The family would like to announce the passing of Adolph Rasevych at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre on January 22, 2015 at the age of 76. He is survived by his wife Judy Rasevych (Dore) with whom he would have celebrated a 51st wedding anniversary on January 25. The couple had been together since 1962 when they resided as youths in the Town of Longlac, and they married in 1964.
Dearest father of Linda Dichomeit (Mark), Peter, Anthony, Jason (Misty), Kirsten Rasevych (Cheyenne), and Jonathan. He is survived by his beloved grandchildren Max (15) and Megan (13), Anawtyn (11), Nathaniel (11), Lacey (10) and Kane (7). He is survived by his brothers and sisters: Alfred, Tony, and Nancy.
Adolph Rasevych began his life in Peterbell, Ontario (near Hornepayne). His mother Emma Rasevych (Pootoosh) was a Cree person from the James Bay region, where she met Ukrainian immigrant Peter Rasevych who was a CN Rail employee. The couple resided in Peterbell but then relocated to Longlac where Adolph attended Marjorie Mills Public School before graduating from Geraldton Composite High School in the late 1950’s.
Adolph Rasevych was a CN Rail employee in Longlac from the time he was 16 years old (1954). He began performing freight and baggage, was promoted to eventually to dispatch eventually. By the early 1960’s was stationed in various locations outside of Longlac including Armstrong, Hillsport, and even Toronto. He married Judy Dore in 1964 and the couple left Longlac as a result of his employment with CN Rail to reside in Capreol, Sudbury, Toronto, North Bay, Moncton, Pembroke and finally Montreal. The family relocated to Toronto in 1978 and then back to Montreal in 1986.
During the 1970’s and 80’s while living in Montreal and Toronto, Adolph was promoted to the CN Rail Regional Transportation Department and performed duties and responsibilities as a member of senior staff as a System Design Officer for regional engineering officers in managing their annual rail program and expenditures. He started a video project in 1980 that looked at CN Rail mainline trackage from Capreol to Armstrong, which is now utilized in a much wider capacity than originally planned.
While living in Montreal in the 1980’s, Adolph was also an accomplished marathon runner, being able to run the even in just over 3.5 hours or even less. He participated in long-distance running events from Prince Edward Island to Montreal, to Kamloops.
In 1986, as a result of the passing of Bill C-31, Adolph and all of his children attained Certificate of Indian Status due to the fact that his mother (Emma) had been enfranchised when she married his father. In the next decade he then transferred his band membership from Brunswick House First Nation (near Chapleau) to Ginoogaming First Nation, in anticipation of what was to follow (his return home to Longlac).
Adolph retired from the CN Rail in 1993 as a senior executive residing in Montreal. As he considered his retirement options, the Oka Crisis of 1990 influenced his decision making process. Following the events at Kahnawake and Kanehsatake, supporting these communities in their actions, and living in Montreal through the 1990 events ignited his drive to assist First Nations in Ontario in their pursuit of equality and community development as well as settlement of land negotiations and grievances.
As a result, Adolph relocated his family back to Longlac. He commenced a second career as Ginoogaming First Nation Economic Development Officer, a position he held to the present time in senior advisor capacity. He worked closely with Chief Gabriel Echum to pursue several legal battles for the community (1998 Ontario Hydro Settlement, Timber Claim Trust process). The community developed at a rapid pace when a groundbreaking agreement with Long Lake Forest Products was reached in 1993 whereby 80% First Nations employment rate was enjoyed. He also secured funding and designed the innovative Aboriginal Workforce Development & Maintenance Program, which assisted in the training of life skills for mill employees with job retention, life skills coaching, and personal counselling components.
Adolph also laid the groundwork for the Making Ground River Development Corporation (1999), as well as the Rocky Shore Development Corporation (2009), which both won Nishnawbe-Aski Development Fund (NADF) awards for First Nation Corporation of the Year. A trucking company, a gaming facility, a restaurant, community taxi, and other contracts were managed by the corporation.
Adolph always believed in providing the First Nation youth with recreational opportunities by fundraising through the community gaming operations that support the community members’ participation in the annual Ginoogaming First Nation Winterhawks hockey team tournaments. He also gave people a chance to gain employment at a young age through work in the community bingo hall and was known for his smile, jokes and his baking at the canteen.
Adolph grew up in Longlac as a hunter, fisher, and trapper all his childhood and youth years. As an adult, he continued this lifestyle in the 1970’s and 80’s through summer and winter visits to a family trapline area in Arms (near Caramat). He was a renowned marksman for moose hunting, at times donating entire moose to community feasts or gatherings. He never utilized a scope on any rifle, and could take moose from far distances across lakes with his .303 British which he used his entire life.
Adolph pursued traditional Anishnawbe trapping activities every season and passed on his knowledge of the land to family and friends or whoever would go out to the bush with him. Trapping became a year-round lifestyle for him and his children and grandchildren. He was successful in a legal dispute with the OMNR over construction of a trapline cabin on the family’s traditional territory. The David vs Goliath battle that he won helped to highlight and protect First Nation individual constitutional Aboriginal and treaty rights. He was very proud of his cabin and his trapping, and he spent much of his leisure time paddling the lakes and hiking the trails on the family’s territory.
Adolph Rasevych loved his family, and supported them in any way that he could. He was always there for his six children and his six grandchildren. He extended this caring to his community work as a “man of the people.” He was a people-person who wanted to be around people to help them in any way that he could. He functioned as Ginoogaming First Nation Powwow Coordinator in the 1990’s, operating not only the community’s annual celebration but also planning Elders instruction for spiritual activities such as sweat lodges and shaking tent ceremonies as well as Elder’s workshops.
Adolph was a very excitable person who was entertaining to be around. He had a keen sense of humour and could always cheer others up with his jokes. He was known for his playful antics. He was also known for his love to cook. He made excellent stir-fry, soups, pancakes, banana bread and muffins, barbecued steaks, stew and dumplings, cabbage rolls, borscht, perogies, pies, cakes, moose meat, and bannock. He also loved to tell very interesting stories about his adventures (and misadventures) in the bush. He will be missed.
Funeral services for the late Mr. Adolph Rasevych will be held at 1:00PM on Wednesday, January 28, 2015 in the EVEREST FUNERAL CHAPEL, 299 Waverley Street at Algoma officiated by Mr. Michael Robinson. Visitation for family and friends will be held on Tuesday evening from 5:00PM until 8:00PM and on hour prior to service time in the chapel. Cremation will follow and interment will take place in Longlac Cemetery at a later date.
