Mary Shumilak

Mary Shumilak (nee Grabowski), the youngest of four children and a first-generation Canadian, grew up in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. She earned a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Winnipeg and later a certificate in Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University. She began her teaching career in East Selkirk. Following her marriage in 1981, Mary and her husband, Tony Shumilak, moved to the province of Saskatchewan, where they lived, worked and raised their boys in a number of communities and where she taught elementary school, in addition to doing some student counselling, administration, professional development and instructional coaching, before retiring in 2018. She now spends her time reading mainly non-fiction, keeping her eye on politics, taking classes of interest, getting daily exercise, traveling and writing. Mary and Tony take great pride in their family that includes two sons, Reagan and Geoff; daughters-in-law, Marla and Vivien; and grandchildren, Ryker, Elly and Macy.