Stefureak, Toader and Elisaveta

Grandfather and Grandmother, Toader and Elisaveta Stefureak arrived in Canada in 1912 with their nine children (4 boys, 5 girls). One of whom was our father, Peter Stefureak who was 11 years old at the time. The family immigrated from Bucovina, Romania, where Toader held the title of Magistrate, representing Bucovina in Vienna from 1890 – 1895 under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Stefureaks settled on a C.P.R. homestead in the Alberta community of Ispas. The original quarter section remains in the Stefureak family to this day. Elisaveta, Toader and their children travelled by train to the jumping off station at Mundare. From there they literally walked the rest of the way (some 40 miles) to their homestead arriving in fall.

With winter coming the family set to building a shelter, digging into the hillside and building a sod house in the bush. Well-sheltered, they stuck out the winter. Wild game and food was available for a comfortable survival and there were neighbours who shared.
Early settlers being close to the land and the church, Elisaveta is one of the founding members of St. Mary’s Romanian Orthodox Church at Boian, Alberta. In 1959 Boian became her final resting place. Toader however went back to Romania where shortly after he died as a result of an epidemic illness.