How They Lived
Beverley Kawchuk spoke only Ukrainian when she started in a one-room schoolhouse near her home on a farm in Brokenhead. Her love of reading led her to become a librarian; her family says she had 28 books ordered at the library when she died.
Read more about Beverley.
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Helmut Harder was an elementary school teacher who became a theology professor at the Canadian Mennonite Bible College. He was a founder of the Winnipeg Mennonite School and was General Secretary of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada.
Read more about Helmut.
Wendy Pritchard was a teacher for more than three decades at Parc La Salle and then La Salle School.
But she also was an accomplished baton twirler – not only a provincial champion, but also a judge at international competitions.
Read more about Wendy.
Randall Westman worked with his dad at the family business, Manitoba Pant, making clothes.
He and his wife bought Netley Resorts in 1995 and for the next three decades helped people make memories there.
Read more about Randall.
A Life’s Story
Ralph Cantafio was a humble man.
Oh, sure, he was on a first-name basis with premiers and prime ministers, who often visited his Corydon Avenue tailor’s shop just to chat.
Ralph Cantafio, seen here at his well-known tailor shop, Ralph’s, in 2016, is recognized as the father of modern soccer in Winnipeg. (Zachary Prong / Free Press files)
And it was common for soccer legends like Bob Lenarduzzi to call him up and ask for advice or talk about the current state of the beautiful game.
But despite rubbing elbows with countless famous and influential figures, Cantafio remained the same modest individual who left Italy in 1950 to start a new life in Winnipeg.
And what a remarkable life it turned out to be, one that included operating one of the city’s most well-known tailor shops, owning the city’s first professional men’s soccer team and serving as a pillar of the local Italian Canadian community for several decades.
Read more about Ralph.
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