< MY HEART WILL GO ON >
    Jessica Lee Petruka was born December 31, 1990 at 8:45 P.M. in the Regina Pasqua Hospital to Patricia and Gordon Petruka of Ituna, Saskatchewan. She was a baby sister for brother Chris and sisters Andrea and Stacey. She was a happy baby who suddenly took ill on January 10, 1991 with what was later diagnosed as Congenital Heart Disease. Her heart had not totally finished growing and needed some reconstruction which was done in three stages; at age 13 days, second at age 11 months and final procedure at age 21/2 years at Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. She had a very slim chance of surviving her first surgery, and it was a battle that none of us will ever forget. She was a fighter! She not only survived, she grew up to be a very strong and independent young woman. We did try to pamper and protect her throughout her life, but we soon realized that she was running the show and would key us in when she needed protection.
    At the young age of 4 years, she informed us that she was too old to attend another year of playschool with the other “little kids” and that she wanted to go to the real school. Since her birthday fell at the end of the year, she was entitled to do so and she did! She continued to enjoy school right to her final day. She loved people and knowledge and absorbed in whatever she did.
    Jessica refused to be stopped by any hurdle, she overcame them all. The impossible ones just took her a little longer. She loved to be around her siblings on the farm having a hand in everything they would do, from animal chores to combining, it didn’t matter, she loved it all, and we all loved to be around her. She continued through life, jumping at the chance to do new things, but most of all she loved being a member of the 1st Ituna Scouts. Whether our group was large or small, it didn’t matter to her; if it was small she eagerly met new friends from everywhere. She loved camping, canoeing, the horse backing riding camp we attended in the B.C. mountains, our fishing trip to northern Saskatchewan this past summer, but most of all she loved Campanoe Challenge, held yearly at Good Spirit Lake. She lived for this event! She made friends from all over and after completing the 3 Year Program, she became a Challenge Leader and loved to work with the younger youth there and at the Cub Camp in Moose Jaw. She cherished all her scouting friends with a love so deep it could not be measured.
    Jessica loved school and had a very strong need for knowledge. Her desire to interact with people through debated and discussions made her mind grow to enormous depth. Her favorite debating partner was Ken Mushka, her Grade 12 English teacher. She loved the thought of a deep debate with him, and that probably explained her strong desire to attend university after graduation to become a high school English teacher. She also loved school activities that brought people together like school dances, and being a strong advocate of SADD, she became the school SADD president this year.
    She also loved to Ukrainian Dance. She loved her heritage and our community’s cultural background. Even though she got a late start because of her health, she danced with a deep passion, and this was her second senior year with the Ituna Klenovee Lystky Dance Group. Another deep love of hers was her computer; this she shared deeply with her dad Gordon. Together they could conquer any computer problems! She also loved to work and share her computer skills with Father Pat Murphy. They taught each other many tricks and tips in their computer world.
    Jessica was a strong member of the St. Stanislaus Parish. She loved to help organize events and did anything that was asked of her. She has been an alter server for the last 10 years and also a reader during mass, and has planned and organized our Christmas Pageant for the last two years. Our parish was very important to her.
    Jessica’s great love for new experiences, took us on a school trip to Italy this past spring. She was thrilled to see all the new places and people we encountered. The next great love in her life was getting her driver’s license. She was so happy she cried. She loved the independence it gave her. Jessica also has a deep love for animals, she loved them all, but most special in her heart was her dog, Lacey, our mini “wiener dog”. She loved her with all her heart and Lacey is missing Jessie very much. Her other loves were reading, skiing, swimming, music and of course the Road One parties, loving people as she did, that was where she gathered with all her friends.
    Jessica wasn’t in this world for very long, but she definitely left a deep mark on all of us. She was predeceased by her paternal grandparents Peter and Pauline Petruka and her maternal grandfather Joseph Kancz. She leaves to cherish her memory and mourn her passing, her loving parents Pat and Gordon Petruka, brother Chris Petruka (Leanne Eliasson) of Swan River Manitoba, sisters Andrea Petruka (Chris Daelick) of Saskatoon and Stacey Petruka (Tyler Moody) of Saskatoon, maternal grandmother Pat Kancz of Regina and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.