One last standing ovation for St. Germain

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This article was published 06/07/2024 (452 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Family, friends and fans who gathered at Calvary Temple Church to remember Manitoba Métis music legend Ray St. Germain Saturday stood as loved ones walked in, carrying roses. The audience sat, but were quickly ushered to stand again by master of ceremonies and fellow musician Joey Gregorash.

It was one final standing ovation for St. Germain, who will be laid to rest this weekend. He was 83 years old when he died on June 25.

A musician since he was 14, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Famer was the first Winnipegger to produce a record that hit the national charts in 1958 and spent over 50 years in radio and television.

His last performance was in June, at a street-naming in his honour in his native St. Vital, where he performed a cover of Elvis Presley’s It’s Now or Never.

He was Winnipeg’s Elvis — or, rather, Elvis was Graceland’s Ray St. Germain, long-time friend and former MLA Kevin Chief told the crowd of hundreds that gathered to remember St. Germain.

Chief described St. Germain as a storyteller and an Indigenous icon that connected people of all ages, be it older folks who remembered him from his hits like 1973’s I’m Mighty Proud I’m Métis or the younger crowd, who knew him as a voice in the popular children’s television show Tipi Tales.

“Ray made me better. I think he made all of us better,” Chief said.

“And by building bridges the way he did, he played a key role in reconciliation long before we ever started to use that word the way we use it today.”

Saturday’s ceremony included a recorded message from Premier Wab Kinew, who called St. Germain “one of the troubadours” of Manitoba’s Métis culture, and a slew of speakers, including fellow radio host Naomi Clarke, who co-hosted Métis Hour X2 on NCI FM with St. Germain.

She remembered him as a consummate professional and a gentleman, who was known for showing up early and served as a mentor to Clarke who would call in every Saturday after he retired from the show.

”I know people come into our lives for a reason, and I’m thankful Ray came into mine,” she said.

The show was co-founded by Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand nearly 30 years ago, in a small basement office on River Avenue, where they would play music mailed in.

Chartrand said St. Germain would refuse to play tapes sent in that weren’t up to his high standards — because he saw the show as a chance for new musicians to put their best foot forward, and possibly even kick-start a career.

“He wanted to do a radio show for young people, that they could bring their music, their voices, to the front, and a chance might come,” he said.

Glory St. Germain, Ray’s wife, closed out the speeches. The pair met at a beauty pageant where she was a contestant and he a performer. She didn’t win that pageant, but said she was given a gift that lasted the rest of her life.

He died on the day the pair met, 50 years ago.

“He liked to plan things, and his passing was no different,” she said.

The ceremony closed off with musical tributes, including performances from St. Germain’s family.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca