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Deanne Morse suffered tragedy as a child, but went on to have a good, long life and became a pillar in the community of Starbuck.
Deanne, who died on May 30 at 91, was born in Winnipeg and spent her first years in Fannystelle.
She was only six when a fire tore through her house, claiming the lives of her mother, Millie, and two-year-old brother, Grant, in 1939. She and her father, Gabriel “Barney” Mollot survived.
It wasn’t long after that Deanne and her grandmother moved to live in Winnipeg, while her dad, who had run a confectionary store in Fannystelle, moved to Brandon to look for another business to open.
While Deanne’s dad later opened a drive-in restaurant on the nearby Trans-Canada Highway, which expanded to a dining room, banquet hall and lounge, along with a motel across the street called Barney’s Motel, she continued to live in Winnipeg, where she later went to St. Mary’s Academy and boarded in its residence.
Deanne went on to graduate from business school before meeting and marrying Marvin in 1955 and moving to his family farm in Starbuck.
The family spent many weekends and summer vacations with their three kids in tow, cottaging at Pelican Lake or visiting her dad and stepmom in Brandon during the summer and in Palm Springs in winter.
Deanne didn’t just live in Starbuck: she became a driving force there. She served on numerous boards and committees in the community and she was key to the building of the local community centre in the 1970s.
She even founded the first nursery school program there.
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She lost her husband, after 32 years of marriage, in 1987.
It was the same year her dad died and, 48 years after the tragic fire, he was buried near his first wife and son at a cemetery in Fannystelle.
Deanne is survived by her three sons, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Read more about Deanne.
How They Lived
Barry Bromley graduated from university — but he didn’t even go to high school.
That’s because Barry, who was 84 when he died on May 25, graduated from Grade 8 and went straight into the University of Manitoba’s agricultural programs.
Barry spent his first year going to what is now the Ag Extension Centre in Brandon, but during his second year, he lived on campus at the university in Winnipeg and graduated with the Diploma of Agriculture in 1957.
He was all of 17 at the time and returned home to begin farming.
Many also knew him in another role: he was the blacksmith-in-residence at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum starting in 2003.
Read more about Barry.
So Shueng Choy dished up Chinese food at two local restaurants her family owned.
So, who died on June 3 at 94, was born in China, and came here in her mid-thirties. She worked at the family’s Hong Kong Restaurant near Portage and Main, but then moved to the garment industry after a new development took away that restaurant in 1965.
Almost two decades later, she, along with her husband and son, she opened the Golden Star in St. Boniface.
Read more about So.
Ken Halldorson’s career was in education.
Ken, who was 85 when he died on June 2, was a school teacher in several districts in the province before he became superintendent of the Lord Selkirk School Division.
But, turns out, while he was passionate about teaching, it wasn’t his dream job. That job he got after he retired: working for Elections Canada during federal elections. He was first a returning officer and then a field liaison officer.
Read more about Ken.
Margaret McCowan had a lifelong dream to paint art.
It took Margaret, who died on June 3, at 94, half of her life to do it, but she achieved it when she joined the Forum Art Institute in 1975.
For the next 48 years she helped out as a volunteer there in numerous ways and spent a number of years as board chairwoman.
And, as for her artworks, Margaret won many awards and her works grace the walls of city and provincial offices, as well as homes across the city.
Read more about Margaret.
A Life’s Story
Everyone who works as a reporter in this city and province knew Brian Smiley — and many Manitobans did, too.
That’s because for more than two decades Brian, who died in May at 68, was the voice — and the face — of Manitoba Public Insurance, serving as its spokesman.
Brian Smiley with wife Linda and sons Lane (far left) and Blake. (Supplied)
“It is not for the faint of heart to be the media spokesperson for a Crown corporation, including insurance, and he was the consummate professional,” said MaryAnn Kempe, who was on MPI’s executive at the time Brian was hired in 1998.
“(He had) an uncanny ability to connect with people.”
To read more about Brian’s life and career, go here.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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