OSCAR WANDAL

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OSCAR WANDAL On Monday, April 9, 2007 in Victoria, BC Oscar Wandal passed away at the age of 92. He was predeceased on November 10, 2002 by Paula, his wife of 59 years. He is survived by his two loving daughters, Deborah Wandal of Toronto and Barbara Messenger of Victoria; his granddaughter, Meggin Messenger; and his great-grandchildren, Tallis Avery and Ellery Rose Messenger of Victoria. Such was his humility, that Oscar would not have wanted, much less understood a tribute to his life. It was not his way to entertain any sense of entitlement. Rather he lived always with an abiding and deep acceptance of whatever was offered. Oscar worked all his life at the hard trade of plumbing; with no complaint, setting out before sunrise on frosty Winnipeg mornings and returning home in darkness. For a few years after retiring Oscar and Paula spend some wonderful winters at the cottage at Victoria Beach, loving the winter birds, the peace and that late afternoon sunshine on pristine snow. When Paula became ill, Oscar devoted himself to her care for the next 15 years. Oscar's was a fine and gentle spirit. He listened, with love, to beautiful music and learned to play it by ear on piano, for hours at a time. While he worked at his building projects around home and cottage, he whistled, precisely, the intricate classical passages he so enjoyed. Oscar was a mindful man, who somewhere learned the enviable art of living in the moment. Such a man wisely saw the humour in life and found many reasons to laugh. In this, his four year old great-granddaughter, Ellery met him heart to heart. His generously offered boyish smile brightened the lives of everyone around him. Even four days before he died, during his customary wheelchair ride by the ocean, Oscar continued to share with his two daughters his unfailing gratitude and his wonder at the world around them. To be in his company was a teaching, an inspiration, a pleasure and a comfort that stayed true to the very end. He died beautifully and with no regrets.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 23, 2007