Whitney Pier, NS
July 30, 1940 - January 20, 2024
It is with great sadness that we, the family of Michael Joseph Morykot, announce his passing at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital surrounded by his family in the early evening on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
Born in Sydney on July 30, 1940, Mike was the son of the late John and Mary (Mrazek) Morykot. He grew up on Kitchener Street in Whitney Pier.
Dad was a devoted husband, father and grandfather during all the days of his life. He was very proud of us all. He will be dearly missed.
Dad loved music and took accordion lessons at a very young. We have beautiful memories of him pulling his accordion out only at Christmas and Easter. He could always play a polka anytime he was asked.
Dad didn’t have one career in his lifetime, he had two. He was an employee of the Sydney Steel Corporation for 33 years. In 2002, he became a Security Guard with Maritect and then Palladin Security for a combination of 19 years. Many of these years were spent at the Port of Sydney greeting the crew ship passengers and then at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital greeting people and doing patient watch shifts for families in need. He felt very honored to play this role in people’s lives. He once said, “I know when people are born, and I know when people die.” He treasured the friendships made over the years in both professions.
Mike was also a baseball player for 30 years and a bowler for 50 years where he won many awards and trophies. Up until he passed, he told the doctors, nurses and Emergency Health Service attendants that he felt he was in pretty good shape because he was an athlete for so many years.
Dad also loved the outdoors. He spent many of his years at the bungalow on Horne’s Road just down from his mother’s home and his grandfather’s sawmill. “We’re going out the country” were the words we heard as kids on a hot summer’s day. Dad grew up there, he raised his family there in the summers and as an avid gardener, he had a vegetable garden there up until this summer when he found out he was ill. If he wasn’t there in the woods, he was up the mountain at his brother’s cottage hunting with a group of their friends or clearing the trees with our uncle.
After he retired the second time, he focused on his family, on his gardens in the summer, gathering and cutting wood for his furnace in the fall and bingo 3-4 times a week with his bingo buddies while they played Tarbish two hours before it started.
A huge part of Dad’s service work was being a brother of the Knights of Columbus for 61 years with Council 1060 Sydney and recently a new member of the Sydney River Council 9476. As a fourth-degree knight, he was a part of fundraising with the spaghetti dinners, he bowled and played hockey with the KOC and was a very active member with a number of projects that the KOC initiated during his time. The St. Joseph’s Men’s Club was also a fundraising venture that he sold tickets for. If you saw him in the bowling alley during his bowling nights, he would usually hit you up to buy a ticket for one of these causes.
Mike was a dedicated Catholic, a member of a number of churches over the years including St. Mary’s Polish Church in Whitney Pier and a Knights of Columbus volunteer with Mass for Shut-ins for 61 years. He was the oldest original surviving member of Mass for Shut-ins until his passing and received recognition for his years of dedicated service. “Since its first broadcast in March 1963, this television ministry of our diocese has provided faithful service to its viewers who now tune in from locations across Canada.”
Mike is survived by his wife, Juanita (Campbell) Morykot; daughters, Maura Lea Morykot (Jamie Foulds) and Tracy (Terrance Smith); grandchildren, Aidan, Kyra, Dylon and Cole; sister, Linda Morykot (Con Banfield); brother, John (Deannie), and his many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his uncle, Joe Mrazek and numerous cousins on the Mrazek side of his family that he has had cherished times with during his younger years and during a few family reunions in Mira.
Along with his parents, he is predeceased by his in-laws, Sarah and Maurice Campbell; a number of aunts and uncles, and his niece Raylene Morykot.
Special thank you to all the doctors who provided care, especially Dr. French, Dr. Morash, Dr. Lucas, Dr. Poulus, Dr. D’Intino, Dr. Journeau, and Dr. Burns. Also, a huge thank you to all of the VON nurses and Palliative Care nurses who took amazing care of our father and surrounded him with care and compassion while he was in the last days of his life.
In lieu of flowers, please know that your expressions of friendship mean more than material gifts. If desired, and if you wish to consider a small monetary contribution to assist the family with expenses incurred near the end of Mike’s life, an e-transfer can be sent to jmorykot@gmail.com
Visitation for the late Michael Morykot will be held at the Pier Community Funeral Home, Whitney Pier, 1092 Victoria Rd. (entrance on Church Street) on Sunday, January 28, 2024, from 2-4 and 7-9 pm. Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, January 29, 2024, at 11 a.m. in St. Mary’s Polish Church, 21 Wesley Street, Sydney, with Father Bedford Doucette officiating with a reception to follow. Interment will take place Resurrection Cemetery, Sydney Forks.
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