A lifelong boy is grieving his mother

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Doug’s not here this week, owing to the sad fact that his mother passed away.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/11/2017 (3232 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Doug’s not here this week, owing to the sad fact that his mother passed away.

Doug’s most endearing — and infuriating — characteristics stem from the fact that he has never really grown up and remains childlike in many ways. Well, this little boy has lost his mom.

Evelyn Speirs was 87 when she passed away in Victoria. She was a mom in the style of such 1950s TV moms as June Cleaver — baking cookies, always upbeat and smiling as she looked after her family and their friends — and their friends and their friends.

SUPPLIED
Evelyn Speirs, mother of Free Press columnist Doug Speirs, will be missed for her love of life.
SUPPLIED Evelyn Speirs, mother of Free Press columnist Doug Speirs, will be missed for her love of life.

She created a warm, welcoming household overflowing with food that was a magnet for other kids when Doug, his brother and sister were growing up in Tuxedo, where the family lived after moving from Vancouver in the 1970s.

I asked Doug what one thing about his mother left the biggest impression on him and he replied simply: “Her love of life.”

She was always interested in everything. In a restaurant, she would order, see a different dish being delivered to another table and say: “That looks fantastic. We should try that.” She accumulated so much stuff in her various households that her family worried she might be a hoarder.

Doug is a male version of his mother, albeit one dressed in a ratty sweater covered in dog drool and food stains. Go to a restaurant with him and he will insist that you absolutely have to order multiple starters and a main entrée. He tries every new specialty beer that comes on the market — and seldom buys the same one twice.

Doug featured his mom a few times in his column. Readers may remember that she once got stuck in her shower when a plastic chair she was using collapsed beneath her.

Naked and wet, she was rescued by a crew of paramedics.

Rather than be embarrassed, she urged Doug to tell the story in his column, then cut it out and stuck it on her fridge.

When she saw the same paramedics some time later, they said “Hello, Mrs. Speirs.” Her reply: “I’m surprised that you recognized me with my clothes on.”

Doug is asking that anyone who wants to remember his mom in a tangible form make a donation to the Winnipeg Humane Society.

You see, this is the time of year when Doug dresses up as Santa Claus and invites owners of the city’s dogs, cats and other pets to come have their picture taken with him, with the proceeds going to the Humane Society.

Pet Pics with Santa Paws will go ahead again this year in the lobby of the Winnipeg Free Press building at 1355 Mountain Ave. Doug will be there Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. There is a second session with a different person playing Santa on Sunday, Nov. 26, also from noon to 4 p.m.

Photographer Frank Adam once again will be donating his time to snap photos of people and their pets with Santa Claus. You can book an appointment online at adamyork.ca. You get one photo for $15 or three for $30, with the proceeds going to the Winnipeg Humane Society.

It’s a generous, joyful thing to do — just what Doug’s mom would have recommended.

Bob Cox is publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press.

History

Updated on Wednesday, November 15, 2017 8:05 AM CST: Orientation of photo fixed.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Serious crash at West Kildonan intersection known for collisions

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Preview

Serious crash at West Kildonan intersection known for collisions

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:09 PM CDT

Residents in West Kildonan say an intersection that was the site of a serious car crash Sunday morning is notoriously dangerous.

Rob Lick heard a loud bang around 7 a.m. and rushed out of his home on Leila to see what the commotion was. He saw two crushed SUVs, a white and black one, in the intersection. Police vehicles arrived shortly after.

“It sounded like when (garbage trucks) drop a big dumpster,” he said. “I heard somebody crying or wailing, they were standing by the vehicle so I don’t know who exactly it was or if someone was injured.”

The sound of sirens followed shortly after when emergency crews came to the scene. The intersection was immediately blocked off.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 6:09 PM CDT

American Hostage stars recall warmth of Winnipeggers during brutal winter

Randall King 7 minute read Preview

American Hostage stars recall warmth of Winnipeggers during brutal winter

Randall King 7 minute read Friday, Sep. 18, 2026

TORONTO — When you stream the eight-part series American Hostage, a sense of familiarity may strike.

That’s because the show was shot in Winnipeg — especially in the Exchange District — from November of last year to the beginning of February, with Winnipeg portraying Indianapolis circa 1977.

The whole world seemed to be watching that midwest American city that year as a hostage crisis unfolded involving one Tony Kiritsis, an angry man who goes ballistic when a mortgage brokerage was poised to foreclose on property he had dreamed of developing into a shopping centre.

Kiritsis kidnapped his mortgage broker, Richard Hall, wiring a shotgun to the back of his head, and demanded a public airing of his grievances, with the reluctant help of popular radio broadcaster Fred Heckman.

Read
Friday, Sep. 18, 2026

tv talk shows

1 minute read Preview

tv talk shows

1 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Jimmy Fallon: Queen Latifah, Dave Franco, Ethan Simmons-Patterson

Seth Meyers: Kelly Clarkson (above)

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Former Bombers linebacker Gauthier enjoying career as electrician

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Former Bombers linebacker Gauthier enjoying career as electrician

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Friday, Sep. 18, 2026

Most professional football players don’t ride off into the sunset on their own terms.

Shayne Gauthier was well aware of that, but it didn’t make it sting any less when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers informed the veteran linebacker that they weren’t bringing him back for 2026.

“I was really hoping to play one more (season) because it would have been my 10th season, so, I’d say it didn’t really end the way I wanted,” Gauthier recently told the Free Press.

“It left a little sour taste in my mouth, but that’s part of pro sports. If everybody got the ending that they wanted, then it wouldn’t really work.”

Read
Friday, Sep. 18, 2026

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: Avoid shopping (except food and gas) and important decisions from 9 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. After that, the moon moves from Capricorn into Aquarius.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

You’re high-viz as this day begins. People notice you. It’s a high-energy day and excellent for communication with partners, spouses and your kids. Discussions about the arts, vacations and fun outings will be interesting and imaginative.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Elmwood–East Kildonan candidate promises to tackle ‘inefficiency’ in government

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Preview

Elmwood–East Kildonan candidate promises to tackle ‘inefficiency’ in government

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Saturday, Sep. 19, 2026

The former assistant of late Elmwood–East Kildonan councillor Jason Schreyer is again running for the seat.

Chris Sweryda officially launched his campaign Saturday. He did so with the backdrop of a grocery program he runs, where food is sold near-cost out of St. Gerard School’s gym.

Rows of cereal, pasta sauce and chips filled tables ahead of the program’s afternoon opening. Sweryda created the pop-up with Schreyer months ahead of the former councillor’s April 2025 death.

The program sees roughly 500 people each day it’s open (which is every other week on Saturday), Sweryda said.

Read
Saturday, Sep. 19, 2026