It is with a truly heavy heart the family of Marek Seamus Henderson Pekarik announces his passing. Born on October 11, 2000, in Whitehorse, Yukon, Marek passed away early in the morning on April 24, 2023.

Marek was adventurous, courageous, hard-working and had a heart of pure gold. He loved fishing from the first day he and his Granddad caught rainbow trout off the dock when he was two years old.

For his young age, Marek travelled the world. Camping and kayaking here in the Yukon led to a year in Europe with his family that established a love of alpine skiing and snowboarding.

Always up for a new challenge, at 16, and with a group of young people he met just as the tall ship left the dock, Marek fearlessly boarded a plane to South America, after acquiring an expensive pair of sunglasses, and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, from Montevideo, Uruguay to South Africa and then back across to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

He was channeling his energy into becoming the best version of himself when he was taken from us.

Marek was blessed in May 2022 with a son, Luca Gordon. His new family became his entire world. He gave all he had to help those around him and to build a strong and happy future. Loyalty, hope, healing, family, friends, faith and abiding love are just some of the values that Marek shone into his young life and new family. 

Marek brought a ray of sunshine to his parents, Laurie and Cristina, and his sister, Keelin. We will miss him beyond measure. We grieve the fact that Luca will not be able to know his dad as Marek’s friends and family did and hope that as Luca grows, Marek’s friends will continue to support Luca and talk to him about their good memories with Marek. We will never stop thinking or talking about him. He was our sunshine.

A private service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to a GoFundMe campaign: Luca’s Fund: Learning by Heart, to support Luca in the future. The link to this fund is https://gofund.me/2856b565.