LIONEL DESMARAIS

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LIONEL DESMARAIS

November 29, 1952 - March 25, 2026

This passage honours Lionel Desmarais, who was born into a Red River Métis family as the first-born son of Aime and Julie (née Coutu) Desmarais.

He often shared fond childhood memories of time spent with his dad in the bush hunting (mostly rabbits) and learning basic survival skills.

Long term schooling was not an option for a ‘raised poor’ boy with four sisters and two brothers. By sixteen, he worked full-time on construction sites. He remembered “freezing” his feet on his first day of work because he did not have proper foot wear. Lionel maintained a hard-work ethic all his life. He gave a major part of his paycheques to his mother as his contribution to the household and carried this sense of family responsibility throughout his life.

Lionel was very proud of his dad, who invented a specialty knife used in construction to easily cut through ‘Manitoba gumbo’. With this knife, Aime was able to obtain construction work that kept a number of people employed, including his son Lionel, who eventually stepped into the role of foreman and continued his father’s practice of hiring Métis labourers.

Lionel moved to Edmonton and started his own construction company and was very successful in building up the construction division of Ledcor. He invented a way of creating a side track that greatly reduced the time needed to lay fiberoptic cable along rail lines. He then travelled the globe orchestrating the creation of the world’s largest fibreoptic cable network. He loved learning about different cultures where he travelled and became a self-taught historian, a passion which became unending.

Lionel left Ledcor when he was 48 years old and started his own construction company in Ontario. He lived in Maui for parts of the year, where he learned to play golf and love it. At his home in Ontario, he built his own golf course and enjoyed tournaments with friends and family.

Lionel was very generous with his resources and looked after his immediate and extended family. He bought his mother a house, where she was able to age at home, and came back to Winnipeg for one week every month for years to help support her care. He also generously helped other family members meet their needs and advance their education. He loved his family deeply and eventually moved back to Winnipeg. He was a proud member of the Red River MMF.

Lionel was always well loved and highly respected by family, friends and work associates.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 04, 2026