this tragic accident happened, so it's very hard on all of us.”
Malyukh says it’s been moving to witness the support for Roman, Tetiana’s husband and Veronika’s father.
“For me, it's heartwarming that Roman is not alone, and that he's surrounded by his lovely community at St. Labre. And I also want to add that I'm so appreciative for Josh Verhoog, Roman’s boss, who is with the community, supporting and taking care of Roman and giving so much.”
Josh Verhoog of Moonshadow Holsteins says the family moved to Canada in August 2023, where they began working on his farm.
“Roman is family,” he says. “The staff on the farm here is about 46 people, and almost everybody knew the family. A lot of people would go visit with them on the weekends. They're just this beautiful family, always big smiles on their faces. They really just lifted up everyone around them.”
The St. Labre community has been rallying around the family in every way they can.
“People have always been coming over to visit and dropping off food, and some people dropped gift cards, and everybody just is pretty crushed around here. It's a very tragic loss. It's really hard to imagine just from the outside, and we only have to live it from the outside,” Verhoog says.
A funeral service was held on Wednesday at the farm, with Verhoog’s brother travelling from Saskatchewan to officiate.
“My brother Matt is a preacher, and he's out in Saskatchewan currently. And I called him and let him know and asked him if he'd be willing to come to do the funeral because everything is moving rather quickly.”
The service was held in traditional Ukrainian Orthodox style, and women from the community came together to organize and prepare the meal.
“We tried to make everything as close to how they would have done it back in Ukraine. They're going through a lot, and they have very different customs than other places. And so, you're trying to just make something feel familiar.”
Malyukh says that effort meant a great deal.
“I want to say thank you to St. Labre community for an amazing reception that they organized after the funeral. Such delicious food was there, pierogies and different kinds of Ukrainian salads. It really felt like home.”
Verhoog says the next priority is helping Roman secure permanent residency in Canada.
“His goal is to stay here in Canada with his family, like they had dreamed to do all together. And so, we're doing everything we can to support them, to try to help them reach those goals so he can stay here where now his wife and his daughter are both buried here in St. Labre.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help cover funeral expenses and immediate living costs for Roman and his children.
With files from Adi Loewen