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Raymond Cadieux served with the military — but he travelled the world armed with only his clarinet.
Raymond, who was 91 when he died on Dec. 16, was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Command Band for decades.
It wasn’t just practice that allowed him to play in the band; he also had to serve.
Raymond grew up in Vankleek Hill in Ontario before moving to Winnipeg to join the Canadian Armed Forces, first in the artillery and later as part of the Royal Canadian Air Command Band. He played for audiences around the world for almost 30 years.
Raymond then worked in the movie industry for more than two decades, rising to become city manager in Winnipeg for Cineplex Odeon Theatres. He then worked in production at Boeing for five years before retiring.
Read more about Raymond.
How They Lived
Brenlee Werner wanted to be an interior designer.
Brenlee, who was 89 when she died on Dec. 11, started her interior design degree at the University of Manitoba and finished it in New York City, where her husband did his ophthalmology residency.
After returning to Winnipeg, she became a realtor and developer. She was the first in Winnipeg to renovate a heritage building into condos. She worked on Banbury Court and Bonaventure Village and was longtime property manager of the Western Canada Lottery Building.
Read more about Brenlee.
Chris Sobkowicz was a champion for people living with disabilities.
Chris, who died Dec. 23 at age 71, won gold in the Canadian and World Wheelchair curling championships.
He later became coordinator of the city’s former access advisory committee, which worked to give city councillors advice on accessibility issues.
Read more about Chris.
Selma Albersheim was born in Germany in 1923, but escaped the horrors of the Nazi regime.
Selma, who was 101 when she died on Dec. 22, settled with her parents and four brothers to a farm near Winnipeg.
In 1947 she married Eugene, and the couple founded Sport-Ease Fashions, where women bought fashionable and warm coats for 45 years.
Read more about Selma.
Bob Seguin was playing for the Flin Flon Bombers when he was scouted by the Detroit Red Wings.
Bob, who died Dec. 15 at age 92, went to that team’s training camp and was wined and dined by Gordie Howe himself — but he was ultimately rejected because he was “a little guy,” his family says.
He played professionally in the English league — travelling throughout Europe and the then-Soviet Union —before returning to Manitoba, where he worked at the paper mill in Pine Falls while playing for the Pine Falls Paper Kings (and eventually the Oldtimers).
Read more about Bob.
Deb Nickel helped generations of students dabble in art.
Deb, who was 72 when she died on Dec. 16, was an art teacher at St. Mary’s Academy for 34 years.
She was instrumental in creating an unparalleled art program at the school.
Read more about Deb.
Ted Wyman loved reporting on sports.
Ted, who died on Nov. 9 at 58 years of age, was a reporter at the Brandon Sun and Moose Jaw Times-Herald before joining the Winnipeg Sun.
He rose to be sports editor and was later inducted into the media roll of honour with the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
Read more about Ted.
Barb Whitla was a nurse who raised money to help her patients.
Barb, who was 86 when she died on Dec. 19, became a nurse after graduating from the Children’s Hospital School of Nursing, first at the Winnipeg General Hospital and later at Children’s.
Her volunteerism, which helped her patients, continued for more than six decades, through the Annie A. Bond Guild, Peter Pan Club, CH Nurses Alumnae, and the Children’s Hospital Guild of Manitoba.
Bard sorted books weekly for the annual Children’s Hospital Book Market and helped launch a program supplying knitted red Christmas toques to premature babies.
Read more about Barb.
It’s never to late to change your dreams.
Maxine Beatty, who was 75 when she died on Dec. 19, dreamed of being a psychiatric nurse — but when she achieved that dream, she found it wasn’t for her.
So Maxine switched careers and found her calling in banking. She rose to become branch manager at several BMO branches in the city before retiring at 55.
Read more about Maxine.
A Life’s Story
For decades, Shirley Eng’s restaurant was synonymous with chicken fingers in Winnipeg.
Shirley opened Mitzi’s Restaurant in 1978 with her husband, the name riffing on the term for “tasty food” in Cantonese.
Owner Shirley Eng at Mitzi’s Chicken Finger Restaurant in 2018. It closed in April after 46 years of operation. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)
The restaurant was supposed to be an interim business to pay for the couple’s dreams of becoming fashion designers in New York City.
But with the success of the restaurant, those plans changed. It stayed open until Shirley retired last April. She died Dec. 1.
“She was fierce, passionate, generous, devoted and supportive,” said Shirley’s daughter, Irene Wallin. “Mom lived by the mantra of ‘work hard, stay humble, be kind and do your best.’”
Read more about Shirley’s life in our latest Passages feature story.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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