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Haruko Miyata planned a month-long vacation — but it turned into more than two decades away from home.
Haruko, who died Oct. 29 at the age of 93, was born in British Columbia. When she was two years old she went with her mother and sister to visit her grandmother in Japan.
While they were there, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour. This led to what her family calls “a dissection of her family caught between Canada and Japan.”
Haruku stayed in Japan, while members of her family in Canada were among the 22,000 Japanese Canadians forcibly removed from their homes in British Columbia and sent to internment camps and to provide labour on farms. Haruku’s family was sent to work on a sugar beet farm in Homewood, Man.
Haruko was a young adult when she finally returned to Canada. When she arrived, she “was greeted by a slight man at the CN railway station” whom she didn’t recognize.
It was her brother, Nobuo.
Haruko was studying to be a hairstylist at a beauty school in downtown Winnipeg when she met the man who would become her husband. Tsutomu, had himself been removed from B.C. as a child and housed in internment camps in the province’s interior.
As the family story goes, Tsutomu, who worked at the Hudson’s Bay store downtown, would see a beautiful woman walking from the bus stop to the beauty school. Later, he met her at a gathering of young Japanese Canadians.
The couple married in 1956 and were together until Tsutomu died in 2021.
The couple had a daughter and son and lived a “peaceful and calm life,” going on vacations, camping across Canada, and spending time at a cottage near Lac du Bonnet.
Haruko volunteered in the community. She ushered at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, helped the High Steppers Seniors Club, assisted people at Agape Table and delivered Christmas hampers.
She developed a passion for painting; her paintings hang in many homes and she showed her work in an art show in 2023, at the age of 91.
As her daughter said, “my mother always told me to develop my own passion in life. Joy must be cultivated, and your mind must continue to be stimulated. Something just for yourself, she said.”
Perhaps because of what became her extended vacation — with her family split between two continents for years — Haruko always carried a poem by M. Henoch:
Be kinder than necessary
for everyone you meet is
fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply. Love generously.
Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.
Life isn’t about waiting
for the storm to pass.
It’s about learning to
dance in the rain.
Haruko was predeceased by her husband and son. She is survived by her daughter, six grandchildren, one great-grandson and other relatives.
Read more about Haruko.
How They Lived
David MacDonald’s obituary says he died unexpectedly in late October “after complications from a radioactive spider bite that led to years of crime-fighting and a long battle with a nefarious criminal named heart disease.
“Civilians will recognize him best as Spider-Man and thank him for his many years of service protecting our city.”
When he wasn’t performing superheroics, David was known by family and friends as a caring mental health professional and a gifted artist, writer and actor.
Read more about David.
Ellen Vanstone loved to make people laugh.
A natural-born writer, she studied journalism at Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan) and worked at major newspapers and magazines as an editor, winning multiple awards.
She later wrote for television and was a co-creator of the hit show Rookie Blue. She also worked on At The Hotel, Diggstown and Departure.
She moved back to her hometown of Winnipeg during the pandemic, where she was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma.
Her family says she kept her sense of humour until her last moments. She wrote a book about her experience with cancer, Is This a Funny Story?, which will be published soon.
Read more about Ellen.
Betty Gyles’ family describes her as a “true matriarch.”
Betty, who died on Oct. 28 at 97 years of age, trained as a registered nurse at St. Boniface Hospital, but soon after she graduated she went on hiatus to raise her five children with her husband, Harold.
Her family describes her as a self-sufficient, independent woman with many talents. She was an avid hunter, a very good curler and she skied, sailed, fished and golfed. She loved to play games: “board games, cards, whatever,” her family says. “She loved to win and was always a good sport.”
After retirement, Betty and Harold moved to their cottage at Lake of the Woods and Betty started a pie business, supplying desserts for the My Place restaurant in Keewatin. She was affectionately known as “the Pie Lady.”
Read more about Betty.
Chuck Henry helped his community and beyond.
In his professional life, Chuck, who was 86 when he died on Oct. 11, was a gas fitter. But for 33 years he was a volunteer member of the East St. Paul Fire Department.
When Chuck was buying a house in East St. Paul, he discovered Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation didn’t grant insured mortgages north of the Perimeter Highway — so he successfully convinced CMHC to change its policy and he was the first to get an insured mortgage there.
Chuck also had an active political life; he helped former premier and later Gov.-Gen. Ed Schreyer get elected as an MLA.
Read more about Chuck.
Sometimes life deals you a bad hand. Kim Burtney was given an especially bad one.
Kim, who died on Oct. 24 at 65 years of age, was diagnosed with Creutzfeld-Jacob disease, which is fatal within a year. Her family says her battle was “brief and untimely.”
The family thanks the medical and research teams for her complex diagnosis and care.
Read more about Kim.
Hal Mauthe, who was 95 when he died on Nov. 1, was a hall of fame coach, referee and player.
Hal, coached the Canadian Ukrainian Athletic Club junior girls to the city basketball championship in 1949 and then, when the team moved to senior, he coached them to provincial titles in 1950 and 1951.
He also coached the Winnipeg Light Infantry boys’ basketball team — which was later inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame — to the Canadian junior men’s championship in both 1952 and 1953.
Hal then became a referee and officiated basketball for 15 years, as well as serving as president of the Manitoba Basketball Official Association for two years. He was a referee at the Pan Am Games in 1967.
Hal also coached football, helping the St. Vital Bulldogs win Canadian championships in 1960 and 1962. The latter team was also inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame. He also played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1951 and 1952.
Hal himself was inducted individually into both the Manitoba Sports and Basketball Halls of Fame.
Read more about Hal.
A Life’s Story
David Crawford was working as a pharmacist in Winnipeg when he decided he wanted more of a challenge.
So David, who died in September 2024, decided to go back to university and train as a doctor. He worked in family medicine for 31 years.
David Crawford adored his cat Oz. (Supplied)
Years later, when he was stricken with prostate cancer, David was able to bring his two careers together: he became involved in an experimental drug trial through CancerCare Manitoba. The trial gave him another five years of quality life.
“We are so thankful,” said his daughter Gillian.
“It was absolutely life-changing. In that time he got to meet his grandsons.”
Read more about David’s life in our weekly feature.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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