Longtime Light of Christ Schools trustee Keith Koberinski quickly found a new project after retiring from the board.
He has written a book, now out in paperback. It is titled A Son of My Father - The Journey Continues, a book that he has self-published.
In speaking to the News-Optimist, Koberinski said the story “started out being about my life, but it ended up being more about the people I worked with through 50 years of public service.”
According to the summary on the back cover, “Koberinski relates his years of working in the construction of the Saskatchewan provincial highway grid as his role as one of the last real pioneers in the opening of the new Saskatchewan landscape that brought with it new prosperity. At the same time the story tells of his own personal struggles and the rewards they gave in making for a richer life for himself and his family.”
For much of his career Koberinski worked for the province building roads, and he said he considers himself “one of the last of the provincial explorers. We opened up a lot of country, new roads and things after the war.”
The work took him up to La Loche and all over Saskatchewan. It coincided with the rebuilding of the Saskatchewan highway network from what was a series of trails.
Koberinski also relates his 19 years on the Catholic school board,
“Maybe I’ll try it for three years,” he said of running the first time. He became heavily involved in the Catholic system for years, including in Regina as president of the Sask. Catholic School Boards Association and the Sask. School Boards Association.
“I was in on their big school board amalgamations in Regina,” said Koberinski, who related some of the struggles involved with that.
There was also a court case, the Theodore case, on whether non-Catholic students would be funded to attend Catholic schools. Koberinski was involved with that, as well, and the case is now headed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Not surprisingly, there is a lot of talk in the book about Catholicism.
“The idea of being a Catholic is a little different from what it was when I grew up,” said Koberinski.
Getting the book published was an adventure. Koberinski looked at several alternatives before he discovered Amazon helped with self-publishing. He was able to get the book published independently through them.
Koberinski was motivated by the idea of leaving something in book form as his legacy to his family.
“Some people say it’s a pretty good book,” said Koberinski.
For those interested in a copy, the book is available on Amazon and Koberinski says there are plans for Fisher’s Drug Store to carry it as well.
