In Memory of

Alex Kora Jr.

February 1, 1948 – January 2, 2019

The family of Alex Kora, Jr. wish to announce that their brother passed away peacefully at the Herb Bassett Home in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan on January 2, 2019. 

Our parents as children emigrated from Hungary with their parents and grew up in the Spiritwood area. Mom and Dad met in school and eventually were married on February 1, 1947.  Dad already had a down payment on land near Spiritwood and they needed to raise money to pay it off.  To do so, they spent several years in Ontario at Dad’s sister and brother-in-law’s place. There they worked in the tobacco fields, planting, priming and picking tobacco.  It was in Simcoe, Ontario, that son Alex arrived in the world on the occasion of Mom and Dad’s first wedding anniversary! A year later, and since Mom and Dad were still working in Ontario, sister Violet was born in Woodstock. Several years after that, and after Mom and Dad returned to Saskatchewan, sister Pearl was born, and this completed the family.

While the large majority of the Kora siblings moved to Ontario (Dad was one of five children), it was only Dad and our family that stayed in Saskatchewan.  However, we were fortunate that Mom’s side of the family (Horvath’s) were numerous and stayed in Saskatchewan, all around the Spiritwood area.  In fact, there was a strong contingent of Hungarians in the Spiritwood area at that time, and visiting, playing cards, and getting together for special occasions was a common activity.

The children grew up on the family farm just a few miles south of Spiritwood.  Mom worked along side of Dad on their mixed farm. In the very early years, horses were used to work the land. A small Ford tractor was eventually bought when money was available. A box was put on the back of the tractor that Alex and Violet were put into so Mom could help Dad on the land. Mom said we were really excited about going out with her, but the novelty quickly wore off.

The children were always around animals and Alex had a particular fondness for dogs.  In fact when the family dog had puppies, both he and Violet were able to pick a puppy to raise.  Alex tended to be a daredevil in his younger years.  He would build ramps and ride his bike over them.  This did not always have good results, and in fact he broke Violet’s bike while doing this. 

Alex had a strong affinity for language.  All the children were around Hungarian people and it was also spoken in the home, so they were all able to converse in the language.  In fact, it was the first language they learned before attending school at Spiritwood Public School.  However of the three of us, Alex was the one that retained his ability to speak Hungarian, and speak it well, throughout his entire life.  Although overall, Alex would not have been considered a star pupil in school, he was really very good with numbers, and his memory of birthdays was also very good.

As a young man, Alex tried his hand at farming, but found it wasn’t the occupation for him.  He then went to work in road construction, being employed at one time with Star Blacktop.  Unfortunately, he suffered a debilitating and disfiguring injury while working in the construction industry.  This essentially ended his working career, and the injuries would affect him for the remainder of his life.

In later years, he loved to tinker with his hands.  He would salvage broken items to fix, and would sell them for extra money.  He didn’t like to see usable items thrown in the trash when there was still a lot of life left in them.  Whether it was a toaster, lamp, or bicycle, Alex would be working on it to get it back to a productive life.

Alex never married.  While he did live for a few years in Prince Albert, the majority of his time was spent in Saskatoon,  He first entered a care home within the past 10 years and was in Wakaw and St. Louis before finally settling in Prince Albert.  He spent some time in Pineview Terrace before moving to Herb Bassett Home, where he remained until his passing.

The family sincerely thanks the staff at all the care homes he was in, and particularly Herb Bassett Home, for their excellent care of Alex in his final years.

Alex is survived by sisters Violet Akers (Dave) and Pearl Kora (Terry Caudle).  He is also survived by Violet’s children: Darren Vallee (Heather) along with their three children; and Tammy Vallee (Dave Sinclair) along with her three children.  Other family members include great-nieces and great-nephews, and numerous cousins.

Alex was predeceased by his parents, Alex (2013) and Magdolene (2018) Kora, along with maternal grandparents, Steve and Margaret Horvath, and paternal grandparents, Josef and Rosa Kora.  Other family members predeceasing Alex include numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

A graveside service will be held for Alex on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. in the Spiritwood Cemetery.

Those wishing to make a donation in memory of Alex may do so to any location of the SPCA, or to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Family and friends wishing to send private online condolences are welcome to visit www.beaulacfuneralhome.com.  Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Beau “Lac” Funeral Home, Mark Muir Funeral Director, Spiritwood, SK (306-883-3500).

• Date : 2019-01-02
• Location : Prince Albert, SK