GRASSLAND — Some men walk through life drawing attention and some men quietly change the world around them without any ego — former fire chief and founding member of the Grassland Fire Department, John Pysyk, was the latter.
Pysyk passed away at his home Dec. 2, right beside his beloved fire hall, where he was appointed chief from the moment the non-profit formed in 1976 until 1997, which he did while raising four children with wife Gloria and always ensuring the Grassland School was clean from top to bottom.
Those years of service, his contribution to the community and his impact on the lives of those around him were just a few of the reasons firefighters and other first responders from around the region gave a drive-by salute to Pysyk Dec. 7 in Grassland.
“There nothing close by,” son Garry said of his father's involvement in the local fire department. “I think Boyle had a fire department but with Highway 63 and the oil sands and everything, the highway was getting busier and busier. So, they thought it'd be a great idea to start a volunteer fire department.”
Longtime friend, colleague and former fire chief himself, Jerry Derko, recalls Eddie Semenchuk had donated a building to be the first fire hall, but it wasn’t always so easy. Derko was with John, Dick Wunder and George Fleming when they formed the Grassland Volunteer Fire Department in 1976 and purchased a 1949 Ford firetruck from the Rochester department.
“We put a heater up higher; it was gas heater,” Derko recalled. “Anyhow, because they just had a dirt floor, it would freeze. So, a lot of times if we ever got a call in the wintertime, the goddamn pump was already too frozen to pump the water and Johnny had a blowtorch and he’d crawl underneath to heat the pump, pump the water, and heat the lines up."
Asked how the leadership role of chief fell to Pysyk, Derko laughed: “Because we just said 'Johnny, you're the chief, you live next to the fire hall.’ He had no choice because all he had to do is walk across the yard, so he was the chief.
“And I recall when Plamondon's school caught on fire and this old truck, I think it was a ‘49 Ford, it was a piece of garbage, but anyhow, we had to run it and I remember Johnny when time came to go to the fire in Plamondon School, and it's all downhill and it has no brakes,” he chuckled.
He got it stopped in time however and left locals admiring his expediency, Derko said — “This guy really wants to get to the fire at a fast pace.”
After that was when the fundraising started in earnest so new equipment could be purchased including a truck with brakes and the Jaws of Life and the little fire department kept growing, and was able to help sister departments in Wandering River, Boyle, and more.
“Johnny was always a good member of the fire department even right to the end, you know, cleaning the snow in front and always looked after everything,” said Derko. “He was that kind of a guy. And he did the sidewalks from there to the school and never asked for anything in return. He’d just do it on his own. He thought the kids couldn’t walk in the snow. He was definitely a good community member that way.”
He was also a lifelong friend, Derko said.
“A very good friend; good sense of humor. In fact, just two days before he had passed away, we had a real good BS session over it at Colin’s,” said the elder Derko. “Him and I just stood in the corner and reminisced about old times for quite a while. In fact, it was his wedding anniversary that day.”
Current chief Ken Kearney says Pysyk was always interested in what was going on.
“He would come over the hall every once in a while, and just to visit and talk and we always included him and his family and our Christmas stuff,” Kearney said. “When we did our Christmas parties back in the day, before COVID.”
Pysyk was born in the Newbrook area in 1936 and moved to Grassland in the mid-1950s, marrying Gloria in 1962.
“Integrity is the first thing that comes to mind, so his family, friends, complete integrity; dedication to community,” said Garry. “Everybody loved the guy. He was known to everyone, our friends, my siblings' friends. He was known either as Dad or Gido through his whole life.”
Garry recalls his dad’s humour too.
“He was funny in a not-so-obvious way. He'd like to play little tricks on everybody, he was just an all-around good guy,” he said. "He tried to be funny most of the time and he wasn’t always but he always had a joke for you.”
He was also a mentor to many people who came up through the ranks of the fire department including Travais Johnson, who recalls being conscripted to help with wild grass fires long before he was old enough to join the department, which he did.
“I’ve known him my entire life. He used to be a janitor at the school too so, for most of us kids that grew up here in the last 30, 40 years, we all know who John Pysyk was," said Johnson. "Even in high school, if there were 15-year-old, able-bodied students and there's grass fire, they got called out of school and went back swinging axes.”
Johnson eventually joined the department and rose to chief himself and was one of the many men and women, from several departments to drive by the Pysyk home Dec. 7 as the family gathered to pay their final respects. The drive-by included fire departments from Athabasca County, Grassland, Boyle, and Wandering River, three RCMP, a sheriff, and EMTs. Parkland 9-1-1 dispatch also announced last call over the radio.
“We just thought it was going to be the Grassland Fire Department. We were unexpected to have Wandering River and Boyle and the RCMP and the sheriff's department and Highway 63 rescue all involved,” Garry said. “Just to show the appreciation it was a big factor; to show he really was appreciated all those years.”
