In loving memory of Percy Elijah Pikuyak

A beautiful funeral service was held for Percy Elijah Pikuyak in Hall Beach on Dec. 5, 2009.

Thank you to Leah Qaqqasiq May, to St. Silas Anglican Church and to all lay readers and to all those involved in the Anglican Church, and to all the people outside of Hall Beach who came to help and attend the funeral.

He is greatly missed and will be forever remembered. We are grateful for all the help from friends, family, and distant relatives.

We thank Nunavut Tungavik Inc. for the compassionate travel they provided. Thank you to the businesses and organizations who sent cards, flowers, and gifts. Thank you to the co-op and Northern stores.

We cannot name all the people who helped us. We would like to thank you all. May God bless you for your kind thoughts, support and prayers. We also thank the people of Hall Beach who dealt with our loss. Thank you all for being there for us.

Percy did not live a simple life growing up; at an early age, the youngest of his family, he lost his parents and was tossed among his relatives while growing up.

He married our mother Avingak Palluanuk but they did not succeed in having children right away. They lost children from crib death during the time when they lived in camps. As a result they adopted seven children and had five of their own children, one adopted out to help another family.

They continued to pass on their love to their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, daughters-in-law and sons-in-law. Whenever they crossed paths with distant relatives, they treated them like close relatives.

During their years together, they lived in camps along Hall Beach, Igloolik, the Arctic Bay area, Resolute Bay, Apex, Arctic Bay, (his pride was helping build the road between Nanisivik and Arctic Bay), Nanisivik and Hall Beach.

Our lives have been touched because of his love, because of his patience, and because of his belief in helping each other. To his brother, to his nieces and nephews and to all his relatives, friends and acquaintance, this great man will be greatly missed.

As a little boy, he waited and waited for arrival of his father, who was sent down to Hamilton, Ont. with tuberculosis in the 1950s. He grew up to learn that his father was never going to go home.

All on his own, although his English was limited, he managed to find the unmarked grave of his late father, Paul Akumalik, in Hamilton, Ont. in the early 1980s.

He was fortunate to visit the grave again in 2006 with his only surviving brother, Mucktar Akumalik.

Our father did not stop, he continued to be involved in community meetings and events, and outside of the community, he was a volunteer counselor, and involved in the Anglican Church.

We are very saddened by our great loss in a way we could never have imagined.

Our father is with God now, the God who had shown love to a parentless little boy a love. The little boy grew up and multiplied this love for us and for all the people who he helped. For that we are fortunate. Rest in peace and God bless from Pikuyak’s family

Sheba Pikuyak
Iqaluit

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