Obituary of Yara Sirko-Goddard

After a short but courageous battle with cancer, Marta Yaroslava "Yara" Sirko-Goddard passed away with family by her side on Monday, October 26, 2020.

She was born in Montreal and raised in Ottawa. She attended the University of Guelph and worked at the McLaughlin Library after graduation.

She will be sadly missed by her husband of 42 years, Ed, her daughters Lisa Grubb (Simon) and Andrea Goddard.

Predeceased by parents, Hlib and Nadia and survived by her sister Ariana of Winnipeg. The legacy that Yara leaves behind is the precious time she spent in caring for her grandchildren while her daughters returned to their teaching jobs after their maternity leaves. Paisley (10), Rita (9), Isaac (7) and Nora (4) will cherish the nurturing that she provided before they began attending school.

Yara’s passion was knitting; she made hundreds of sweaters, scarfs and mitts for family and friends. This interest evolved into a full-time job at Cloth and Clay, a knitting store in Uptown Waterloo. Her last project was a collection of chemo caps she made for her treatments at the Cancer Centre. 

Cremation has taken place and a private family funeral service at the Ukrainian Catholic Church of The Transfiguration is scheduled.

Special thanks are extended to nurse Sarah and Tijana on the fifth floor at Grand River Hospital. Condolences for the family and memorial donations to the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre (through the Grand River Hospital Foundation) may be arranged by contacting the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St. S., Waterloo at www.erbgood.com or 519-745-8445.