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Mark Miles didn’t just get a new lease on life back in 2015 — he got a whole decade.
Mark, who was 69 when he died Dec. 31, was having no problems with the heart he received during a transplant in 2015 — but then, in 2023, he received a diagnosis of neck and throat cancer.
While the cancer ultimately took his life, it didn’t take away his lifelong push for exercising. Mark even asked the doctors if he could get a portable oxygen unit so he could still go to the gym and work out. The answer was no, but he tried.
When Mark was interviewed by the Free Press in 2016, a year after his transplant, he had been a teacher for 34 years, principal of Marymound School, a hockey coach, president of the Winnipeg High School Hockey League — and he was getting ready to compete at the Canadian Transplant Games in cycling, running and swimming.
“I was very fortunate,” Mark said at the time.
“I got the heart, I sat up the next day, I walked two days later, and I was back in the gym five weeks later. From the time I got sick until I was back in the gym was an eight-month stretch of time.”
Mark Miles in 2016. (Wayne Glowacki / Free Press files)
All Mark knew about his heart donor was that he was a 36-year-old man who died of a brain aneurysm.
“It’s an amazing gift. But how do you say this when somebody had to die so that you could live?”
For that reason, Mark encouraged everyone to sign up to be organ donors.
He also credited a“healthy, active lifestyle” for helping speed his recovery.
Mark went on to compete in the Transplant Games in 2018 and again in 2024. He was on the committee to bring the 2020 games to Winnipeg, but the pandemic forced their cancellation. He continued to play Old Timers hockey.
Eight years after Mark’s transplant came his cancer diagnosis. While he had the heart for it, this was a fight Mark wouldn’t win.
Mark is survived by his son and daughter, two sisters and a brother, and other family members.
Read more about Mark.
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How They Lived
It was 1978 and the conflict known as The Troubles was at its peak in Northern Ireland when Margaret Clarke decided to leave for the sake of her daughter.
Margaret, who died on Dec. 30, was 37 when she, her husband and her daughter left Belfast for a new life in Canada.
She had that new life, enjoying golfing, music and dancing through the years, as well as going on vacations to many countries around the world. She was proud to have three grandchildren.
Read more about Margaret.
Barbara Winestock was late for everything — including her own death.
Barbara and her husband would forget plane tickets and luggage.
When diagnosed with brain cancer and given 11 months to live, she lived for six more years instead. She was 74 when she died Sept. 21.
During her life, Barbara sold advertising spots for CKRC radio, taught at the Rady Centre, and loved to garden, sew and paint.
Read more about Barbara.
Jack and Pat Fergusson were married 73 years and died within three days of each other.
Jack, who was 97 when he died Dec. 11, and Pat, who died Dec. 14 at the same age, met at the Winnipeg Beach dancehall and married in 1952.
The couple had five children. Jack worked at the Manitoba Telephone System while Pat was a school aide and secretary in the Seven Oaks School Division.
He volunteered as a Freemason, rising to be Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba and Provincial Grand Master, while she was active in their church and, for more than two decades, volunteered at the Middlechurch Home.
Read more about Jack and Pat.
Toni Nelson became a published author in her ninth decade.
Toni, who died Jan. 6 at 95 years of age, was 83 when she published a book about her dad coming to Canada and her Romanian heritage.
She was known as an advocate for women abused by their partners, and joined groups making presentations to the province to change laws. She also worked at Age and Opportunity with seniors.
Read more about Toni.
Bob Millman opened not just one school — he opened two.
Bob, who was 82 when he died Oct. 10, was a teacher in the St. Vital School Division who rose to be a principal.
He was founding principal at both the Darwin and Samuel Burland schools in the division. He also served as president of the St. Vital School Administrators Association.
Read more about Bob.
Betty Laschuk channelled her grief over her son’s death into volunteering.
Betty, who was 88 when she died Jan. 13, worked as a payroll accountant with Metropol Investigation and Security until she retired in 1991.
After her son died, she began volunteering with the Compassionate Friends in Winnipeg, the organization which she said gave her back her will to live.
Betty also volunteered at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and gave thousands of hours of her time to the Health Sciences Centre and Holy Redeemer Parish’s food bank.
For all of her volunteering, she received the Premier’s Volunteer Service Award in 2010.
Read more about Betty.
A Life’s Story
It’s thanks to Irene Bergthorson that golfers can tee up in Lundar.
Irene and her husband were part of a group in the 1960s that formed a co-op and asked the local reeve about leasing town-owned land to create a golf course.
Irene Bergthorson and her daughter Trina. (Supplied)
Irene’s husband, a heavy equipment operator, created the greens and tee boxes, and Irene served as president and clubhouse manager for many years. A golf tournament has been named in their honour.
Read more about Irene’s life here.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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