EDWIN GORDON LONGSTAFFE

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EDWIN GORDON LONGSTAFFE After a long and eventful life, Edwin (Ted) Longstaffe passed away peacefully in the mid-afternoon of May 29, 2013, at the Deer Lodge Centre. Ted had been predeceased by his wife Moyra (Moy) in 2011. They had been married for 71 years. He is survived by three children: Marilynne Gowan (Robert), Debbie Kuypers (Jack), Bert Longstaffe (Sally), and leaves a legacy of 12 grandchildren: Todd Gowan (Tim), Nori McCormick (Rory), Marni Harris (Kevin), Trent Gowan (Emily), Pato Arrieta, Darren Gowan, Scott Longstaffe (Melanie), Heather Longstaffe, Jim Longstsaffe, Robert Longstaffe (Lianne), Jay Kuypers (Sandra), Michael Kuypers (Tracy), 18 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Dad was born at home on Spruce Street, Winnipeg, August 24, 1915. He was the eldest of four children of Anna Evelyn and Albert Edwin Longstaffe. The family subsequently relocated to East Kildonan, (Oakview Avenue), where he spent his later adolescent years. Moyra also resided in East Kildonan (Sydney Avenue) and, while in his early 20's, their paths crossed. Moyra and Ted were married in 1940, living on Sydney Avenue until 1949, at which point they moved to the newly developed Norwood Flats. They built their home on the site of the old Norwood Golf Course (34 Rosewood Place) and, raising their family, lived there for 62 years. Ted was best defined therefore as a "Norwood Man". Dad was a proud Canadian and Manitoban, a hardy man of the prairies. In his prime he eschewed sunscreen, mosquito repellent and sunglasses in the summer, and on most winter days avoided using hat and gloves. He just soldiered on, mostly on his own terms. He served in the Canadian Navy during the war years and the Canadian Navy remained close to his heart to the very end. As a young man, Dad worked for Standard Dairies and the Canadian Pacific Railway. The bulk of his career however, which very much suited his artistic inclinations, was with Rapid Grip and Batten, and Brigdens in the photo-engraving and graphic arts field, being involved in the sales aspect. Thereafter he continued to work in sales with specialty products until his mid-seventies. As an extension of his business interests, he was a longtime member of the Winnipeg Executives Association, serving a term as president. It was through this organization that he made many lifelong friendships. A renaissance man of sorts, Dad was extremely well read in the classics and was also a devotee of the sciences, particularly ornithology, geology, astronomy and evolutionary science. Bird watching trips were frequent, as well as trips to the Black Hills of South Dakota (returning in a car laden with rock specimens), and fossil digs in Alberta and British Columbia. These are wonderful memories. To celebrate the Canadian Centenary in 1967, Dad built a six inch reflecting telescope that is fully functional to this day. To this end, night after night, he ground and polished that flat glass disc to the appropriate degree of concavity and built a Foucalt Testing apparatus for the optics. He impressed us for sure. In the literary realm, poetry was a particular favourite both in reading and in production. He almost always had a poetry book by his side and in the last year of his life re-read Chaucer's Canterbury tales. What Dad really liked however was to work with his hands and create things. Early on he worked with a chisel on alabaster, grueling work to be sure, creating many fine works. Subsequently he moved more into wood carving, human figures and busts primarily, then in later years, smaller figures (caricatures) and birds. This he continued into his 98th year, hour after hour, covered in wood chips, in his beloved "carve shop". Without a project he was a lost soul. Oil painting with a distinctive style almost exclusively using a palate knife was another passion that he pursued for nearly 75 years. These many paintings were primarily for family and friends. Beyond this impressive productivity, his most readily recognizable attribute was his sense of humour. He had a rapier wit and was a never ending source of ingenious catchphrases and anecdotes. With invented words, double meanings, and other rhetorical tricks, he was a constant source of entertainment, right until the last few months of life when time finally called a halt to such shenanigans. At a personal level, he was a wonderfully loving, industrious and completely dependable husband, father and grandfather and great-grandfather. He set the bar very high indeed. He was in many respects a father, grandfather and friend combined. Ted's grandchildren enjoyed working on projects with him, especially at the lake. In particular, they enjoyed the colourful language that issued forth when things did not go according to plan. Ted had a full and productive life, and was graced with remarkably good health until the last months of life. For this and for our good fortune to have shared our lives with such a man, we are as a family, profoundly grateful. We are especially grateful to Dr. Brian Sharkey who attended to Dad's medical needs so conscientiously and for the staff of the surgical ward at Victoria Hospital who provided him with excellent care. We also are thankful for the kind staff of the Seine River Retirement Residence over the last two years and more recently, the staff of Deer Lodge Centre, wards 2 West and Tower 6. Near the end, Dad was assessed in the Emergency Department of the Grace Hospital in a highly caring and competent manner. The are all, at every level of service, very special people. At Ted's request, no funeral service will be held. If so desired, donations could be made in Ted's name, to the Pan-Am Foundation 75 Poseidon Bay, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3M 3E4. REQUIEM By: Robert Louis Stevenson Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I love and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will. This be the verse you grave for me: Here he lies where he longed to be; Home is the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill. THOMSON "IN THE PARK" 204-925-1120 Condolences may be sent to www.thomsoninthepark.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 01, 2013