Maryniuk gives back after his death

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This article was published 12/09/2014 (3513 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steve Maryniuk seemingly had it all.

He was the popular kid in school who excelled at athletics. He was smart, bilingual and handsome. There was no shortage of girls interested in him. He continued to excel after high school. He volunteered, played sports and cared for others.

“He was the captain of the team kind of guy,” said his father, Jerry.

In his late 20s, Steve travelled the world. He proposed to a girl in front of the Eiffel Tower. He travelled by a gondola in Venice. He walked the Black Forest in Germany and visited Cuba, Florida and California.

From the outside, everything was working out for the Ile des Chenes native.

But that wasn’t the case on the inside, though. The young man was dying.

Maryniuk was diagnosed in 2009 with brain cancer.

All those trips he went on? The activities were on his bucket list. He had the resources to check many items off, and he did, one-by-one.

Steve Maryniuk would pass away on Dec. 3, 2013 at the age of 31.

When he was asked at one point before his death, what he’d like his parents to do in his memory, he replied that he wanted them to help the next Steve Maryniuk.

A charity that grants wishes for terminally ill youth (the Children’s Wish Foundation) is well-known, but less so for adults.

Eventually, the Maryniuk’s came across Angels Anonymous and decided to hold a fundraising social in his honour. That will be held on Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Trans Canada Centre in Ile des Chenes from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.

More on Steve Maryniuk’s story in this week’s edition of The Carillon.