It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Wayne Zaharia at the age of 76, with his family by his side.

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He was predeceased by his parents, Elsie and Bill. Mourning his loss are his loving wife of 52 years, Mary; sons Kevin (Jan) and Ryan (Deanna), daughter Dayna (Bruce); and grandchildren, Jayden, Ashlyn, Addison, Hudson, Kieran, and Kaius; his brother Brian (Linda), sister Linda, kid sister Lisa (Kevin); and nieces and nephews; lifetime friend Allen (Linette). He also leaves behind many friends and extended family.

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Wayne met the love of his life, Mary Demidiuk, in 1960. They dated for four years before he proposed in December of 1964. They were married June 19th, 1965. They celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary this past June with a quiet and intimate dinner at 529. After a few years of marriage they started their family with the birth of their first son Kevin on July 6, 1968. They added to their family on October 30, 1971 with the birth of their daughter Dayna. They celebrated the birth of their third and last child, Ryan, on October 19, 1974.

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In the early years of family life, Wayne enjoyed camping with other family members and close friends, as well as taking holidays across the border. During this time he was quite the handyman, fixing up and building things around the house. He was also interested in the hobby of wood working and would often escape to his garage -- built by him and his sons -- to work on his wood projects. As he and his family grew older he used these building skills to help with his grown childrens’ house projects always overseeing and making sure they were doing things “right”.

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Wayne could always be counted on to chauffeur his children and their friends to various places in their teenage years and that continued in these later years as he would pick up his grandchildren and take them to their various activities in his beloved red Cadillac that he cherished. He was very involved with the community when his own children were young and was always in attendance for their activities. He continued this tradition by being involved in his grandchildren’s lives and being there for special occasions and activities whether it was concert performance or a sporting activity. His cheering voice at hockey games will be greatly missed and his yelling at the refs for the wrongdoings against his grandchildren’s team. We are sure he will continue to cheer on all the kids and their interests from where he is now.

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Wayne started working in his teenage years during the summer on the highways with his grandfather. At the age of 20 he began his career at CN Rail where he formed many friendships with colleagues and kept these friendships throughout the remainder of his life. At CN he started out as a secretary on a business car. He worked hard, earning him many promotions within the company. After a short while he began working in sales for CN and finished his career as a District Marketing Officer for the company. He retired from CN in 1995 but continued to do volunteer work for the CN Pensioners Association until this past fall. He was determined to increase the membership of the association to ensure a strong pension for CN employees. He successfully gained numerous memberships during this time.

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Wayne had a great sense of humour and enjoyed cracking jokes with family and friends which often included sarcasm. He was always available to family and friends to give advice and lend a helping hand as needed.

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Flowers are gratefully declined, donations can be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

As per Wayne’s wishes, cremation has taken place. There will be no service, only a private family gathering.