How they lived
Lucy McGibney was only three weeks old when she died, but she touched many lives.
McGibney died on Sept. 28, from the congenital heart disease she was born with. She is survived by her parents, her twin sister, and many grieving relatives and family friends.
Read about Lucy here.
Sharon Melnicer was a teacher, writer and artist.
But Melnicer, who died at 76 on Sept. 26, was also known for The English Assignment.
That was an assignment she gave her students in the 1990s where students were paired off and told to write a story with each writing alternate paragraphs.
As she later said, the assignment spiralled where each student tried to take over the story with many swear words at each other.
Read about Sharon here.
Robert Jamieson may have had to leave school when he was young, but he made his mark in both his profession and with the Royal Canadian Legion.
Jamieson, who died on Sept. 3 at 76, was born into a family which eventually numbered 12 kids. That’s why he had to leave school early to help with the family’s finances.
But later, Jamieson entered hair dressing school and graduated as a stylist, well known for his styling ability.
He also helped in the community and one place was the Royal Canadian Legion where he made history when he was elected president — the first openly gay Legion president in the country.
Read about Robert here.
Ray Charambura may have shined shoes when he was a teen and later after he retired, but in between he got his shoes pretty muddy — or actually his cleats.
That’s because Charambura, who died on Oct. 7 at 92, played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in one of the more infamous Grey Cups — the Mud Bowl. That’s when the game was played on a grass field which hadn’t been covered with a tarp, leading to it being wet and easily torn up by the players on the field.
It resulted in a Toronto Argonauts victory and the Blue Bombers being the last team to be shut out in a final.
Charambura also played with the Winnipeg Rams when they won the Canadian Intermediate-Senior Men’s title in 1954 and coached the Molson Canadians Senior Men’s Fastball team to second place at the 1968 world championships.
He worked for Great-West Life and, after he retired, he operated a shoe shine stand in Winnipeg Square for years.
Read about Ray here.
Barry Swanton was a Canada Post supervisor with a love of baseball.
Swanton, who died Oct. 1 shortly after celebrating his 83rd birthday, played multiple sports when he was young and then coached both hockey and baseball for many years.
But it was after Swanton retired that he became an author, writing two history books about baseball in the province. The books resulted in him being inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Read about Barry here.
Lucille McLaren saw many innovations during her long career as a nurse.
McLaren, who was 99 when she died, moved to Winnipeg from Neepawa straight out of high school to become a nurse.
She was working at the Children’s Hospital when she watched the first dose of penicillin administered in the province — and saw the positive effects of it.
McLaren later worked as a public health nurse in Ethelbert before coming back to Winnipeg to work as a private day nurse in the former Winnipeg General Hospital.
Read about Lucille here.
Veleta Farquharson helped both the body and soul of people.
Farquharson, who was 92 when she died on Oct. 18, was originally from Jamaica and went to England to train as a nurse. She then came to Canada, went to the University of Winnipeg for geriatrics, and then worked at the Health Sciences Centre for 15 years, rising to become head nurse, before going to the Sharon Nursing Home for seven years.
But, while in England, Farquharson also married her husband and, after leaving nursing, she joined him to found and be co-pastor at the New Anointing Christian Fellowship of Winnipeg, formerly the Berean Church of God.
Read about Veleta here.
Sadie Nagy and her three best friends had grand plans to use their nursing knowledge to go around the world.
They got as far as Winnipeg.
Nagy, who died on Oct. 21 at 79, was born in Northern Ireland and she and her three nursing friends left there in 1965 to go around the world.
But, when they came to Winnipeg as their first stop, all four of them found husbands here and they all stayed, remaining close throughout their lives.
Nagy herself worked 45 years as a registered nurse at the Victoria Hospital.
Read about Sadie here.
A Life’s Story
Margaret Faber had a lasting impact on occupational therapy in Manitoba.
Faber, who was 96 when she died on March 28, was born near Liverpool, England, and working as a scientific assistant at the National Physical Laboratory in England when her interest in occupational therapy was sparked.
She began working in hospitals, helping war veterans with their mental health as well as patients in orthopedic and neurological wards.
“What Auntie Margaret really portrayed is caring for people, not a body part,” said niece Jeanette Edwards.
Faber came to Winnipeg in 1972 where she became assistant director of the adult rehabilitation sector at the Health Sciences Centre.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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