A Life’s Story

Accomplished artist, musician and entrepreneur who designed clothes for breast cancer patients always put others before herself

A safe and loving home overflowing with fun and creativity, with music at the centre of it all and nurturing and devoted caregivers. It’s the kind of childhood that many only dream of having, but for Theona Grace Grant’s family and friends, it was everyday life.

The Grant home was a welcoming household, bustling with laughter, home cooking, piano and guitar-playing, and alive with basement and backyard parties.

“What teenager comes home early from a party because their parents are having a better one than they were at?” said Theona Grant’s oldest daughter Kelly, who now cherishes her mother’s antique piano in her own home.

Always the one to send personalized heart-shaped cookies to school for every child on Valentine’s Day, Grant was also the one to create an impressive Halloween party for the kids, dressed in an elaborate witch’s costume and presiding over a dry-ice cauldron for the green Kool-Aid witch’s brew.

Decorated dog breeder who fostered dozens of children built her life on loving others

Pat LaRue had a knack for drawing people in with her warm personality — and her legendary hugs.

“She loved everybody,” son Tim LaRue says.

“Even strangers — she always wanted hugs from everyone,” daughter Laurie Lyss adds.

Born Aileen Patricia Charlotte Williams, Pat became known as mom, auntie and grandma to droves of friends beyond her large, close-knit family. She died in July at the age of 93.

Norma Jean Schussler’s accomplishments abound, but caring is her legacy

A woman of innumerable skills and talents, Norma Jean Schussler had a long list of interests and a few different careers during her rewarding and purposeful life.

Radiologist’s brilliance complemented by humility, devotion to faith and family

Dr. Ian Sutherland’s curriculum vitae runs 10 pages, a tome that stands as a testament to a lifetime of academic accomplishment and professional recognition.

Over a distinguished 50-year clinical career, the radiologist wore many hats. He nurtured a passion for nuclear medicine, spent years in academia as a professor, led the University of Manitoba’s department of radiology, and later served as vice-president of the Health Sciences Centre.

But those who knew him best — his children, colleagues and members of his church community — remember not just what he accomplished, but the life he built around it.

He was a devoted husband to Eva for more than 60 years, a father of four — three of whom followed him into health care — and a man whose deep Christian faith inspired decades of service and mission work at one of Winnipeg’s inner-city churches.

Natural-born activist served on numerous boards, spent her life advocating for equality

Strength, determination and heart: Yhetta Gold had all of these in spades. Despite going through some really rough times, she managed not only to raise three children on her own but to become a widely respected leader in the community.

She died at age 95 on April 25, at home — on her own terms — the place she wanted to be.

“My mother was strong, bright and blunt,” said her son, Peter Gold. “Duty was everything; integrity, helping with the community, that’s what she did. If it wasn’t there my mother created it. She was important.”

Yhetta Gold was born in Winnipeg in 1929. Her father had emigrated from Russia, her mother came from Romania. Soon after she was born, her family moved to Pine Falls, where her father operated a store as part of Western Dry Goods Importing Company, the family business.

Local engineer was a real game changer

Forty-seven years ago, George Klassen had an idea that improved the lives of millions of people in Bangladesh. It was for a hand-powered rower pump, a classic piece of simple, inexpensive and appropriate technology that poor farmers could use to irrigate their crops.

Today, an estimated 500,000 rower pumps are still in operation, benefitting more than 2.5 million people in that southeast Asian country — a legacy to Klassen’s vision, curiosity and ingenuity.

Klassen, who died on April 15 in Steinbach, spent his early years in Blumenort (near Gretna) before moving with his parents and 10 siblings to a farm near Steinbach. After graduating from the University of Manitoba with a B.Sc., he taught science and math in Nigeria with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) for three years.

There, he became convinced the best way he could serve people in the global south was by assisting them with practical skills and knowledge. With that in mind, when Klassen returned to Canada he decided to go back to the University of Manitoba to study engineering.

Holocaust survivor overcame obstacles, lived a good life

It’s not easy to capture the undivided attention of a room full of secondary school students.

Isaac Gotfried’s story, however, would do just that.

Through resilience, creativity, and, most of all, luck, Gotfried survived the Holocaust. Born in Poland, he endured forced labour and concentration camps during World War II as a teenager. After the war, he and his brother Bernard — the only survivors from their family of seven — were sponsored by an aunt and moved to Winnipeg in 1947.

Decades later, after retiring from a successful career as an insurance salesman, Gotfried devoted his time to speaking at schools across the province about the horrors he had faced.

A Life's Story: Married to each other, to family, to service, to community

A Mountie and a registered nurse, Gene and Evon Blais lived in dedicated service to their careers, to their communities and to their family.

The couple were married in 1957 in Virden, where Gene had been sent on his first posting with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1952, after his childhood in tiny Willow Bunch, Sask., and where Evon had moved from Broomhill in Manitoba’s southwest.

The couple, who prospered after growing up modestly in the Prairies of the Dirty ’30s, died within months of each other earlier this year.

Gene died at a care home in Neepawa at 92 on Jan. 6, while Evon died on her 91st birthday, May 19, at a care home in Minnedosa. They left three sons: Mark, Jon-Paul and Bart; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Gimli woman loved her husband George, her art and her garden

Known as the Sky Lady, artist Suzanne Louise Barrow’s vibrant lifelike sky paintings filled rooms, walls and hearts.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Barrow grew up in East Kildonan. In 1990 she met George through mutual friends and he quickly became the love of her life. The two became inseparable and dedicated to each other in every way to the very end.

Barrow died on Jan. 20 at age 73 from lung cancer, with George by her side, at the Gimli Community Health Centre. The Interlake had become home to the couple when she decided it was the perfect place to go when they retired. The lifelong business analyst for MTS wanted to follow her dream and paint.

While George was her first love, her art came in a close second. She found her calling for painting early on and was especially known for painting sky scenes and prairie landscapes in oil, watercolour and acrylic.

Music administrator led with elegance, industry, effectiveness

Back in 2004, the front page of the Free Press Arts & Life section (then called Entertainment) ran a glowing tribute by Morley Walker to one of the most august careers in Manitoba’s arts sector.

Rita Menzies was retiring. Some expected she’d make more time for favourite pursuits — cooking, travel, family, opera, art— especially after such an eventful finale to a long career.

The year before, Menzies — who’d been with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra for 24 years as its first general manager — had been tapped to take the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s reins in an interim capacity.

On the face of it, the move may have seemed improbable. The WSO was 10 times the size of the MCO and had a $3-million deficit. But Menzies’ reputation — her crack command of budgets and structures, coupled with a soft, deft touch for people and politics — preceded her.

Anti-poverty crusader Harold Dyck helped hundreds of people

Harold Dyck wasn’t a rich man, but if there was any one quality that defined who he was it was his tireless devotion to enriching the lives of Winnipeggers who experienced poverty.

He died in February at the age of 72, surrounded by friends and family.

In 1998, Dyck founded what came to be known as the Low Income Intermediary Project. The program advocated for the better treatment of recipients of Employment and Income Assistance, also known as provincial welfare, and helped them receive the benefits to which they were entitled.

It was essentially a one-man crusade led by Dyck that helped people access benefits they likely would have been denied. In many cases, he would represent the individuals he worked with all the way to the Social Services Appeal Board, which had the final say on such matters.

Winnipeg Sun sports editor Ted Wyman packed a lot of life into 58 years

The notes of a familiar Blue Rodeo or Tragically Hip song would often fill the dining room, Ted Wyman’s fingers gliding on the guitar strings, a warm smile spreading across his face as he sang along with his long-term partner Kim Fedick.

For Wyman, these intimate musical moments, shared with loved ones, were the essence of a life lived richly.

“We’d finish up a great meal and then he’d just go grab his guitar and start playing something I loved,” Fedick said. “Then we’d just sing together for hours. That’s what I think about the most.”

Wyman, the longtime sports editor of the Winnipeg Sun who died last November after a brief battle with cancer, was the guy who brought a smile to everyone’s face whenever he entered a room.

Beloved entrepreneur and family man believed in giving back

Stéphane Dorge always knew his father Gerry as a man of honesty and integrity.

Stéphane could recall shopping at Canadian Tire with his dad. He was eight or nine and had allowance money to spend. He couldn’t tell you what he bought with it but could vividly recall the experience and its impact.

“The cashier gave me back too much money, maybe $5 too much,” he said, with the childhood excitement of having bonus money to spend.

“We left the store and I told Dad, ‘I’ve got extra money.’ Dad said, ‘We need to go back there and return that money. That person has to balance their till. You don’t make money on the backs of others.’”

City woman displayed courage, compassion and resilience

In 1951, Loni Pahl Bettcher crouched inside the hold of a transport ship, feeling the Atlantic Ocean swell and shrink beneath her. The boat, although seaworthy, was less than watertight and a layer of the frigid water pooled at her feet.

At her back was a spectre of war-torn Europe, while ahead lay the promise of a better life in Canada.

Pahl Bettcher, 22, was among a group of other emigrants seeking safe passage within the confines of the dank ship. While she surely felt fear and uncertainty, she displayed courage, compassion and resilience — the qualities upon which she built the foundation of her life.

It was the beginning of a journey that spanned nearly a century and thousands of kilometres, from her birthplace in Sergejufka, Poland (now Ukraine), to her new home in Winnipeg.

Dance was Lily Rose Guberman's career — but over 103 years, joy was her trademark

Lily Rose Guberman was a star. Luminous like the sun, sparkling and shining, not only in her limelight-filled career but in her everyday interactions. Aptly named after two flowers, Guberman had the grace and beauty of both.

Among the many theories about the secrets to a long and happy life, the life-long dancer knew a thing or two about that. She lived independently in her own home until age 102.

The oldest living original member of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet died Feb. 25 at age 103, after what can only be called a remarkable life.

“She never lost her childlike spirit and was always playful and encouraging,” said daughter Marla Berchard.

Humble life-saver, adventurous seeker, ‘she was my pal’

After a plane with six American fishermen on board crashed at a landing strip near Gods Lake Narrows in June 1972, Janet MacKenzie, one of two nurses working at the nursing station, rushed over without a second thought. She cared for the wounded until a medevac plane arrived.

Before Janet died on May 7 at age 78, that was all her husband, Robert, and her children knew about that story. She didn’t say too much about it, and when she did, it was to the point and with little embellishment.

It was only after she died that her family learned, while looking through her belongings, that she had received letters from Americans, who had reached out through the Winnipeg Tribune newspaper, asking for help to find the nurse who had saved the lives of their loved ones.

“Can you help us find out her name? It is quite likely she saved the life of one or more of the passengers and we would like to thank her,” reads a letter to the Winnipeg Tribune written from Illinois by Carla Pluff, the wife of one of the injured men.

Father, husband, musician Terry O’Reilly founded bands before turning to convention centre promoter

Terry O’Reilly, a passionate musician and devoted family man, made a life-changing decision in his twenties to pursue a career in music over business. Celebrated for his charm and talent, O’Reilly left a lasting impact on Winnipeg's music scene and beyond, before his passing in December 2024.

For beloved pediatrician, saying no was never an option

Marilyn Goldberg remembers getting things ready for a family dinner. Her husband Norman had headed out to pick up the promised pizza.

After some time, she wondered why he hadn’t yet returned. He was late. Very late.

“He walked in covered in soot,” she recalled.

“There’d be a media story that there was a fire on Corydon and he’d helped a child out of the building,” Marilyn said. “‘Local pediatrician stopped to help.’ He never said a thing.”

A craftsman of landmarks and life

Chances are anyone familiar with Winnipeg will have seen some of the creative works of Hubert Kondziela.

Unlike gallery pieces, where each one features the signature of the artist, Kondziela’s craftsmanship doesn’t come with a label, but they remain part of his legacy and the historical beauty of this city.

From giant artifacts and cultural landmarks — including a seven-metre windmill for a local garden centre that still stands, complete with revolving sails — to significant repairs to the exterior and interior of the Witch’s Hut in Kildonan Park, Kondziela’s contributions to the esthetics of Winnipeg will live on.

Meticulously sanding, fixing and painting the gingerbread motifs on the exterior walls of that iconic park piece, the craftsman also designed and built several structures for Folklorama, including a large portable stage. For the Christmas Market, he created a gingerbread hut and two nutcrackers measuring eight feet high.

Polish-born queen of the kitchen at Crossways in Common made Winnipeg her home, generosity her legacy

Every chef has their signature dish. For Julia Child, it was vichyssoise. For your grandmother, it might have been an earthy borscht with a dollop of sour cream. In West Broadway, Zyta Zepp was famous for her hangover soup, which always tasted different but was each time made the same.

Each Monday, a treasure chest of donated foodstuffs would arrive at the 1JustCity community kitchen at Crossways in Common, where at least 500 people lined up for free meals each week. She did not have the luxury of hand-picking her ingredients, so each hangover soup was stirred into existence by means of improvisation.

But that didn’t mean Zepp — who died last May at age 67 — made any excuses for absence of flavour. Spaghetti sauce, pearl barley, pickles and cheddar? It went in the soup. Basmati rice, chicken thighs, lemon juice and prunes? Zepp made it work. From her garden on Furby Street, she’d contribute her own fresh dill and onions when they were in season.

“I’m a pretty good cook, but I never had the ability that she had to turn out something original, delicious and nutritious day after day,” says Jim Zepp, who married Zyta in a ceremony at the Crossways drop-in in spring 2020.

Writer, blogger and business owner spent her time uplifting others

An artist and a shining light for everyone she knew, Alyson Shane saw the beauty in others, but not always in herself.

Shane was enthusiastically present and caring for friends, family, community and her cats and was committed to justice, human rights and art.

She struggled bravely and openly with the mental-health challenges that let her give more love to others than she was able to receive.

Shane died unexpectedly on Nov. 6, 2024, a few days before her 37th birthday.

The adventurous love story of Ted and Dawn Allan

From the time they were teenagers, Ted and Dawn Allan shared an unbridled sense of adventure.

In fact, it was that sense of adventure that first drew them to each other as teenagers and kept them together for more than 60 years until their death last December.

Their adventure began in 1955 when a 19-year-old Ted Allan left Winnipeg and travelled to London, England, where he landed a job cleaning up debris left over from the Second World War.

It was miserable, back-breaking work and after just a few weeks of enduring the cold, wet English weather, he marched into a travel agent’s office and begged them to send him somewhere warm.

Lawyer, philanthropist had a fierce sense of social justice

A luminary in human rights advocacy, Canadian lawyer Yude Henteleff was a natural explorer both in his travels and in his daily life. Henteleff lived 97 years with passion and dynamism.

He died Dec. 8, 2024.

Henteleff’s accomplishments and list of awards and accolades began at age 16 when he was elected president of the Jewish Youth Council and then to the youth division of the Canadian Jewish Congress. His activities in the Jewish community were extensive and lifelong.

The father, grandfather and partner lived life to the fullest, propelled by a fierce sense of social justice and belief in “tikkun olam,” a Hebrew phrase meaning “to repair the world.”

Helga Malis of Gimli was proud of her Icelandic heritage and loved to share it

While her adult life involved many moves across Canada, Gimli was always home for Helga Malis — a proud Icelandic-Canadian whose children celebrated her as the “heart and soul” of their family.

When Malis (née Peterson) retired from the federal civil service, she returned to the Interlake community and devoted her time to all things Gimli and all things Icelandic.

“It was a way of finding herself again, and going back and finding her whole self,” said Vivian Painter, one of Malis’s six children. “In a way, it was like completing that circle and coming back to where she left, with a commitment to invest in the community that brought her into this world.”

The new chapter in her hometown saw Malis volunteer with local and international Icelandic organizations, and receive a high honour from one of Manitoba’s largest festivals, while sharing her knowledge and traditions with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Farmer, Keystone Agricultural Producers president, father: Bill Campbell put in the work

Bill Campbell joked he was surrounded by girls — his wife, his daughters, the cows.

Really, though, he was surrounded by community. His family bore witness at his funeral: in one pew were members of the Keystone Agricultural Producers, the organization he led for years. Members of other associations he headed arrived, then his fastball friends, then his former university peers.

They all expressed condolences for the man who regularly brought farmers’ concerns to government.

“The same theme kept coming up,” recalled Kaitlin Nykoliation, his youngest daughter. “He made time for everybody.”

Honoured educator and author, gentle father, devoted Sundancer and fire-keeper

Indigenous teachings and practices resonated deeply and provided a place of belonging for Blair Robillard, who’d always been a seeker of truth, wisdom and knowledge.

While not born into it, Robillard found his spirituality in university. There, he first recognized a great love and respect for Indigenous people, living their teachings and understandings throughout his life, his illness and ultimately even his death from cancer on Sept. 16, 2024 at age 66.

Robillard had become a genuine servant of the people, a warrior, a helper, a Sundancer and a teacher known for his compassion.

The second of three boys, Robillard was born in 1958 on a Royal Canadian Air Force base in France. At 17, he moved to Winnipeg and eventually to Winnipeg Beach. A natural-born storyteller, Robillard was eager to learn about everything.

Marketing exec, musician, outdoors enthusiast put a positive spin on everything

With the Winnipeg Jets ranking as one of the top teams in the National Hockey League this season, it’s a near certainty this city is going to experience another fabled Winnipeg Whiteout come April.

Sadly, one of the architects of the whiteout campaign won’t be around to cheer on the team when the playoffs get underway.

Madeline Hanson was the vice-president of marketing for the Jets when the idea for the Whiteout was conceived in April 1987 in the lead up to the team’s opening round playoff series with their archrival Calgary Flames.

Hanson passed away last August following a bout with ovarian cancer.

Professor, scientist, husband and father believed in supporting those around him

There are those who believe true happiness and success come from being part of something bigger than the self. Dr. James (Jim) House understood and lived that philosophy.

“His goal was for everyone to rise together and accomplish things as a team,” said his wife, Aileen.

And that’s what he did, every day, in his work, his marriage, his family and his community. The professor, scientist, husband and father carried with him a genuine interest in supporting the next generation and elevating people’s comfort and spirits.

“Jim was, quite simply, the most beautiful soul you could ever imagine; he was truly the kindest person imaginable,” Aileen said.

Baker, small business owner and father lived for family and friends

Heroes come in different forms. They’re not always well-known or making headlines. Sometimes they’re regular folk bringing joy in big and small ways to the people in their lives.

Gregory John Franklin was an everyday champion who made people feel happy and appreciated. Following a sudden medical condition, he died in August at age 65.

Franklin grew up in Oak Bluff, a small community southwest of Winnipeg. After high school, he took the Red River College culinary arts program, from which he graduated with honours, specializing in baking. Soon after he found employment at Winnipeg’s iconic Kub Bakery, where he worked for many years mastering his craft before realizing his dream of having his own bakery. He married and had a son, Taylor, who instantly became the love of his life.

The winner of a Robin Hood baking contest purchased Oma’s Bakeshop on Henderson Highway in 2001, and for 17 years his passion for baking allowed him to flourish and create a wide variety of popular pastries and breads. Ten years later, Franklin opened a gluten-free bakery called Opa’s in Charleswood.

From young RCAF pilot to senior golf champion

Clifford Jack Widdicombe was one of the most grounded people you were ever likely to meet.

Known as Jack, Widdicombe was born May 2, 1921, on his family’s farm near the town of Foxwarren and spent the majority of his life there. He took over the family farm soon after the Second World War and, in 1947, married his high school sweetheart, Florence Peterson, with whom he raised three children, Melva, Daryl and Penny.

He became well-known in the community thanks in large part to his willingness to help others. He operated the local snowplow for several winters, coached and refereed minor hockey for many seasons and served on the board of the Manitoba Pool Elevators.

As grounded as he was, Widdicombe also soared to great heights — literally.

Ian Smith turned a passion for science into a lifetime of helping others

Cancer research or middle school science — either way, Ian Smith was hooked.

By the time he was helping his children with their science lessons, he’d already earned a Cambridge University doctoral degree in theoretical chemistry, conducted post-doctoral research at Stanford University and been poached by National Research Council Canada.

He built the council’s Institute for Biodiagnostics in Winnipeg, published more than 430 articles, received a plethora of awards — including the Star of Romania from the country’s president and Manitoba’s highest honour, the Order of the Buffalo Hunt — and launched several successful medical device companies.

He was “the best grampy ever” by granddaughter Mackenzie Smith’s estimation.

Dedicated husband and father created space for the people around him to become the best version of themselves

For as long as it has existed, the word love — while a many-splendoured thing — has been overused and misused. But for Hugh Donald Sutherland, that word lived at the heart of his 94-year life story.

Sutherland died on July 30 with Alesa, his wife of 22 years, beside him. Predeceased by two wives, he leaves behind three children, three stepchildren and three grandchildren.

Alesa met the love of her life while working as a private consultant in Saskatchewan.

“The door opened and in walked this incredibly handsome man,” she recalled. “He wore a suit so well, like Jean-Luc Picard, which appealed to me immensely.”

Winnipeg woman leaves mark on law enforcement, fitness industry

Few phrases define Linda Kisil better than the one she professed over and over again during an 18-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

“She kept saying, ‘Why me?’ but then she in the same breath would say, ‘Why not me?’” recalled Murray Chimilar about his loving partner of 23 years, who never wavered in her belief that she would outwill the vicious disease.

It was that persevering attitude that Kisil carried with her in every facet of life until she died on June 16, her 70th birthday.

“Absolutely a fighter,” is how Chimilar, struggling through tears, described Kisil, a breast cancer survivor in 2009 who underwent 10 rounds of chemotherapy in her last fight. “Absolutely so strong, so strong-minded, so determined that she was going to beat this and that she wanted to beat it.”

Passionate audio engineer made Winnipeg’s music scene sing

Henry Kreindler was no rock star, but you might be hard pressed to find anyone who helped define the sound of Winnipeg’s music scene in the 1980s more than he.

Kreindler owned and managed Banquox Sound, a music hub that provided audio services for many big-name acts who performed in the city during the ’80s, including Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Three Dog Night and KISS. He was also the go-to audio guy for events such as the Winnipeg Folk Festival and Folklorama, and set up sound systems in many of the city’s best-known nightclubs and churches.

His roots in the local music scene date back to the late 1960s when he played bass guitar in a couple of high school bands including one outfit known as the Pumpkin Tree. Even though Kreindler enjoyed performing, what really held his interest was the way the vocals, instruments and audio equipment combined to create a unique sound.

That fascination led him to start building his own speakers in his parents’ North End garage, using some of the old carpentry tools his dad, Dov, had lying around. By the time he finished high school he was selling his handmade speakers to a number of performers and soon after turned it into a full-time enterprise that also offered audio rentals and installed PA systems for live concerts.

From Action Line to Nana time

Carol Armit’s life was guided by her big imagination, dreams and heart.

Born April 19, 1943, Armit grew up in the tiny community of McCreary, southeast of Dauphin. The eldest of Irene and Jack Little’s six kids, she loved and admired her feisty, beautiful mom and hardworking father, the latter of whom was both McCreary’s pharmacist and mayor.

McCreary would always be home, but Armit was destined for bigger things.

“Carol, she was an actress,” recalls lifelong friend Sandy Bissoon. “She was very dramatic, even when she was little, but not precocious … she just had that flair.”

Teacher, home economist, single mother, remembered for her unwavering strength

Lorraine Shirley Woods-Bavasah thrived in the face of adversity and broke barriers — from growing up on a Manitoba farm to raising two kids in a time of considerable stigma against single mothers. A loving and supportive mom, she balanced her responsibilities at home while pursuing a university degree and career that saw her become a pioneering home economics teacher in Winnipeg.

Doctor, uncle, philanthropist Paul Wawryko ‘was 100 per cent when he was with you, and he made you feel 100 per cent’

Born on Dec. 19, 1981, to proud parents Lindsay and Tony, Paul Wawryko was the middle child, sharing a special bond with his two sisters, Ashley and Heather.

Ashley, the eldest of the three, recalls a typical childhood growing up in St. James, with her parents running the three of them to their various sporting events, while summers were spent at the family cabin in Riding Mountain National Park. As they entered adulthood, the bond between them only strengthened, with Paul often providing a soft landing spot for his sisters whenever they needed advice.

“He was my rock,” Ashley remembers fondly. “He didn’t always have the answer you wanted, but he always had a really good perspective. I try to think about that a lot now when I’m making decisions in my life — what would Paul do?”

Dr. Paul Wawryko died of an aortic dissection on Dec. 8, 2023. He was 41 years old.

Optimistic and a lover of life, beloved educator Shirley Koroluk changed lives

Shirley Koroluk was a school teacher in the tiny village of Benito who had such a huge influence on her students that many went on to achieve success in different fields of life.

For example, Koroluk introduced the game of curling to Ed Werenich, who would become a world champion. She inspired Myrna Driedger to get into politics; she went on to be an MLA and House Speaker. Another student, Jim Makichuk, wrote a book based on Benito and is now a Hollywood scriptwriter.

“She was one of those remarkable teachers that inspired a lot of us,” Driedger said. “She was an extremely innovative teacher who loved her work.”

Werenich readily admits that Koroluk encouraged him to pursue the Roarin’ Game.

Hinton Bradbury, who died in June at the age of 82, was a gifted psychology professor, a dedicated mentor

When fresh-faced students flock to the University of Winnipeg campus in a few weeks, for the first time in nearly half a century they will not have the opportunity to learn about what’s happening in their own heads from Hinton Bradbury, a gifted professor of psychology who joined the faculty in 1974.

Rev. Don Ross a trailblazer in Winnipeg church community

‘Everyone is equal in the eyes of God” is an oft-quoted phrase. But for Rev. Don Ross, the words served as a firmly established guiding principle for both his personal and professional life.

A man of deep faith, Ross was a trailblazer in the church community, coming out publicly and with confidence.

A leader in the acceptance of all sexual orientations in the United Church when it was largely taboo, Ross was known for his advocacy work, encouraging and creating welcoming ministries.

His efforts led toward Augustine United Church becoming the first officially Affirming mainstream church in Canada.

‘Memorable Manitoban’ a prolific painter, and more

Listed as one of the Manitoba Historical Society’s Memorable Manitobans, Donald McMaster will be remembered as an artist, naturalist and outdoorsman who worked tirelessly to protect and care for natural spaces. But his impact didn’t just come from his passion for activities. McMaster lived his life mindfully present, always learning, teaching and wanting to understand.

After a 30-year career in education, teaching at East St. Paul Collegiate, serving as vice-principal at River East Collegiate and as principal of Kildonan-East Collegiate, McMaster retired in his 50s and continued to live life fully until the very end.

Born in Winnipeg, McMaster lived in the same River Heights house he grew up in until the mid 1990s, when he and his wife, Ardythe, built their home at Prairie Bluff. Together they had a son and a daughter, and the family grew to include five grandchildren.

Over many years, the couple helped build the popular Bittersweet Ski Trails, located in the Assiniboine River Valley, while McMaster also pursued his passion for painting, his medium inspired by the Canadian landscape.

Feisty as they come

Doris Woodward never studied piano, but it could be said the musical instrument played a key role in defining the person she became.

Woodward was born April 5, 1926 in Winnipeg, where she grew up on Lipton Street in the city’s West End with her parents Fredrick and Maud Weitman, sisters Ivy, Eileen and Elsie and brother Fred.

As a child, she had to undergo multiple surgeries to treat osteomyelitis, a serious bone infection that caused her to endure severe pain in her right leg. This was during the 1930s, before publicly funded health care was introduced in Canada. As a result, her parents were forced to sell the family’s prized piano to pay for Woodward’s medical expenses, much to her regret.

“She never got over that,” says her son Fraser. “She always regretted that my grandparents had to give up their prized possession. She even tried to buy it back when she got older.”

Evelyne Reese, who passed away at 91, remembered for courage and conviction in Winnipeg politics and beyond

It is said it’s not the size of the person in a fight that’s important, but rather the size of the fight in that person.

Few people lived up to that adage quite like Evelyne Reese. The former Winnipeg city councillor may have been rather small in stature, but she rarely backed down from defending what she believed in.

“She always came to a discussion arguing this was the view of her constituents,” says former councillor Chris Lorenc who engaged in many heated debates with Reese during their time together on council in the 1980s and ’90s.

“She was connected and had a good ear for her constituents and did try to resolve issues that she brought to the table that were irritants to a happier constituency. We knew that was her approach and we knew that she would be tenacious and would push and push until there was a decision.”

Mennonite publisher fuelled by curiosity and religious reverence

An important figure in the Mennonite community, the nationally known and widely respected writer, editor and publisher Harold Jantz was fascinated with every opportunity to learn. Curiosity fuelled his work.

His faith was at the core of all he did, as was his belief in a good and peaceful world.

For decades, Jantz edited Mennonite and Christian publications. He was the founding publisher and editor of the national evangelical newspaper ChristianWeek, and contributed articles to other publications, including numerous letters and op-eds to the Free Press. Jantz also organized a national Faith and the Media conference in Ottawa in 1996, bringing together several hundred media personnel and faith representatives.

While chronicling his parents’ life history, Jantz eventually compiled Flight: Mennonites Facing the Soviet Empire in 1929/30, from the pages of the Mennonitische Rundschau. The 375-page translation into English of letters from ordinary Russian Mennonites to their relatives in Canada was a labour of love.

Diabetes researcher and doting aunt lived an accomplished life

Helen Bowen was exceptional in more ways than one. In the 1940s and 1950s, when it wasn’t particularly common for women to pursue an education in the sciences, Bowen studied math, physics and chemistry at the University of Manitoba. After graduating, she worked as a scientist in diabetes research.

An accomplished athlete — another uncommon field of endeavour for women back then — Bowen competed as member of a synchronized swimming team when she was in her 20s and working in Chicago, and later became a Manitoba champion in mixed-doubles badminton.

She was the longest standing member of her golf club, and at 87, she achieved the goal of golfers both novice and professional: she got her first hole-in-one.

She broke ground, blazed some trails and, in her 80s (when many of her own peers hadn’t even learned to use a computer) was volunteering in a class to help teach new immigrants computer skills.

Devoted, tenacious wife, mother and commissioner of Manitoba Girl Guides carried lifelong physical challenges with inspiring courage

Doug Anderson vividly remembers meeting Carol, his wife-to-be, while both were involved as counsellors at a Manitoba camp for children with physical disabilities. They were both 17 years old and just out of high school.

“I met her and as soon as I saw her, I knew she was the one. Both of us knew,” Doug recalls.

“We were married for 52 1/2 years; 56 years altogether.”

Struck with polio at the age of two, Doug Anderson faced lifelong challenges and disabilities resulting from that early illness.

‘Mad Mountain Mike’ was both friendly face and heinous heel

The local pro wrestler once known as “Mad Mountain Mike” had a unique sense of humour, said those who knew him best.

“He was quite out there,” said his son, Brett Phillips, the oldest of the three children who survive him.

Brett, 29, recalled one practical joke his father played.

“My father had convinced me and my sister, Crystal, that there were these things in the field called snipes,” he said. “We would go out there with little wooden bats and tin foil on our heads and we would go into the field yelling, ‘Snipe, snipe, snipe!’ They would supposedly come up and we would whack them on the head like Whac-a-Mole.”

Leading radiologist provided ‘ray of light’ at dark time for local performance groups along with decades of support

It was a few months into his overseas tour when a 20-year-old Canadian air force navigator named Douglas MacEwan left the theatre of war behind in order to experience theatre itself.

When he enlisted in 1943, MacEwan was posted to a flying patrol squadron under Coastal Command, responsible for patrolling the Bay of Biscay and the inner British coasts, scanning to detect any threats in Allied waters during the latter days of the Battle of the Atlantic.

“It was our job to catch (the U-boats) before they preyed on any of these vessels and prevented their supplies from reaching England,” he later recalled.

But in the summer of 1944, MacEwan — born in Ottawa and raised first in Butte, Mont., and later Montreal — was granted a brief reprieve from flotational threats, sent for a session of land-based flight training in Cambridge, about 100 kilometres north of London’s New Theatre. That summer, the Old Vic repertory company was putting on Ibsen’s Peer Gynt and Shakespeare’s Richard III, with the cast led by an actor named Laurence Olivier.

Founding member of Winnipeg’s Hinode Taiko never stopped trying new things

Taiko drumming is a team sport. Performers create chest-thumping rhythms by beating large drums in sweeping, synchronized movements. It’s as much a choreographed dance routine as it is a visceral concert experience.

Yvonne Zarnowski was a founding member of Winnipeg’s Hinode Taiko group and a woman who — throughout life — marched to the beat of her own drum. She died in October at the age of 68.

“She was very direct,” says Pamela Okano, Hinode’s longtime artistic director. “I loved that about her.”

The second-youngest of four siblings, Zarnowski was born in Germany to Polish and Lithuanian parents displaced by the Second World War. The family moved to Winnipeg via transatlantic voyage in the late 1950s and settled in the city’s North End.

Veteran broadcaster and singer Maureen Murphy known for her sense of humour

Maureen Murphy loved to laugh.

The veteran Winnipeg vocalist and broadcaster was one of those magnetic people who drew people to her, whether it was through her quick wit, beautiful singing voice, the warmth that radiated from her, or yes, her laugh.

She died in December of complications from COPD. She was 73.

“She was always lots of fun,” says her younger sister, Aileen Murphy, via Zoom from her home in Kamloops, B.C. “She loved to laugh and joke and just have a party all the time. She was very witty. She was a good playmate as a child. The three of us were together a lot.”

Well-known Winnipeg doctor delivered kindness to many

It was a scene right out of a classic TV sitcom: A sedan speeds by a police car and the officer takes off in hot pursuit.

The cop catches up with the speedster and pulls him over. The driver of the vehicle explains that he’s a doctor rushing to the hospital to deliver a baby.

The officer looks down at the driver and shouts in amazement, “Hey! You’re Dr. Barnes! You delivered my three kids!” Needless to say, the speeding ticket wasn’t issued.

Without much embellishment, according to his daughter Enid Barnes, this scene was said to have occurred in Winnipeg several decades ago while obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Philip Barnes was caring for patients in the city.

Lawyer, judge, politician who helped found Westminster Housing Society, PTE, Charles Huband had ‘no concept of retirement’

Even on his 90th birthday, Charles (Charlie) Huband was reluctant to retire.

By then, it had been six decades since he’d started practising law and 15 years after his mandatory retirement as a judge on the Manitoba Court of Appeal.

“His brain was churning and he had ideas,” says his youngest daughter, Barb Huband.

Finding the forced retirement ridiculous, Huband had returned to practising law after leaving the bench. But after turning 90, he closed his law practice. He died the next year, in June 2023, at age 91.

A life of faith and compassionate service

Everyone — friends, family, colleagues and strangers alike — knew they could trust him, the guy with the big heart and the kindness in his eyes.

In a world in which everyday life can be a struggle, Rev. Dr. Paul Marshall Campbell was there for those who needed him. A United Church of Canada minister, husband, father, grandfather and friend, Paul died on July 5, 2023, at age 80.

Born in Winnipeg and raised in Elmwood, the neighbourhood that would remain centrally important to him throughout his life, Paul received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Winnipeg, entered the faculty of theology and, in 1966, was ordained to ministry in the United Church of Canada.

Ethel was by his side for all of that and more. She met Paul in junior high. Both were involved with the United Church young people’s groups, teaching Sunday school and attending the same dances. They had a lot in common and married in 1965.

Marlene O’Brien, 92, ‘gave her whole life to doing the best she could with this big family’

In autumn 1948, 17-year-old Marlene Lathey, ripe with talent and determination, set a personal record, bowling a 600 series.

It captured the attention of the local newspaper, which published her impressive feat. It also captured the admiration of Harry O’Brien, a Second World War veteran and fellow bowler.

“My dad was a really elite athlete. He played high levels of baseball and hockey, and he had his name published in the paper a bunch of times,” says daughter Shelagh O’Brien. “So now, here’s this gal whose got her name in the paper… And so he said, ‘Hey, do you want to go for coffee?’”

She didn’t drink coffee, but still said yes. Three months later, they got engaged on Christmas Eve.

Despite significant hurdles, Crystal Reiter’s passion for life and love of family inspired everyone she knew

Crystal Reiter knew the Bible, having read it in its entirety. The way she lived reflected her knowledge of verse 1 of chapter 11 in the book of Hebrews: “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”

This inspired her ability to forge ahead no matter what, never wallowing in struggles but embracing a strong desire to work through them and then move on. That was her approach to life.

In 1993, Reiter was in a serious car accident in rural Manitoba when the vehicle she was driving was hit by a drunk driver. The collision resulted in the inebriated driver’s death while Reiter and her oldest son spent time in hospital with serious life-changing injuries.

Despite the significant effect on family life, Crystal focused on healing and getting the care required for her son so he had everything he needed to recover.

Battle with ALS brought overwhelming struggle for supports

Sathya Dhara Kovac knew when she was going to die.