Jim Fuller – 60 years of providing joy

St. Vital

I have only known Jim Fuller for a few years. He has always been generous, kind, and engaging. His sense of humour has often made me smile. I was concerned a month ago when I heard Jim was in St. Boniface Hospital, so I stopped in to have a short visit. He was his normal charming self and I left feeling better for visiting such as nice man.

Last month, Jim closed his business, Top Hat Florist. For 60 years, Jim ran and loved the business. Who doesn’t like flowers! But the time had come to sell his building. Understandably, it was an emotional experience. He looked around the empty store when it was cleared out and felt a sense of sadness. But he was also able to cherish the memories. I asked him for some highlights of those past 60 years.

“We were chosen to provide flowers to the royal family during their visits to Winnipeg and to the service at St. John’s Cathedral honouring the Queen when she passed away,” he said. ”It was a real honour to be chosen. I was humbled on one of those visits to meet her majesty, Queen Elizabeth.”

I was surprised to learn that Top Hat had also been asked to decorate St. Paul’s Cathedral in Regina when the Bishop of Qu’Appelle Valley, Helen Kennedy, was appointed. Jim took great pride in that.

“We were involved with hundreds of opportunities to make an event or celebration more special. We loved to be part of those experiences.”

Jim has been a driving force in his St. Vital community for a long time. He, along with Linda Elmhurst, were founding members of Old St. Vital Biz. They are now both listed as honorary lifetime members.

Jim has also been on the board of the St. Vital Historical Society (St. Vital Museum) for a long time. He remembers meeting at Norberry School long before the current location was operational. Norberry is where the museum, in a sense, began 30 years ago. The point is Jim has been active and supportive in his community on multiple fronts for a long time. It is people like Jim that make our communities better places to live.

He recently donated some items to the St. Vital Museum: a beautiful cabinet filled with chinaware and one-of-a-kind pieces connected to the Royal family, and a dress worn by Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole’s daughter. She wore the dress on the Top Hat Florist float in the Red River Ex parade in 1972. It is one of Jim’s prized possessions and will now be available for everyone to see at the museum.

Speaking of the museum, stay tuned. We have big news to share in my next article. We have signed on to a partnership that has the opportunity to increase the value of the museum for generations. Our hidden gem is starting to sparkle! Suffice to say, we will be needing more volunteers…