David Yawrenko
With his family by his side, David Yawrenko passed away peacefully at the Grey Nuns Hospital on December 12, 2018
Survived by his son Shane (Jessica), daughter Sharma (Dave); granddaughter Sydney; uncle Danny; nieces and nephews, Terrie (John), Kevin (Alison), Stacey, Karley (Kyle), Tia; great nieces and nephews, Kaylee, Farrah, Dylan, James, Mason, Natalie, Alexander, Austin, Braelyn. He was predeceased by his Mother Ella, Father Peter, Sisters Gail and Karen.
David will always be remembered by family and friends as a loving father, uncle, friend and doctor.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 13th, 1951. He was the eldest of three children.
David was a natural athlete and excelled at gymnastics early in life, even competing in the 1969 winter games. He then later coached and passed his knowledge to the next generation of young athletes.
A healer by nature, it’s no surprise he chose to become a naturopathic doctor, acupuncturist and chiropractor. His passion for helping others led him to New Life Clinic in Edmonton. The practice he founded has helped over thirty thousand patients in the last 43 years, a longevity reflecting the passion he had for his work. David touched many lives and improved the health of his grateful patients.
David was a lover of the arts and found joy in creating. Always an artist he refined his skills at painting over the years. Many members of his family adorn their homes with his paintings. He often shared his spiritual knowledge and wisdom with the people in his life and somehow managed to balance a very robust social life with a healthy lifestyle. He enjoyed family gatherings with loved ones. David became the rock that supported our family.
I knew Dr. Dave for over 20 years. He frequented my restaurants, was a client of mine at Mercedes-Benz, and was always supportive of any venture I was part of. He will be truly missed, he was a great healer and a really awesome and genuine man!
There are no words. I am shocked and so deeply saddened!
From the bottom of my heart, Thank you so much Dr Yawrenko for all that you were to
me and to my family. We love you and we will miss you forever..
Rest in Peace my beautiful friend..
We thought of you in love today,
but that is nothing new.
We thought about you yesterday
and days before that, too.
We think of you in silence,
we often speak your name.
Now all we have is memories
and your picture in a frame.
Your memory is our keepsake,
with which we’ll never part.
Heaven has you in its keeping,
We have you in our hearts.
Thank you for being the best father in law to and Grandpa David to me and Sydney! We love you forever and always!
He was a lovely man , always had a big smile and a hug for me when I would see him . He will he missed by many , including myself .
Rest In Peace my friend David. God Bless you and your family. You were truly a wonderful and unforgettable human being. Extremely saddened by this loss. I will miss you??
I just want you back. My heart has a hole in it. I want to pick up the phone and hear your voice. Who will share the crazy adventures with me and give me the wisdom to see them through. You always believed in me and were a true friend in every sense of the word. I feel an emptiness that I won’t hear you voice again. You will always be in my heart and thoughts
Very shocking to hear of David’s passing. David was a passionate and dedicated father and professional. My condolences to the Yawrenko family. Regards
Jimmy
You don’t have a soul; you are your own soul. In other words, you are not this book, your social security card, your body, or your mind. You are you. L. Ron Hubbard
I will Love you forever and ever.
Yes With The New Life Clinic Help, My Step Dad Mark Hayward was able to Reabilitate and Learn how to Walk again, After a Work Place Accident Left Him Paralized From the Waist Down. Thank You All. From Our Family to Your Family, We Send Our Love ❤️ Respect, Condolences To you all at this Time. Rest In Peace
So sorry for your loss Shane, Sharma and family ??.
Dave was instrumental in my recovery from a spinal injury in 1992.
I relied on him to keep me mobile and pain free ever since.
Much more than a health care provider, I considered him a friend.
Edmonton has lost talented professional and a real character he will be missed.
RIP “Yak”
All my love to David’s family during this difficult time. His tenacity and love for life and family lives on in each of you.
Clayton and I are so sorry to hear of Dr. Yawrenkos passing. I started working for him 23 years ago. Time flies. I have great memories of working there and Shane I don’t know if you remember me but Fatima sent me a message about your dad and it just was so shocking to hear. It was only about 3 1/2 years that I worked there but it was a very full three years. Christmas celebrations at dinner theatres and reds come to mind. I had only left that job because we were expecting our first baby and then we moved to Camrose and have been here ever since. Praying for you and your sister and extended family to know you are loved by God and thought of especially during this difficult time. Praying that your hearts would be comforted. Remember “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18 NIV. May your hearts be lifted right now.
Although we had many fun times together, he always had professional time for me when needed. Love our conversations over the years.
I’m so sorry for loss. My condolences. He was a good man!
To Dr David’s family,
Sincere condolences on your loss. May your cherished memories of happier times sustain you in the days ahead. He changed many lives. May he rest peacefully
With regrets,
Dr. Yawrenko made a difference in my life and many others. I have been visiting his practice for over 20 years and he will be fondly remembered. My prayers and condolences for the family.
Dr. Yawrenko helped me many years ago with my Crohns where traditional medication failed.His knowledge and treatments changed my life and I know many others. For this I am extremely grateful.
I am very saddened to hear of his passing. Love to his friends and family and staff at New Life Clinic.
Dr. Yawrenko would chuckle and tell me “get rid of your outdated ideas, live fully so that when you die, you die with memories not dreams.” He supported my Empowered Me Girls Program by sponsoring young girls to take the program so that they can be the best version of themselves. He was selfless and he always pushed me to be better than I was yesterday. “A man who lives fully, is prepared to die anytime” Dr. Yawrenko lived fully but, I was not ready to let him go. He left a void that can never be filled. I really miss him. To the Yawrenko family, I took my journal to write down how I was feeling. The page is still blank. No words can express that feeling. My sincere condolences to your family. He told me once “the best reason to paint is there is no reason to paint” His was kind, compassionate and a true philanthropist. He was quite an artist! “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” He made me see in myself that anything is possible as long as you believe in yourself. He always believed in me even when I didn’t. Sure miss you David. Rest in peace my friend.
Shane I am so sorry to hear the news of your dads passing. He introduced you to me many times and you were like a mini David. I heard this news but honestly just didn’t believe it and thought it was an error, I have been so sick through the holidays it escaped my mind. Today I am sitting in my office and I thought of your dad and said I must get to the bottom of it, finally I see it is so final, I truly can not digest this to be real. I again am so sorry for your loss. I know you spent so much time together and therefore you will have memories to carry you a lifetime and continue to make your dad so proud. He is forever in your heart.
Love Sharon MacLean
My deepest condolences to all who love him. I knew him as a naturpathic patient several years ago. He was a visionary and far ahead of his peers even then. Take comfort in that it’s not ‘goodbye’, but rather ‘see you later when we meet again’.
There are no words to express our shock and profound grief at the news of Dr Yawrenko’s passing. He was a wonderful man and an inspiration to anyone who had the privilege of knowing him. Our hearts are truly breaking today.
We would like to extend our deepest condolences to his family.
We are so, so sorry…
With all of our hearts we thank you Dr Yawrenko.
May God Bless you and may HE Bless your beautiful family too..
With Love Always.
I would like to express my deepest sympathy to Shane and Sharma and the rest of the family of the late Dr. David Yawrenko. I just heard of his passing today, and I was absolutely stunned to hear, of this terrible news!
Dr. Yawrenko hired me back in August of 2002 and I worked for him at the New Life Clinic until 2006! We always maintained a friendship over the years, in fact he was instrumental in getting me hired for a position in 2016! I shall always hold dear the 2005 Chiropractic conference in Las Vegas he took the staff to, along with his son Shane. We had so much fun, and got to see what a truly fun person he could be, away from the stresses of work! He created a wonderful, naturopathic clinic in the city of Edmonton, at a time when there were not many places to go. I know he shall be greatly missed!
Respectfully,
Geraldine (Geri) Harris
I first went to Dr. Yawrenko as a post-secondary student who was coping with severe attention deficit issues that were severely impairing my academic performance. My regular doctor was recommending to me that I take Ritalin to cope with the condition, however, I was well aware of the negative side effects of taking such a product and did not want to go this route. Dr. Yawrenko provided me instead with a homeopathic remedy (BC-28) that completely changed my life. With his help, I was able to become a top student and went on to have a very successful career and life. Without his incredible assistance, I am certain that I would have amounted to far less in life. It is truly a tragedy for the Edmonton community to lose Dr. Yawrenko. My prayers are with Dr. Yawrenko’s family during this time and I especially want them to know how truly incredible of a doctor he was for me and for so many others.
I was so shocked to here about Dr Yawrenko’s recent passing. May God rest his soul. I will always be grateful to Dr Yawrenko for showing me an alternative path to pharmaceutical medicine. He changed my life and way of thinking after my first visit. He was truly a pioneer in his field.
Rest in Peace David
My sincere condolescences to all of you at the New life clinic, Dr. Y’s family and friends. I just heard of his passing and am in disbelief that his illness took him so soon and deeply saddened by the news. ? Dr. Yawrenko was a very professional and gifted doctor who dedicated his life to help so many. I worked under his guidance as a therapist in his clinic for several years, he was kind, respectable and I am thankful for the experience to have learned from him. He will be dearly missed. Sending much love ❤️
I am deeply saddened at this news of Dr. Yawrenko’s passing. His personality and quality of care was larger than life. He touched everyone with his positivity and selflessly offered his wealth of knowledge and experience to make his patients healthier and happier in every way. God bless you and your family, David!
Dr Yawrenko really helped me a lot. I was 11 at the time I went to his clinic. Before that I’ve been going to doctor after doctor and they all said I was fine. Dr Yawrenko made me healthy and happy again after 3 years of pain. I’m so sorry for the lose. He helped so many people and was an amazing person and doctor
I was his health care aide. I wondered what happened to him and found out that he passed away in December. I would like to extend my condolences to the family.
Wow.. I just found out . Thank you Dr Y. I know you made a difference in my life. Thank you for coming to my dad’s funeral. It was the last time I saw you. You are special.
I came to know this great man after I was hit by a car in downtown Edmonton. I needed to be seen and examined by a doctor with a bright intelligent mind, thinking, asking questions, testing more fully and seeking answers. He was so many good things. He will be missed. We need more good people like him in life and in the field of health and medicine. For sure a wonderful healer will be missed. Best wishes to your family.
I am completely saddened to learn of the loss of this incredible man. He helped me when no Dr could. If it was not for him, I wouldnt even be alive today and because of him, I am studying for my PhD in integrative medicine. I cannot even express how shocking of news this is to me and how depressing this is to learn he passed away. I can hardly believe this. To his family, I send my condolences and just know, this man cannot be replaced. I am forever grateful for everything he has done for me and the sincere care. I will continue to fight for the rights of naturopaths in the province. They need to be better recognized in Alberta and across this whole country. I will miss you so much. 🙁
Sad news. Made a promo video for him many years ago. Was a most interesting person. My heart goes out to his family, friends and patients.
This is sad news. I enjoyed our photoshoots, and talking with him. Interestingly our paths crossed more then once throughout the years at odd places which we found funny. I first me Dr. Yawrenko while I was just a kid working at a tiny video rental store he used to come in to rent DVDs before they were dvds. Always friendly, always smiling, always memorable. My condolences to the staff and patients at New Life Clinic, and to the family. A great loss indeed.