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In another era, Enid Durward could have been a doctor.
Enid was born in Austin in 1928, and, by the time she was 20, she had already received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Manitoba.
But, unfortunately for Enid, the world was different for women then.
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“Her hopes of becoming a doctor were dashed as no women were accepted into pre-med that year,” her family says.
Instead, Enid trained as a laboratory technologist and she was working at Deer Lodge Hospital until she got married to Jim, who she knew in Austin, in 1951.
Jim worked with CP Rail and, because of his career, Enid and their family moved a few times including to Brandon, Thunder Bay and Souris.
Enid Durward
She would go on to work as chief technologist at the Brandon Clinic and at the Victoria Hospital in Winnipeg.
Earlier in life, while living in Austin, Enid served on the Austin Credit Union’s board, was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, taught at the local high school, and volunteered at the Threshermen’s Reunion.
She also was asked to second the nomination of Douglas Campbell who went on to become the province’s Premier in 1948.
After retiring, the couple travelled to Europe and Hawaii before wintering in Texas. Since her husband died, Enid continued to travel, seeing the pyramids and Great Wall of China and even going white-water rafting in her eighties.
Enid was predeceased by her husband of 52 years in 2003. She is survived by a daughter — former Progressive Conservative MLA Mavis Taillieu — a son, two grandsons and two great-grandsons.
Read more about Enid here.
How They Lived
Dave Wawryk was a baker.
Dave, who was 83 when he died March 24, worked at Safeway and then as a baking and patisserie instructor at Red River College.
He was also a longtime volunteer with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum and Archives and spent many hours organizing its collection and database.
Read more about Dave here.
Dave Wawryk
Marilyn Tkach loved to cook.
For Marilyn, who died March 12 at 88 years of age, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding were fixtures of Sunday dinners.
That’s probably why she wrote and designed her own cookbook with her favourite recipes. She also wrote the book Meandering with Marilyn.
Read more about Marilyn here.
Marilyn Tkach
Dr. John Wade was an anesthesiologist who advocated for patient safety.
John, who was 91 when he died July 17, 2025, graduated as a doctor from the University of Manitoba and later in life became the university’s Dean of Medicine.
He also left his mark on health care by serving as the province’s deputy minister of health and the founding chairman of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.
For his life’s service, John was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2019.
Read more about John here.
Dr. John Wade
Marion McNabb operated a grain farm with her husband near Minnedosa.
But Marion, who died March 16 at 97, did a lot off of the farm, too.
She was president of the Manitoba Women’s Institute, sat on its provincial board for years starting in 1974, and served as chairwoman of the province’s Farmlands Ownership Board.
Read more about Marion here.
Marion McNabb
Both Lionel Desmarais and his dad came up with inventions to make construction work easier.
Lionel, who was 73 when he died March 25, ran his own construction companies and invented a quicker way to lay fibre optic cables beside railway lines. His dad, who also had a construction company, invented a knife to cut through Manitoba gumbo for construction.
Lionel went on to help create the world’s largest fibre optic network.
Read more about Lionel here.
Lionel Desmarais
Donna Doyle was healthy for most of her 102 years of life.
Donna, who died March 30, was still living independently in her own condo until she fell in January.
Earlier in life, she loved to curl and was made an honorary life member of the Carman Ladies’ Curling Club.
Read more about Donna here.
Donna Doyle
Peter Maruca cut hair — a lot.
Peter, who was 102 when he died March 29, spent most of his life working as a barber.
He worked in Transcona, cut hair for both men and women, and when he hung up his scissors he was the oldest practicing barber both by age and seniority.
Read more about Peter here.
Peter Maruca
A Life’s Story
Tom Wilson helped build hockey in this province, even though he hung up his skates as a player in his teens.
Tom instead became a referee and then a hockey coach. He went on to serve three terms as president of Hockey Manitoba, helped found the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League, served as the league’s convenor for 15 years, and was president of the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League.
“He was always the guy that I could just pick up the phone and talk hockey with and he would give me advice from his past experience,” said Kerry Lines, current MMJHL president.
“He was just one of those guys that you don’t want to push into retirement because he continued to add value to any position that he served in.”
Read more about Tom’s life here.
Tom Wilson with his great-grandson Elliott.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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