After 37 years as a volunteer at the Warman MCC Thrift Shop, John Kurylyk has no plans to hang up his scissors when he turns 90 at the end of this month.
“I like to keep busy,” said Kurylyk in an interview May 4. “I’ve always had a job. I don’t like to just sit around and do nothing because that would be boring.”
Since 1984, when he retired after 43 years at the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix mailroom, he’s been working as a volunteer at the Warman Thrift Shop. His specialty is taking apart old denim jeans and cutting rectangular patches from the material. The patches are then made into denim blankets for retail sale at the thrift shop.
“My wife, Mary, got me started on this years ago,” said Kurylyk. “She used to make blankets. My job was to cut up the jeans. I didn’t mind it, and eventually I started doing it for the thrift shop here in Warman.
“I like it, and when I find a job I like, I stick with it.”
Kurylyk was born May 31, 1931. Over his nine decades, he’s had three jobs he’s liked. Coincidentally, he’s had three jobs; period.
His first employment began when he was in Grade 6, selling copies of the Star-Phoenix to customers in downtown Saskatoon.
In the 1940s, a 12-year-old newsboy could make pretty good coin by buying copies of the newspaper at three cents apiece and selling them to customers for a nickel. He did that for three years, first on 2nd Avenue and later on 20th Street.
“Saskatoon was a lot smaller city in those days,” he said. “And everybody read the newspaper.”
One day when he was at the Star-Phoenix building picking up his papers to sell, he started talking to one of the newspaper’s mailroom employees. The mailroom worker asked if he wanted a job.
“I said, ‘sure.’ So he said, ‘go up and talk to the boss,’” said Kurylyk. “I didn’t wait till the next day. I went right away.
“The boss said, ‘you’re hired. You start tomorrow morning.’ I went home and told my dad I got a job. My dad said, ‘you won’t last three weeks.’ I started there full-time and I was there for 43 years.
“I was a good, dependable worker. They finally had to pension me off.”
During those years, the Star-Phoenix printed both morning and afternoon editions, which meant there was plenty of work in the mailroom. Kurylyk started his workday at 5:00 a.m.
“It was a busy place,” he said. “There were 250 people on the payroll when I was there.”
Kurylyk said he’s glad he found useful volunteer work after retiring from the Star-Phoenix.
‘It helps a good cause,” he said. “I enjoy working here. It’s a good place with nice people.”
Warman Thrift Shop manager Sheila Friesen said Kurylyk is a valuable member of the thrift shop team.
“He’s a quiet guy when he’s working on his own, but he always has time to talk and always has lots to say if you start up a conversation with him,” she said. “We really love having him around.”
Friesen said Kurylyk is an inspiration because he’s always ready to work with others to get the job done.
“He’s taught me a lot over the years,” she said. “His philosophy is ‘we don’t always have to agree, but we can do anything if we work together.’ I think he’s right.”
Warman Thrift Shop Assistant Manager Mel Harms said Kurylyk does denim patches for both the Warman and Rosthern MCC Thrift Shops.
“He’s doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all,” said Harms. “He’s here every morning except Wednesdays.”
But it’s not all work for Kurylyk. An avid bowler who started competing in international tournaments when he worked at the Star-Phoenix, he only put his weekly bowling days on pause last year when the alleys shut down due to pandemic health restrictions.
“I bowled in tournaments in New York state and in California,” he said. “I didn’t win any, but it was fun.”