by Leanne Smoliak
Family history has a way of calling us back to our origins, doesn’t it? Especially as time passes and our curiosity about previous generations grows deeper.
The Smoliak family. From left aunt Sylvia, uncle Andy, Brad Smoliak, aunt Shirley.
How did our families end up where they did? What drew them to the quiet corners of Alberta? What stories, lost or remembered, shape the lives we now lead?
Brad’s DNA kit revealed unwavering Ukrainian heritage. Maternal roots from East Slavic tribes and paternal Armenian, Balkan and Greek traders’ migration merged in the Ukrainian homeland, until emigration to Canada.
But the tests cannot answer the more personal mysteries: why our people chose these particular paths, or what inspired them to settle in small-town Alberta.
For those, we rely on memory, stories and the living links to our past.
We resolved to capture the Smoliak family history before it’s lost. Brad’s father, Nick, passed nearly 25 years ago. In those days we lived facing forward, never thinking to ask the questions that now feel so vital. And it’s not the only family stories we want to know (I’m fortunate: my own mother, brilliant and wise, is assembling an album chronicling my father’s family, and she’s already shared much about her own lineage. Brad’s mother, Pat, has recounted aspects of her Ferbey heritage, including a road trip to the Crowsnest Pass. But we want to know more, while she is still this high-spirited woman I call my mother-in-law.)
As for the Smoliaks, the knowledge keeper is Uncle Andy—a sharp-witted 89-year-old who now lives in Campbell River, BC.
Andy joined us for an Alberta road trip this summer, to help fill in the blank pages of the Smoliak story.
Our Smo family journey began on a perfect July morning. First to Vegreville, then, east to Musidora, a near-forgotten town, its heyday long passed. Next up was Beauvallon, where the family story began to gain some traction. Andy and his young wife Sylvia operated the local hotel and tavern there—a lively place marked by the occasional dust-up spilling onto the streets.
Life was vibrant, even if the town itself has since slipped into quiet decline, a reminder that even prosperous farmland cannot always keep rural communities afloat.
We wound through the rolling hills toward Myrnam, a place dense with memory and beauty. I’d always considered the Cowboy Trail the scenic jewel of Alberta, but this landscape—awash with golden canola, lush barley, wheat, hay and corn—was utterly gorgeous, displaying the promise of a bountiful harvest.
As we drove, Andy continued his tales from another era: of the Smoliak family’s two farm parcels, the hardships of the 1930s and ’40s, the long, punishing days he and Nick spent picking rocks from the soil, their hands blistered and raw under the relentless sun. Lunches were simple bowls of soup. Gido—their father—was a stern, stoic figure who gave little thanks for their hard work. It was Baba, their mother, who was the warmth and kindness of the household.
The family grew: a baby brother, Orest, arrived, then, years after the farm was left behind, a sister, Shirley. Andy reminisced about Nick’s baseball prowess on the now overgrown field where he played, and he showed us the house where his beloved wife Sylvia—his partner for over sixty years—had lived. We passed the two farmland plots Gido sold, now ablaze with blooming canola. Andy and Nick had once dreamt of farming the land themselves.
Perhaps the most moving moment was when we visited the great Baba’s former home. Tiny, and miraculously, it still stood, lovingly restored. When Aunt Shirley approached for a closer look, a generous stranger invited us all inside. The memories flowed as Shirley described holiday gatherings, when over thirty family members somehow squeezed into the cramped space, feasting on traditional dishes—holubtsi, nalysnyky, pyrizhky, varenyky and every manner of roast—prepared by skilled hands in the smallest of kitchens.
Food, always at the heart of Ukrainian family life, bridges generations. Brad, having learned to cook at his Baba’s knee continues this legacy. He’s passing these recipes to our son Nick, who shares Ukrainian flavours with friends and family in far-off Glasgow.
No rural Alberta visit is complete without a stop at the cemetery and the local diner.
We traced the names of ancestors on the graveyard’s stones—Brad’s infant uncle, Ralph Nestor, whose short life is memorialized among other lost children, and soldiers from both World Wars. Many Smoliaks rest here, including Brad’s Gido, whose presence in Brad’s life was distant, while Baba’s love and culinary gifts left a lasting legacy .
Lunch at the Myrnam Diner was a treat. While Ukrainian fare was on offer, we opted for classic diner food. My clubhouse sandwich was heaped with cheese, ham, bacon, turkey, crispy lettuce and ripe tomatoes—I’d return for that sandwich alone. The others savoured juicy burgers, and we all devoured true lemon meringue pie for dessert.
Andy’s stories continued to keep us company on the way home.
The Smoliak family came to Alberta with the first wave of Ukrainian immigrants in 1898 seeking relief from hardship and for the opportunity of homestead land—160 acres for just $10. Ukrainians proved well-suited to the rugged prairie, and the area northeast of Edmonton became the world’s largest Ukrainian farming community outside of Ukraine.
I feel immense pride in having married into this heritage. I cherish the traditions of the Smos and treasure their warmth and hospitality. I’m grateful that, through stories, food and memories, we can keep the family spirit alive for generations to come.
Kapusnyak (Sauerkraut Soup)
Ham Broth
| 1 | smoked pork hock or ham bone |
| 6 c | cold water |
| 2 | bay leaves |
| 6 | peppercorns |
| I lg | carrot, rough chopped |
| 1 rib | celery, rough chopped |
Simmer all ingredients for 2 hours, cool slightly and strain. Reserve stock and remove hock or ham bone from the strained ingredients. Pull meat off the bone and chop into ½ inch pieces. Discard leftovers.
Sauerkraut Soup
| 3 T | sunflower oil |
| 1 med | onion, chopped medium |
| 1 clove | garlic, smashed |
| 1 rib | celery, chopped medium |
| 4 med | or 3 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into ½” cubes |
| 3 c | well drained sauerkraut, rinse if very sour |
| reserved chopped meat | |
| reserved broth | |
| 2 c | water |
| salt and coarse ground pepper | |
| sour cream | |
| chopped fresh dill |
In large soup pot heat sunflower oil and sauté all vegetables except potatoes until onions are translucent. Add broth, potatoes, reserved ham and sauerkraut and simmer until potatoes are fork tender. If the soup is too thick add water to your desired consistency.
Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as desired. Serve with sour cream and fresh dill.
Serves 4-6.