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Harry Reiss didn’t join his dad in the family business, he hired his dad to join his family business.
And, because of Harry’s business, many Winnipeggers stayed warm through the years.
Harry, who died after a short illness on July 3 at 93 years of age, was the founder and owner of Reiss Furs and Fine Fashion, at 275 McDermot Ave.
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The salon sold high-end furs to retailers across North America, and some were even worn by celebrities, including Princess Anne and singer Diana Ross who went to the store herself to buy a full-length mink coat.
The salon in the Exchange District closed in 2008 when Harry and his brother, Sam, retired.
Harry was born in Poland in 1930. When the Second World War began, his family left and moved to Saskatchewan to begin farming. And at just 17, he left school and came to Winnipeg looking for work.
He found it, working 70-hour weeks in a fur-coat factory. But while Harry worked long hours, he had also found his passion. A few years later, he went to New York City to take formal training to become a furrier.
When he returned to Winnipeg to open his own business, he brought in not only his brother but his father and an uncle, too.
Through the years, the operation expanded to become the largest furrier business in Western Canada.
Harry was predeceased by his wife, Vicky. He is survived by three sons, six grandchildren, three siblings and his partner, Honey Kowell.
Read more about Harry
How They Lived
Kathy Yurkowski was a social worker.
Katherine, who died on Oct. 30 at 73, worked for Manitoba Child and Family Services and the Women’s Health Centre from 1972 to 1990.
But she changed direction in 1991 when she was hired to be executive director of the provincial government’s Seniors Directorate, reporting directly to the minister responsible for seniors.
Later, after leaving that job in 2000, she freelanced for a couple of years investigating allegations of senior abuse in care homes.
Read more about Kathy
Murray Watson was an artist who worked mostly with wood.
Murray, who was 62 when he died on Oct. 30, specialized in bird carvings.
But he became best known by the public for his “wood spirit” carvings in trees in the Bois-des-Esprit Forest. He also did snow sculptures at Festival du Voyageur.
Read more about Murray
You never know where you’ll meet your spouse.
For Vicky Deprez, who died on Oct. 29 at 71, it was during a trip to Hawaii at Shipwreck Kelly’s.
Turns out, Doug lived only 35 kilometres miles away from her home in Winnipeg, and eight months later they married. They were married 46 years until Doug died last year.
Vicky worked as a nurse in several places, including the Health Sciences Centre, Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit, northern rehabilitation, and home care.
Read more about Vicky
You can thank Bill Sedo for reducing auto theft here.
That’s because Bill, who was 67 when he died on Oct. 24, was working for probation services when the number of vehicle thefts carried out by youth exploded in the early 2000s.
He was added to the province’s auto-theft task force, which helped reduce auto thefts by 83 per cent. While working, Bill also introduced client risk assessments.
For Bill’s work reducing auto thefts, he was honoured by the Governor General.
Read more about Bill
Margaret Bergen taught Grade 1 to 8 students in one- and two-room schoolhouses in rural Manitoba at the beginning of her career.
Margaret, who died on Oct. 26 at 95, then taught in the Winnipeg School Division for eight years and, in between, went on an exchange for a year and taught in Coventry, England.
She took the university courses to get her Bachelor of Education through correspondence, night classes and summer school, and took two years off to attend the University of Manitoba and the Canadian Mennonite Bible College.
After 15 years of teaching, she changed direction to help children in a different way. She went back to university, got her Master of Social Work degree and worked as a school social worker with the Child Guidance Clinic.
Read more about Margaret
A Life’s Story
Pete Best is forever famous for being turfed from the Beatles just before they hit it big.
But nobody really knows the reason why bass player George West, who died on May 18 at 61, decided to leave the Crash Test Dummies on his own just before the Winnipeg band struck gold with “Superman’s Song” and others.
George West (supplied)
“My mom and I were beside ourselves because there was something we could see (in the band’s prospects) that he could not,” said George’s sister, Martine Dahlke.
“He walked away from this opportunity. He wasn’t let go. He quit.”
Read more about George
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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