2008 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother – Avril Dianna Stachnik
Mrs. Avril Dianna Stachnik of Waskateneau, Alberta, was named the 2008 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 2008, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.
On September 3, 2006, her son, Sergeant Shane Hank Stachnik, a combat military engineer, was killed in an ambush while leading his section during Operation Medusa; a ground offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
Mrs. Stachnik was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and attended Jasper Place Composite High School. In 1971 she married Hank Stachnik. Together, they raised two children, Shane and Deanna.
In an interview, she relayed what an honour it was to be chosen to represent the mothers and families of fallen solider and commented on her son. "Shane was just a regular guy. He didn’t put on any false airs, but he was a good leader and a good role model; very kind and personable."
The passage of time is helping to ease the burden of their son’s death but Mrs. Stachnik says, “You never forget. You’re always thinking about him.”
List of National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mothers
(Information courtesy of the Royal Canadian Legion, Canadian War Museum and families of the National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mothers)
2010 - Present
Year | Name | City/Town |
---|---|---|
2023 | Mrs. Gloria Hooper | St. Claude, Manitoba |
2022 | Mrs. Candy Greff | Lacombe, Alberta |
2021 | Mrs. Josée Simard | Les Mechins, Quebec |
2020 | Mrs. Debra Sullivan | Saint John, New Brunswick |
2019 | Mrs. Reine Samson Dawe | St-Prosper, Québec |
2018 | Mrs. Anita Cenerini | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
2017 | Mrs. Diana Abel | Brampton, Ontario |
2016 | Mrs. Colleen Fitzpatrick | Prince George, British Columbia |
2015 | Mrs. Sheila Anderson | Yellowknife, Northwest Territories |
2014 | Mrs. Gisèle Michaud | Edmundston, New Brunswick |
2013 | Mrs. Niki Psiharis | Laval, Quebec |
2012 | Mrs. Roxanne Priede | Grand Forks, British Columbia |
2011 | Mrs. Patricia Braun | Raymore, Saskatchewan |
2010 | Mrs. Mabel Girouard | Bathurst, New Brunswick |
1990 - 2009
Year | Name | City/Town |
---|---|---|
2009 | Mrs. Della Marie Morley | East Saint Paul, Manitoba |
2008 | Mrs. Avril Dianna Stachnik | Waskatenau, Alberta |
2007 | Mrs. Wilhelmina Beerenfenger-Koehler | Embrun, Ontario |
2006 | Mrs. Alice Murphy | Conception Harbour, Newfoundland |
2005 | Mrs. Claire Léger | Stittsville, Ontario |
2004 | Mrs. Agatha Dyer | Montreal, Québec |
2003 | Mrs. Charlotte Lynn Smith | Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia |
2002 | Mrs. Doreen Coolen | Hubbards, Nova Scotia |
2001 | Mrs. Ina Galvin | Bolton centre, Québec |
2000 | Mrs. Carol Isfeld | Courtenay, British Columbia |
1999 | Mrs. Loyola Helen Park | London, Ontario |
1998 | Mrs. Anna Zuk (Prygroski) | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
1997 | Mrs. Alice Taylor | Ottawa, Ontario |
1996 | Mrs. Margaret Langille | River John, Nova Scotia |
1995 | Mrs. Elsie Wells | Edmonton, Alberta |
1994 | Mrs. Wilhelmina Baerr | Yorkton, Saskatchewan |
1993 | Mrs. Isabella Hutchings | St. John’s, Newfoundland |
1992 | Mrs. Ida Orser | Hartland, New Brunswick |
1991 | Mrs. Alice Taylor | Ottawa, Ontario |
1990 | Mrs. Elsie Pearce | Trenton, Ontario |
1970 - 1989
Year | Name | City/Town |
---|---|---|
1989 | Mrs. Rachel Morin | Rimouski, Quebec |
1988 | Mrs. Hazel Driscoll | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
1987 | Mrs. Secondina Di Persio | Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia |
1986 | Mrs. Mabel Bateman | Richmond Hill, Ontario |
1985 | Mrs. Rose Bernst | Thunder Bay, Ontario |
1984 | Mrs. Olive (Rumball) Hunter | Summerland, British Columbia |
1983 | Mrs. Constance Wylie | Vancouver, British Columbia |
1982 | Mrs. Janet Fraser | Debert, Nova Scotia |
1981 | Mrs. Isabel Harrison | Bury, Quebec |
1980 | Mrs. Greta Steeves | Elgin, Albert County, New Brunswick |
1979 | Mrs. Eliza Beatty | Carlyle, Saskatchewan |
1978 | Mrs. Janet Cantley | Montreal, Quebec |
1977 | Mrs. Mary Boutilier | Niagara Falls, Ontario |
1976 | Mrs. Olive Rae (Jubb) | Victoria, British Columbia |
1975 | Mrs. Alta Wilkinson | Ottawa, Ontario |
1974 | Mrs. Annie Margaret Rudd | Stettler, Alberta |
1973 | Mrs. Margaret Santo | Bender, Saskatchewan |
1972 | Mrs. Mary Louise McLeod | Neyaashiinigmiing, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation |
1971 | Mrs. Mary Anderson | Selkirk, Manitoba |
1970 | Mrs. Mary Josephine Meech | North Sydney, Nova Scotia |
1950 - 1969
Year | Name | City/Town |
---|---|---|
1969 | Mrs. Wilhemina Gray | Vancouver, British Columbia |
1968 | Mrs. Pearl Rich | Vancouver, British Columbia |
1967 | Mrs. Elsie Adams | St. Catharines, Ontario |
1966 | Mrs. Josephine Stephens | Toronto, Ontario |
1965 | Mrs. Nora Wagner | Teeterville, Ontario |
1964 | Mrs. Bernadette Rivait | Windsor, Ontario |
1963 | Mrs. Mary E. Stodgell | Norwood, Manitoba |
1962 | Mrs. Vitaline Lanteigne | Caraquet, New Brunswick |
1961 | Mrs. Sylvia Kimmel | Mission City, British Columbia |
1960 | Mrs. Julienne Cantin | McCreary, Manitoba |
1959 | Mrs. Dagnie Asta Anderson | Craigmyle, Alberta |
1958 | Mrs. Helen Forestell | Coniston, Ontario |
1957 | Mrs. Zylpha MacFarlane | Truro, Nova Scotia |
1956 | Mrs. Gertrude Edna Reynolds | Chatham, Ontario |
1955 | Mrs. Regina Leboldus | Vibank, Saskatchewan |
1954 | Mrs. Margaret Heeney | Ottawa, Ontario |
1953 | Mrs. Mary Casey | Ottawa, Ontario |
1952 | Mrs. Hannah McCann | Ottawa, Ontario |
1951 | Mrs. Alice Rochon | Ottawa, Ontario |
1950 | Mrs. Susan Beasley | Ottawa, Ontario |
1936 - 1949
Year | Name | City/Town |
---|---|---|
1949 | Mrs. Aline D'Aoust | Ottawa, Ontario |
1948 | Mrs. Catherine Helen MacDonald | Ottawa, Ontario |
1947 | Mrs. Martha Labarge | Ottawa, Ontario |
1944 - 1946 | Mrs. Jessie Isobel McCleery | Ottawa, Ontario |
1943 | Mrs. Edith Louisa Coldrey | Ottawa, Ontario |
1942 | Mrs. Sarah Wilkins Lamplough | Ottawa, Ontario |
1937 - 1941 | Mrs. Catherine Lewis | Ottawa, Ontario |
1936 | Mrs. Charlotte Susan Wood | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
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