Antkiw Court

Named for Mary Antkiw

Antkiw Court is named in honor of Mary Antkiw, founding member’s Mia Stewart Cross’s grandmother. Mary was born in Tyrnopol, Ukraine, on Urkrainian New Year’s, January 14, 1900. It was believed that babies born on New Year’s Day would be very prosperous and so it was for Mary and her family. She married John Antkiw at the age of 15 and very soon after John went off to fight for the Russian army in the First World War. He was captured in Italy and spent five years as a prisoner of war. During this time, he was not permitted to communicate with his family and Mary was told by the villagers that he must be dead and that she should forget him and remarry. Mary never gave up hope for his safe return, and much to her amazement and joy, she saw John coming up the laneway after walking half-way across Europe to return to his wife and home. Mary and John’s first child was born in 1921 and the second in 1924. After the birth of their second daughter, John left for Canada to lay the foundations for a new life for his family. Mary stayed behind and looked after the children and their home for For 11 years. Mary joined her husband in Canada in 1937 after the farm John had set up in Simcoe, Ontario was paid for. With the advent of World War II, Mary and her children were on the last ship to leave Russia before the border was closed. They left with only the clothes on their backs and whatever they could carry. Mary believed that the land was wealth and more important than money. She would say, “If you have land, then you can plant seeds and have food and never go hungry. If you have land, you can always put shelter up to protect yourself from the weather and keep warm and dry. If you have land, you have a place for yourself and your family.” Mary’s pioneering spirit and her relationship with the land and her commitment to family is still today a tenet of ENF’s philosophy.