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Terry Beckingham once worked at a job so remote that he only accepted the offer after getting one guarantee from his employer — that he would be back in time for his daughter’s birth.
Terry, who was 80 when he died on Oct. 21, was always a hard worker.
Terry was born in southern Ontario, starting school in Hamilton, before his family moved to Winnipeg.
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While going to school at Belmont and Edmund Partridge schools, and then Garden City Collegiate, Terry worked first delivering newspapers, and then, as his family said, was a delivery boy for a drug store and grocery store, “carrying boxes on his bicycle summer and winter.” He did find time to participate in little league baseball and learn to play the accordion.
Instead of staying in high school for Grade 12, Terry went to the Manitoba Institute of Technology where he qualified for the federal Department of Transportation’s certificate of proficiency in radio.
Terry was hired by the department, later known as Transport Canada, and worked there for 33 years.
He first was a radio operator and flight service specialist and spent a year stationed in Resolute, Nunavut, where “he watched the sun set in October and rise again in February, and where he walked over the bare tundra in the brief summer observing musk ox and tiny wildflowers.”
This was in the 1960s, at a time long before cell phones and the Internet — there weren’t even land lines. “The only communication with the outside world was via ham radio,” his family said.
Terry spent another six months in Resolute in 1971 to 1972 and that’s when he made sure he would get home in time for the birth of his daughter.
Terry spent his entire career as a flight service station manager at the airport in The Pas until deciding, not wanting to leave the community he had grown to love, to retire at age 50 in 1995 when improvements in communications technology made small regional flight service stations obsolete.
That’s when Terry qualified to become a registered piano technician and, for the next decade, he not only repaired the instruments in The Pas but he spent a few weeks each year tuning the pianos at the School of Music at Brandon University.
Terry would have spent the rest of his life in The Pas, but a change in his health necessitated a move to Winnipeg in 2023.
Terry is survived by Valerie, his wife of 59 years, two daughters, and four grandchildren.
Read more about Terry.
How They Lived
Yvonne “Cherry” Chase may have left Jamaica to become a nurse here, but she brought her love of the Caribbean for others to enjoy.
Yvonne, who died on Oct. 16 at 81 years of age, worked for Jamaica’s Ministry of Education before coming to Canada to be with her parents in the 1960s.
She became a nurse and, a few years later, became heavily involved with Folklorama when it began in 1970.
She served many roles with the Caribbean Pavilion, including quasi-musical director, choreographer and costume designer.
Read more about Yvonne.
Gerald Levin played the Sport of Kings.
Gerald, who was 66 when he died on Nov. 4, 2024, was a chartered accountant who was also a skilled polo player.
He was internationally ranked by the United States Polo Association for years and he served for years as treasurer of the Canadian Polo Association.
Gerald was also a founding member of the Royal Winnipeg Polo Club, played in numerous international tournaments and was recognized by Sports Manitoba as the province’s top amateur athlete from 2005 to 2009.
Read more about Gerald.
Christina Henderson was a residential school survivor.
Christina, who died on Oct. 26 at 77 years of age, went to residential school in Camperville as well as the Assiniboia Residential School on Academy Road in Winnipeg.
She was proud she was able to retain the Swampy Cree dialect — her first language — despite the efforts of the church and state to eradicate it.
Read more about Christina.
Ray Allan didn’t bake bread, but he helped sell it.
Ray, who 93 when he died on Oct. 8, began working at McGavin’s Bakery in Winnipeg and rose to be its western regional sales manager for the Prairies.
He then founded a distribution company, for Mrs. Willman’s Bakery in Calgary, until he retired.
Read more about Ray.
Frank Czajka came here due to a bikini bottom.
Frank, who was 74 when he died on Oct. 15, was working at a Polish club in Chicago when a Canadian woman dropped the piece of swimwear while leaving a change room.
He picked it up, returned it to her, had a long-distance romance with her, and married her a year later.
Frank worked here making furniture before going to Boeing. He later was a passionate volunteer with the North Centennial Senior’s Association who helped the Grandma and Grandpa Swim Program.
For his volunteerism, Frank received the King’s Coronation medal in March.
Read more about Frank.
Peter Spencer’s life was full of drama — the kind presented on stage.
Peter, who was 87 when he died on Sept. 8, was working as an accountant when he realized he really wanted to teach.
He taught for two years in England before teaching at River East Collegiate where he founded the drama program and ran it for 14 years. He may have helmed the Canadian premiere of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
Peter then went to the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Education where he founded and helped drama programs at schools across the province.
He also founded the Kildonan Players and was instrumental in the creation of Shoestring Players.
Read more about Peter.
A Life’s Story
Pat LaRue looked after many children and St. Bernards for decades.
That’s because Pat, who was 93 when she died in July, not only raised her own four children, but she also fostered a total of 47 children, several who came to her as infants with complex health conditions.
Ted and Pat LaRue raised and showed St. Bernards for decades. (Supplied)
“She had an open heart and wasn’t concerned about any of the difficulties that can come with fostering,” her son Todd said.
“She loved children and babies, right up until her final days.”
Pat then raised St. Bernards, a breed the family says she liked because of their loving, protective nature. One of her dogs even saved a foal from freezing to death.
She and her husband went to dog shows across North America, winning many ribbons, and producing several champion dogs.
Read more about Pat’s life here.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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