She inspired students to chase their dreams

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This article was published 24/08/2024 (720 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Shirley Koroluk was a school teacher in the tiny village of Benito who had such a huge influence on her students that many went on to achieve success in different fields of life.

For example, Koroluk introduced the game of curling to Ed Werenich, who would become a world champion. She inspired Myrna Driedger to get into politics; she went on to be an MLA and House Speaker. Another student, Jim Makichuk, wrote a book based on Benito and is now a Hollywood scriptwriter.

“She was one of those remarkable teachers that inspired a lot of us,” Driedger said. “She was an extremely innovative teacher who loved her work.”

Werenich readily admits that Koroluk encouraged him to pursue the Roarin’ Game.

“Shirley was a great influence in my life,” the Canadian Curling Hall of Famer said in an email. “Not only was she an excellent teacher but she saw my potential in becoming a decent curler and encouraged me to keep going. She followed my career and even had her class write letters to me when I won the world championship in 1983.”

TSN actually called Koroluk for a quote about Werenich after he won that 1983 title, said her only child, Marnie Owen.

“He actually came to visit us in Benito at one point and gave me a pair of his signature curling shoes,” said Owen, who now lives in Pennsylvania. “Mom was proud of all of her students, some of whom did some very impressive things. Others had more ordinary lives, but she was always very happy to hear from everyone. I think that was one of her greatest (joys) in life — when she heard from people that she had worked with and taught.”

Makichuk wrote a book called the Emperor of Mars and dedicated it to Koroluk.

“It’s kind of a tale of coming of age in Benito,” Owen said. “Benito was the backdrop. It was fictitious, but one of the characters, a teacher, was modelled on my mom.”

Koroluk died on May 24 at the age of 84. She was survived by daughter Marnie and son-in-law, Todd Owen. Shirley’s husband, Ernie Koroluk, died of cancer when he was only 39.

“My dad passed away when I was young, so it was my mom and me for most of our growing up and we used to say we raised each other,” Marnie said. “My favourite memories of my mom were of her reading to me when I was small. She instilled in me her love of stories and I got at least one story every night and often some during the day as well.

“Mom had a mischievous side as well. When I was approximately 10 years old, we rented a tandem bike and went cycling on a bike path at the lake. I was in the front and Mom was in the back. Merrily we rolled along, literally, until we got to a hill. I began to pedal a bit harder and Mom called out from the back, ‘Marnie, I think I’m having a heart attack. Pedal harder. Faster, Marnie, faster!’

“Having lost my dad a few years prior (something Mom hadn’t considered), I was terrified. I gave it everything I had. Just before we got to the top, I heard giggling. Mom had tricked me into doing the work to get us up the hill while she coasted in the back.”

Marnie still laughs at that all these years later.

“At the risk of sounding trite, I have to add that my mom was my best friend,” she said. “She brought an extraordinary honesty and openness to our relationship — pranks aside — that made it very special.”

Aside from introducing most of her students to curling, Koroluk also encouraged them to dance. In fact, she once taught a Grade 3 class to square dance, then arranged for them to perform on a Yorkton, Sask., community TV station.

“Out of maybe five people in my life, she would be one of the five that I think helped to mould me and give me the confidence to be where I am today,” said Driedger, who curled with Werenich’s older brother, Tony. “She was a remarkable teacher. She taught with such joy and love for teaching, and she brought that forward into her classrooms every day.

“She smiled a lot, she was optimistic. She would just go that extra distance to give you incredible experiences as a student.”

Driedger maintained her friendship with Koroluk as an adult.

“My mom was her hairdresser, so she came to our place quite a bit because my mom just worked out of the house,” she said. “When I got married, I didn’t have anybody in Benito because my parents got divorced, so my bridesmaids and I dressed in her house. I asked if we could do that, and we have the most beautiful wedding pictures in her home.

“So, she became very connected with me all my life. We had lots of phone calls over the last couple of years during her cancer journey and she told me years ago that she wanted me to speak at her Celebration of Life. We had a lifelong relationship.”

In fact, when Driedger first won her riding, Koroluk wrote a letter to then-premier Gary Filmon to say she would make a good MLA for him. Driedger was not aware of it until Filmon gave her the letter when he retired.

When Koroluk retired, her students gave her a bronzed whistle, which was emblematic of the one she used when she was on lunch or recess duty so she would not have to yell at the kids. Marnie said she treasured that whistle.

Koroluk obviously enjoyed life.

“My mom believed that, at parties, people should have things to do,” Marnie said. “So we were always playing games if a group gathered. If it was a special occasion, she usually had a song that she would write. Basically, they were set to the tune Bicycle Built for Two. She actually wrote one for her funeral (to the same tune).”

After she retired, Koroluk moved to Winnipeg, where she worked as a substitute teacher and tutor. She started tutoring a 10-year-old boy from Bosnia, Marin Kecman, to improve his math skills at his mother’s request.

“I have very fond memories of biking and skateboarding over to her place in the heat of the July and August sun, only to be greeted with a big smile,” Kecman said in an email. “Mrs. Koroluk would go through my quizzes that she marked and teach me the concepts that I was struggling with. Then, we would have all sorts of conversations about life, the world and the future. She bestowed her wisdom on me and became a grandmother that I never had through that summer.”

Kecman said he finally got the hang of math and even became good at it, owing to Koroluk’s hard work and patience. The two kept in touch over the years and she ended up meeting his family member and his wife.

“She was an inspiration in my life and, looking back, she is probably one of the reasons that I became a teacher myself,” he said. “She will be greatly missed and her legacy will live on through the thousands of students and families that she was able to impact directly as an educator.”

Koroluk touched a lot of people during her life.

“She treated everybody as if they were special and she always had a big smile on her face if she ran into you, and was so sincere about her feelings for you,” Driedger said. “You know that phrase, ‘the wind beneath your wings?’ I feel that she was a person in my life that gave me that and gave me the confidence in myself, just through her being such a joyful, innovative teacher.”