Clifford Salahub, long-time resident of Sechelt, BC passed away peacefully surrounded by family on April 21st, 2023.
Cliff was born to parents Elizabeth Mowchinuk and Steve Salahub in Lethbridge, Alberta on December 12th, 1927. Elizabeth and Steve were Ukrainian immigrants who moved to Canada from what was at that time Bukovina, Austria.
Cliff was married to the love of his life, Glenna Salahub (nee Stone) for over 60 years. Glenna predeceased Cliff in 2010. While Glenna’s health was declining, Cliff’s devotion to his wife meant daily (sometimes several times a day) trips to visit her at Totem. As much as he could he would bring her home to sit in the window and view the ocean. Cliff met Glenna, a school teacher, in Michel-Natal Crowsnest, BC while he was working as a welder. They were married on August 17th, 1949 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Cliff and Glenna then moved to Sparwood. During their marriage, they fostered two children, Michael and Andrew (Randy) Meketich.
After their time in the East Kootenays, Cliff and Glenna lived in Burnaby for four years and then relocated to the Sunshine Coast in the early 1960’s. The family fell in love with Sechelt on a fishing trip. After easily catching their share of fish, they knew it was the perfect place for them to live! A master tradesman and welder fabricator who took the utmost pride in the quality and detail of his work, Cliff established Superior Welding and worked there until he sold it and retired.
Cliff and Glenna were active members of the Sechelt community. Their social life centred around golfing and square dancing. Cliff was a square-dance caller and he spent hours developing fun and complex square-dances to challenge and entertain the dancers. His smooth vocals will live on in many of the recordings he produced during that joyous time.
Cliff was also a volunteer firefighter and contributed to the community by working on the build of the Sechelt hospital. After he retired, Cliff turned to his new passion, boat building. His first project was building a tug boat. The Trader Vic still plies the waters off the Sunshine Coast. Cliff also built his pride and joy, the Genie II. He not only built the boat but made all the hardware and fasteners by hand. Glenna and Cliff spent many happy times on the Genie II over the years; fishing and exploring the expansive BC Coastline. Cliff’s story telling of these adventures lives on in the memory of his friends and family. Our favorite story is the one about the giant halibut!!
Cliff was the third eldest of eight siblings. The siblings that have predeceased him are Alice Pietz, Rose Rode, Edward Salahub, Albert Salahub and Joyce Morrison. Cliff was also predeceased by his foster son Mike Meketich.
Cliff leaves to treasure his memory, his sisters Natalie Dowden (Vic) and Diana Hudgins (Bill), his in-laws, Colleen Goossen (George dce), Garry Stone (Myrna) and David Stone (Beverley), his niece Tracy Dubnyk and her husband Paul Wright who was a very dear friend of Cliff’s, his niece Cheryl Dowden (Vanessa), his nephews Richard Rode (Hilda) and Michael Rode (Rina), and many other family members and friends.
A celebration of life will be held July 16th for close family and friends. As were his wishes, Cliff will have an ocean send off on the waters he loved and on which he created great memories with Glenna and the Genie II.
