Local author, beloved church member dies after being hit by car in Osborne Village

A local author, beloved by her church and community, has died after a motorist struck her while she was crossing the street in Osborne Village Friday afternoon.

Rosalie Tennison, 67, was hospitalized after the collision and was awaiting surgery on broken bones in her leg. She had an unexpected medical event and died early Saturday, her sister Lynette Tennison told the Free Press.

She is the ninth pedestrian killed on Winnipeg streets this year, and the 16th person killed in a vehicle collision, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release.

“Rosalie was a person who was always thoughtful of people’s challenges, always thinking about the other (person) first,” said Dolores Tjart, a close friend who is president of the condo board at the Roslyn Road building where she lived.

Police said the collision occurred at the intersection of Roslyn Road and Osborne Street around 1:20 p.m. The victim was crossing Osborne when she was hit by a 2014 Ford Fusion that was travelling west on Roslyn. She was taken to the hospital in stable condition, the release said.

Police have not indicated whether criminal charges are being considered. The 32-year-old man driving the vehicle remained at the scene. The investigation continues.

News about the tragedy shocked those who knew and loved Tennison, said Sue Roe-Finlay, reverend deacon at the Parish Church of St. Luke on Nassau Street North, where Tennison was a member.

The close-knit congregation of about 50 people learned about her death Saturday night, and dedicated the Sunday morning church service to their late friend.

“At church yesterday, they were just reeling; people were just overwhelmed. We were encouraging them at coffee to share, and I think some of them — they just couldn’t put words together,” Roe-Finlay said. “She is very much part of the fabric of our church. She is amazing.”

Roe-Finlay said Tennison joined the church around six years ago, where she quickly developed a reputation for being “welcoming and warm.”

Tennison was an active member of the congregation who participated in services by reading, taking collection and greeting parishioners.

“She’s been part of our fundraisers. She often appeared at church with crafts and things that she would sell. She loved books and reading,” Roe-Finlay said. “She just seemed to be able to latch on to what people would like or need.”

Most recently, she was organizing a fundraising event for the church that included a private screening of a Christmas movie partially filmed there. That event is set to continue in her honour on Saturday, Roe-Finlay said.

The church is considering hosting a tea party in her honour next spring.

“People will have to wear hats because Rosalie loved hats.”

Ev Strong, who was friends with Tennison for 45 years, said she last spoke with her around 8:30 p.m. Friday, while Tennison was in the hospital awaiting further exams.

“She said… she saw (the motorist) coming,” Strong said. “She was almost at her curb and she waved at him and he wasn’t paying attention, and then she said her arm hit his car and the next thing he hit her.”

Strong described her longtime friend as “intrepid” and “an inspiration.”

“Everything that scared her, she went and did,” Strong said. “For her whole life, she wanted to write a book, and she did it.”

Tennison’s debut book, Naomi’s Houses: A Memoir, launched with Heritage House Publishing last spring. It chronicled her childhood in rural Manitoba, where her family battled poverty, overcame tragedies and sought solace in one another.

A biography on the publisher’s website noted Tennison was a longtime agricultural journalist whose career spanned weekly newspapers, agricultural trade magazines and a stint at a small-town radio station. She also worked in the communications department of the faculty of agriculture and food sciences at the University of Manitoba.

Tennison earned a gold citation from the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation and was a gold-medal winner of a 2022 Canadian Online Publishing Award, the biography said.

A spokesperson from the publishing house called Tennison a “lovely and enthusiastic woman” and said they were deeply saddened by news of her death.

Tennison contributed to the pages of the Free Press, including sharing her thoughts in letters to the editor, and writing a 2019 opinion column detailing her love for Manitoba winters.

She was raised in Manitoba’s Swan Valley region, and later moved to Ontario where she was married and lived for about 25 years, her sister said.

She returned to Winnipeg after her husband died about seven years ago. She did not have children, Strong said.

Tennison will be buried in a family plot in Bowsman, a small community around 15 kilometres north of Swan River, in the RM of Minitonas.

She is the second pedestrian killed by a motorist in Winnipeg this month. A 68-year-old man died after he was hit by a pickup truck at Salter Street and Selkirk Avenue at about 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 15. The driver was co-operative with police, and the investigation is ongoing, WPS said.

Manitoba Public Insurance issued a warning last month to alert people to the vulnerability of pedestrians on the roadway. It said there has been an average of 19 pedestrian deaths in the province annually since 2019.

As of Nov. 23, 16 pedestrians have died on Manitoba roadways this year, MPI said.

In total, the data shows five people have been hit by vehicles at the intersection of Osborne Street and Roslyn Road in the past four years — including two people this year, one person last year and two more in 2022.

Nobody was struck at the intersection in 2023.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca