Natalie's soul returned to her Heavenly Maker on Wednesday July 30, 2025, almost a month after her 66th birthday, and 3 days after receiving the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, and Apostolic Pardon, from Fr. L. Tharp (retired Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Fairfield OH).

Wife of Steven Peter Sirko (Fairfield), loving mother of Stefan Timothy Sirko (Fairfield), and daughter of 94 years old Anna (Grimsby ONT) and Carl Spytkowsky (deceased).  Mourned by her sisters Nadia Kulakowsky (St. Catherines ONT) and Stephanie Larock (Grimsby ONT) and brother Roman Spytkowsky (Stoney Creek ONT).

Natalie graduated from Beamsville District Secondary School with Ontario Scholar distinction. She met Steven at St. Volodymyr Institute (Toronto) in 1978. After graduating from University of Toronto (Honors BA in History) in 1982 she worked in the Institute's library. The following year Natalie and Steven received the Sacrament of Marriage at St. George's Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Grimsby ONT).  At the time she was employed at Vaughan Library (Thornhill ONT) until they relocated to Cambridge MA.  For the next two years she worked at Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard Widener Library, and Cambridge Public Library, during which she gave birth to Stefan who was Christened at the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Transfiguration (Kitchener ONT).  They relocated again in 1990 to Fairfield where she worked at the Lane Library.  In 1996, they moved to Winnetka (IL) where she was employed at the Glencoe Library and afterwards Hubbard Woods elementary school, in the area of special education. From 2000-2006, Natalie worked in New Jersey at Bedminster Township School and at Bernardsville Library.

Natalie had a heart for the underdog. She was so highly respected by the family of a learning disabled student that when his mother unexpectedly died, they requested that Natalie work with him for an additional year.

From 2006-2008, she resided part-time in Kitchener, along with Stefan, to assist in the care of her in-laws while her husband searched for new employment closer to Canada. She began a new job in 2009 at the Lewiston Library near Niagara Falls NY where the family resided for the next 10 years.  In 2019 she retired along with Steven in Fairfield, on condition that someday she could return to Beamsville to take care of her own parents. She never got the opportunity due to ovarian cancer.

Natalie loved her adventures in the US.  She also cherished her many trips to Europe, starting in high school (England and later Denmark), then as a honeymooner (Mykonos, Corfu, and Athens), and with Steven and Stefan on trips to Spain (Seville, Huelva, Cadiz, Barcelona, Granada, Madrid, and Costa del Sol), Italy (Rome and the Vatican where she was in the audience of St. Pope John Paul II, Puglia, and Sicily). Her favorite cities were Paris, Nice on the Cote d'Azur, Vienna, and the Portuguese Algarve.  She has also been to Lourdes and Fatima.  Natalie rose to the challenge of going to Ukraine in 2004 with her family, and she was aware of how welcomed she was by Steven's extended family in rural western Ukraine.  In 2018 she was inspired to visit her father's birthplace in the Ternopil region of Ukraine, and this time she traveled on her own.

Natalie fulfilled her Sunday obligation wherever she traveled to, and lived including at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Christ the King Ukrainian Catholic Church (both in Boston MA), Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church (Fairfield), Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church (Palatine IL), St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church (Whippany NJ), Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Transfiguration (Kitchener ONT), Our Lady of Fatima Shrine (Lewiston NY), St. Ignatius of Antioch Maronite Catholic Church in Dayton, and for her final years again at Sacred Heart.

Steven and Stefan will miss Natalie dearly because she was so honest and a friend to everyone.

Prayers will be offered at 9:30am Wednesday August 6, 2025 in the Zettler Funeral Home, 2646 Pleasant Ave. followed by Mass of Christian Burial at 10am in Sacred Heart Church. Visitation will be from 5:00-7:00pm Tuesday August 5, 2025 in the funeral home. Burial will be in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Online register book at www.zettlerfuneralhome.com