Rick Dondo's Family Tree
Family: Watowich, Stanley Norman "Stan" / Zarowski, Vera Nadia Lovey (F9044)
m. 2 Nov 1957
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Male
Watowich, Stanley Norman "Stan"
Birth 25 Oct 1928 Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA 
Death 10 Dec 2025 Sugar Land, Fort Bend, Texas, USA Burial Abt. Jun 2026 All Saints Cemetery, West Saint Paul, Selkirk Census Division, Manitoba, Canada Marriage 2 Nov 1957 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12] Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12] Type Spousal Father Watowich, Josef "Joseph" "Joe" | F2008 Group Sheet Mother Shmigelski, Maria "Mary" | F2008 Group Sheet
Female
Zarowski, Vera Nadia Lovey
Birth 20 Oct 1928 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Death 21 Oct 2012 Lakewood, Jefferson, Colorado, USA Burial Aft. 21 Oct 2012 All Saints Cemetery, West Saint Paul, Selkirk Census Division, Manitoba, Canada Father Zarowski, Iwan "John" | F8076 Group Sheet Mother Szewczuk, Anna "Ann" "Annie" | F8076 Group Sheet
Female
+ Watowich, J.F. PhD
Birth Death Burial Spouse Kittrell, T. | F2638 Marriage Spouse Meeks, Lyndon Lee | F3814 Marriage Spouse Koch, Tom | F7069 Marriage
Male
+ Watowich, M.V.T.
Birth Death Burial Spouse Stubbs-Sanchez, T.L. | F7302 Marriage Spouse Lockhart, D.M. | F3719 Marriage Spouse Patton, B.J. | F3808 Marriage
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Notes Married:
- In the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, 965 Boyd Avenue
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Sources - [S1509984359] Ancestry.com, U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-2016, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Call Number not provided.
A contributor has cited material deemed to be pertinent to this story.
It is described as "Publication Date: 11/ Nov/ 2012; Publication Place: USA". - [S1509984359] Ancestry.com, U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-2016, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Call Number not provided.
As noted on the Ancestry.com service in this Records Collection item
It is described as "Publication Date: 11/ Nov/ 2012; Publication Place: USA". - [S1509984359] Ancestry.com, U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-2016, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Call Number not provided.
A contributor has cited material deemed to be pertinent to this story.
It is described as "Publication Place: USA; Web edition: http://www.cropo.com/book-of-memories/1389897/WATOWICH-VERA-N-L/obituary.php". - [S1509984359] Ancestry.com, U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-2016, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Call Number not provided.
As noted on the Ancestry.com service in this Records Collection item
It is described as "Publication Place: USA; Web edition: http://www.cropo.com/book-of-memories/1389897/WATOWICH-VERA-N-L/obituary.php". - [S1510757169] Ancestry.com, U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-2017, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Call Number not provided.
A contributor has cited material deemed to be pertinent to this story.
It is described as "Publication Date: 10/ 25/ 2012; Publication Place: Denver, Colorado, USA; Web edition: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/denverpost/obituary.aspx?n=vera-watowich&pid=160639627". - [S1510757169] Ancestry.com, U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-2017, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Call Number not provided.
As noted on the Ancestry.com service in this Records Collection item
It is described as "Publication Date: 10/ 25/ 2012; Publication Place: Denver, Colorado, USA; Web edition: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/denverpost/obituary.aspx?n=vera-watowich&pid=160639627". - [S1563291627] Winnipeg Free Press, 000[SD-Web]: Passages Service of the Winnipeg Free Press, (Winnipeg Free Press
Located in: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), N/A.
A contributor has cited material deemed to be pertinent to this story.
It is described as "id-338876".
It was described specifically or transcribed by them as "STANLEY NORMAN WATOWICH, Born: Oct 25, 1928, Date of Passing: Dec 10, 2025; On Wednesday, December 10, 2025, Stan passed away quietly and peacefully at his daughter Anna-Maria’s house in Sugar Land, Texas. Stan was 97 years adventurous. In 2012, hi".s wife of 55 years, Vera (nee Zarowski), preceded him on their next adventure.
Stan was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1928 to Joseph and Mary Watowich (nee Shmigelski), first generation Ukrainian immigrants. Stan grew up on his grandfather Zachary’s farm in Komarno, Manitoba, where he learned his disciplined work ethic. Stan and his parents moved to Winnipeg when he was eight, where he attended public school and eventually went on to the University of Manitoba earning his B.S. in Geology in 1953 and his M.S. in Geology in 1956. After university, his geologic work and adventurous nature took him to Mozambique and Burundi in Africa and across Canada. His expertise covered petroleum, copper, nickel, silver, gold and other metal mining. During his career, he worked for Falconbridge Mines, AMAX, Canadian Gulf Oil, and Goldfields Mining. He earned his Professional Engineer certification in both Ontario and Minnesota.
He married Vera in 1957 and immediately they began their family moves to various job locations in the Dominican Republic, northern Ontario twice, Nicaragua and northern Quebec. The family then moved to the United States in 1974 where he obtained his permanent US resident visa, while remaining a Canadian citizen. He lived in Minnesota, Arizona, and Colorado where he retired from Goldfields Mining in 1995. One of Stan’s crowning professional achievements was the development of Goldfields’ Mesquite Gold Mine in southern California. He was instrumental in the exploration, surveying, signing of land contracts, and managing the environmental studies to bring the mine to production. The mine, still in operation since 1986, has produced more than five million ounces of gold. After 32 years in Colorado, he moved to Texas in 2021 to be near a daughter and two sons.
Our dad loved the great outdoors and taking road trips. He was the first to jump in the car or agree to a trip, destination known or unknown. He was an accomplished canoer, runner, hiker (hiking “14ers” in Colorado well into his 80s), and an avid rock collector – never missing an opportunity to find an anomaly and enlighten us with how it came into existence. Dad loved fitness. At university, he was on the football, rugby, wrestling, track and field, and hockey teams. He was an alternate to the 1952 Canadian Olympic Wrestling team and held the U of M shot put record for almost 30 years. Quite impressive feats. He competed in numerous marathons, 10Ks, and 5Ks. He enjoyed running up and down Green Mountain in Lakewood, Colorado. He coached our lacrosse and hockey teams while we were growing up and spent countless hours driving us to hockey games and figure skating competitions, never missing an event. He extended his passion for life to his grandchildren, always including them in his activities and supporting them in theirs. He enjoyed tackling his own home improvement projects, such as his decorative concrete patios in Babbitt and Denver. Along with our mom, he was active in the Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian-Catholic Church in Denver, Colorado for many years.
He was involved in all our endeavours, be it sports, personal, weddings, graduations or family reunions. He leaves behind three daughters: Anna-Maria Weston (John) of Texas, Jean Meeks-Koch (Tom) of South Carolina, Bernadette Watowich-Stead (Chris) of Colorado; three sons: Stan (Stephanie) of Texas, Mark (Betty) of Oklahoma, and Greg (Chardee) of Texas; two nieces: Lynn Kulbaba (John) of Manitoba and Cathy Bowman (Dave) of Manitoba; and 18 loving grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.
He was a loving, practicing Catholic, an exemplary human being and the best father any of us could have wished for. A celebration of his life and achievements was held in Winnipeg in June 2026 and interment followed at All Saints Cemetery.
-- As published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 26, 2026
Reported as having been published or sourced on or about 2026/09/26.
The information was at the time and may yet be available here, on an Internet service,
access to which may or may not also be subject to a subscription.
- [S1584398094] FamilySearch, 000[SD-Web]: FamilySearch, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).
A contributor has cited material deemed to be pertinent to this story.
It is described as "PN31-DWZ".
The contributor provided no additional descriptive information.
Reported as having been published or sourced on or about 2026/09/26.
The information was at the time and may yet be available here, on an Internet service,
access to which may or may not also be subject to a subscription.
- [S1563291627] Winnipeg Free Press, 000[SD-Web]: Passages Service of the Winnipeg Free Press, (Winnipeg Free Press
Located in: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), N/A.
A contributor has cited material deemed to be pertinent to this story.
It is described as "id-196219".
The contributor provided no additional descriptive information.
Reported as having been published or sourced on or about 2026/09/26.
The information was at the time and may yet be available here, on an Internet service,
access to which may or may not also be subject to a subscription.
- [S1584398094] FamilySearch, 000[SD-Web]: FamilySearch, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).
A contributor has cited material deemed to be pertinent to this story.
It is described as "PN31-1QK".
The contributor provided no additional descriptive information.
Reported as having been published or sourced on or about 2026/09/26.
The information was at the time and may yet be available here, on an Internet service,
access to which may or may not also be subject to a subscription.
- [S0000300005] Various, 000[SD-Own]: Media items collected on Ancestry® family trees: Images of documents, (Various).
Your host has graciously offered an image file identified as a document
with a title of "Shmigelski Family Information",
and has reported details about it as follows:
Described as: Obtained from Anna-Maria Weston nee Watowich during the family visit to Winnipeg on this date.
NOTE: The above description may be truncated / shortened from the original
Presented as pertaining to An unknown location on 19 Oct 2017
The pertinent institution was not identified
Though there may be such, no people have been identified by the contributor as having been mentioned in the document
Media / Image (jpg - [jpeg]; image - document])
File size: 7292616 bytes; Image size (pixels): 3765 wide by 4069 high
Available for download with an active subscription on your host's Ancestry tree.
Ancestry record number reported as: N/A
- [S0000300007] Various, 000[SD-Own]: Media items collected on Ancestry® family trees: Stories in files, (Various).
Your host has offered a data file identified as containing a story
with a title of "VERA WATOWICH Obituary",
and has reported details about it as follows:
Described as: Winnipeg Free Press Passages
NOTE: The above description may be truncated / shortened from the original
Reported as pertaining to Lakewood, Colorado, USA, on 21 OCT 2012
File details: [pdf - pdf; story - story]
File size: 159868 bytes; Image size (pixels): 0 wide by 0 high
Available for download with an active subscription on your host's Ancestry tree.
Ancestry record number reported as: N/A
- [S1509984359] Ancestry.com, U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-2016, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Call Number not provided.