Paul Shelemey, the well-known and well-respected financial adviser whose business just celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, lost a two-month battle with esophageal cancer last Thursday. He died in his home while surrounded by family. He had just turned 80 in January.
He was born in Radway, the first child of four to Anne and Roman, a leather worker. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Thorhild for several years before finally arriving in Edmonton. When Paul turned 10, he got his first job with a paper route and he simply never stopped working. He worked through his school years and became a top salesman with Canada Packers after he became an adult and had his own young family.
But he had a different calling in life that he answered in 1965 when he started his own business, Shelemey Financial. He received a number of awards for his work through the organization.
It’s one thing to have a successful business but another thing entirely to maintain the respect and admiration of a community of people. Paul was known to say that his “clients became friends, and his friends became clients.” He was a gentleman who genuinely cared about people.
His son Troy had been side by side with his father at Shelemey Financial for the last 36 years, and he wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I’m one of the lucky ones in the family. I’ve been working with him since I was 18 years old. We complemented one another.”
He said that they shared the same philosophy to serve the people and strove to make sure that everyone who came through the doors was treated well.
“That was always No. 1. There’s some families here in St. Albert that we’re dealing with the fourth generation of them now. That’s another testament that when you get a family trusting you and passing it on to the next generation, the next and the next … we feel pretty good about the kind of work we’re doing for people.”
He added that Paul continued working for so long because he loved his work and he loved his clients. His retirement plan was to keep working, he said.
Paul was known as an avid outdoorsman who reveled in the vigour of exercise. His love of golfing and cross-country skiing was famous. He was a fond gardener at his acreage home too. His active lifestyle wasn’t restricted to recreation either: he was a member of the Rotary Club of St. Albert since 1992, offered his support to politicians during various campaigns, and was a major supporter of the St. Albert Community Foundation.
“Paul was always a supporter of the Rotary initiatives,” explained Charlie Schroder, one of the group’s founding members. “He was a good worker on the various committees.”
He added that Shelemey was indeed a gentleman and always cheerful too, but he was such a busy person that he almost never came to a meeting on time. Rotarians like to issue joke ‘fines’ on members during meetings as a way of building up a kitty of extra fundraising for the group’s projects. Schroder said that when he was acting as sergeant-at-arms he used to fine Shelemey when he was early.
He leaves to mourn his wife, Darline, his six children, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren, along with his two sisters and many nieces and nephews.
There will be evening prayers tomorrow at 7 p.m. followed by the funeral service on Friday morning at 10 a.m. at St. John Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral at 10951 107 St. in Edmonton. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to be made St. John Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, Sts. Constantine and Elena Romanian Orthodox Church of Edmonton and St. Mary’s Boian Church in Willingdon.
