John Gulutzan

With family and friends by his side, John Gulutzan of Buchanan, SK, passed away at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre on January 28, 2026, at the age of 84 years.John was born on September 3, 1941, to Bill and Mary (nee Tomchyshyn) Gulutzan on the family farm located southwest of Buchanan in the RM of Good Lake. He was the youngest child and grew up on the farm attending school in Buchanan with his sisters, Sylvia and Anne. With a large extended family, John grew up with many cousins around and enjoyed many family gatherings.  In the spring of 1959, he left home at the age of 18 and ventured off to Southern Ontario, where he worked at a tobacco farm.  Shortly after, he moved to Toronto where he lived with four of his Buchanan/Rama area friends.  Remembering the two addresses at 401 Quebec Avenue and 603 Jane Street (where the group grew to 6 friends) was very important to Johnny.  He found employment working in a paper bag factory, a gas service station, and then with a taxi company and operated his own cab. During those years, he also briefly worked as a postal carrier and a parking lot attendant. He and his then life partner, Lil Wilston, operated a seasonal restaurant at Bobcaygeon on the Trent-Severn Waterway in east central Ontario for a few years and spent their winters in Florida entertaining friends there including Marie and Gary Kupchinski.  He also spent some time working with a dealership moving vehicles between Ontario and Buffalo, NY with his friend, Eugene Danylyshen. Over the years, he returned home for family occasions like birthdays, family reunions, and for both his parents’ funerals. After Lil’s passing, he met and lived in Toronto with Jeannette Morin until their retirement when they both decided to “go back home” and Jeanette returned to her roots in North Bay where she passed away a year later and Johnny moved back to Buchanan in June 2006 with the help of his friend, Ernie Philipiew.  Once in Buchanan, he reconnected with his family and renewed old friendships. He started his next stage of life living in the Buchanan Senior Housing Unit next to the one his mother had lived in and remained there until his passing. He worked odd jobs helping at Dean Sliva’s hunting lodge transporting hunters to and from the airports until he didn’t feel comfortable driving to the city anymore. He then hung out even more with Dean Wilson and the construction crews at the Buddwil and GW shop.  In Buchanan, Johnny participated as a volunteer in many activities with the Club 50, Community Centre, and the BBBP. His interests were in watching professional curling and baseball and he was an avid Toronto Blue Jays fan.  He also brought his love for the Montreal Allouettes football team from his Eastern life and just couldn’t ever see himself becoming a true Saskatchewan Roughrider fan.  Checking in on Judge Judy’s courtroom was also a daily practice!Johnny was taken to hospital on January 20 and was diagnosed with terminal cancer the next day. Having gone through cancer treatments with his first diagnosis a few years ago, he decided not to proceed with any further treatment this time. He was predeceased by his parents, Bill and Mary, his brothers-in-law , Bob Skibinsky and Ed Cherkowski, his life partners, Lil Wilston and Jeannette Morin, his niece-in-law, Noreen Skibinsky and close family friend, Rose Philipiew.He is survived by his sister, Sylvia Cherkowski and her children, Lori, Cheryl (Tim) and Clinton (Victoria), his sister, Anne Skibinsky and her sons, Dale and Darrell (Shelly), his great nieces and nephews and his best friend, Ernie Philipiew, and his Goddaughter, Denise (Philipiew) Campbell, as well as many cousins and good friends by whom he will be missed.In his honour, a Celebration of Life Service was held at 2:00 p.m., Friday, February 6, 2026, from the Chapel of Leson’s Funeral Home, Canora, SK, with Shawna Leson as certified celebrant. Interment followed in the Canora Cemetery, Canora, SK. Those wishing to make expressions of sympathy may make donations to the Club 50 – Buchanan, SK, as tokens of remembrance, in memory of John Gulutzan.