Irene Fleming Lacik

Grace Margaret Irene Fleming Lacik
1922 - 2016

Irene Fleming Lacik passed away on the afternoon of April 15, 2016 in the Snyder home she lived in for the past 40 years. She ended her 93 years on this earth surrounded by her family and friends.

Irene’s journey started on approximately November 5, 1922 when she was born on a 10,000 acre cattle ranch in the Cypress Hills outside of Maple Creek Saskatchewan. The approximation of the date is based on the fact of it being winter and the ranch being 17km or 21 miles from the town of Maple Creek. Her family didn’t go to town often and by the time her Father, Irvine, got to town he couldn’t quite remember the actual birthdate or what they had finally decided for their first born daughter’s name. As a result, Irvine chose November 5th and named her Grace Margaret Irene Fleming to be sure he had covered all the names they discussed.

Irene had two sisters: Donna, who passed away at the age of 6 years when Irene was 15 years old and Shirley Merle, who was born three years before Donna’s passing. Without any brothers, Irene was expected to help with the chores and became quite the cow hand as she helped her father working with the livestock on the large ranch. This time lead to Irene’s great love of horses as she participated in equestrian events and used them as her primary mode of transportation to make the three-mile journey to the local farm school in the Cypress Hills.

When Irene started approaching her teens the farm school had closed so she had to go into the town of Maple Creek to attend middle school. Because of the 17km/21mi distance between the ranch and Maple Creek, Irene lived with friends during the school week and came home on the weekends to work on the ranch with her father. This schedule remained for Irene until 1939 when at age 16 she completed her studies at the Jasper Creek School in Maple Creek. Soon after Irene packed up and went to college in the city of Calgary, attending the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology where she studied fashion design and graduated in 1943.

Irene next spent a few years in the fashion industry until July 1949 when she visited a good friend in Casper Wyoming who set her up on blind date that would change her life forever. That blind date was with a young petroleum engineer from Lubbock, Texas named Harold Lacik.
Harold was late for this first date because he was playing golf and only made it because his mother told him to get going because this could be the one. Harold’s mother was right and after only one date, Harold proposed to Irene in July of 1949. Harold and Irene met for just a couple of days in July, got engaged, and didn’t see each other again until the day before their October 29th nuptials in Medicine Hat, Alberta. After the wedding she went with Harold to the many oil fields of the US until they settled in Abilene, TX with their one-year-old son, John Irvine, in 1952. In 1955 the family moved to Snyder with John and added Barbara Ann soon after they arrived.

Irene never met a stranger and made friends quickly in Snyder and all over. She found a job being a substitute rural mail carrier to fill her time when she wasn’t taking care of John and Barbara and in order to be a mail carrier and work for the government, Irene had to become a US Citizen. In 1962 in Lubbock, Texas, Grace Margaret Irene Fleming Lacik denounced her Canadian citizenship and became a US Citizen who served as a rural US mail carrier for the next 25 years. This job fit Irene perfectly as she was described as curious bordering on nosey but was appreciated by her mail recipients since she could always alert them of any important pieces that might need their attention.

Harold was a successful man and Irene was his support system until the end. She was the caregiver for Harold until his death in November of 2013 after 64 years of marriage. Like most great love stories, Irene was never quite the same after Harold’s passing and she had long outlived her many great friends. Nevertheless, she spent the next couple of years being as sharp and nosey/curious as ever with her continued dedication to the farm and its many cats. She looked forward to getting outside and feeding them every day. In the last few weeks of her life, Irene got to see Barbara, John, all of her grandkids, and great grandkids. She seemed to say her goodbyes and found comfort in her family’s legacy before starting her journey to be with Harold.

Irene is preceded in death by her husband Harold Lacik, her father Irving Fleming, her mother Tootsie Fleming, her sister Donna Fleming, and her grandson Kevin Lacik. She is survived by her sister, Shirley Merle, of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, daughter Barbara Gray and son-in-law Gordon of Snyder, son John Lacik of Ft. Worth, daughter-in-law Cindy Lacik of Snyder, granddaughter Kelli Griffin and her husband Jim with great grandsons Graham and Gage of Plano, grandson Stafford Gray and his wife Megan with great granddaughter Caroline of Little Rock, grandson Alan Gray and wife Jerica of Snyder with a soon to arrive great granddaughter, and granddaughter Kaylee Lacik with great grandson Ryker of Abilene.

Graveside services for Grace Margaret Irene Fleming Lacik were held at 2pm on Sunday, April 17, 2016 at Hillside Memorial Gardens with Reverend Dana Mayfield officiating under the direction of Bell-Cypert-Seale Funeral Home.

Memorial donations may be given to the Kevin Lacik Memorial Scholarship Fund, in care of Western Texas College, 6200 South College Avenue Snyder, TX 79549. The family also wishes to thank Emerald Villanueva, Lulu Martinez, Renee Logston, and Kindred at Home Hospice for their compassionate care.