RUSSELL HENRY STINTON

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RUSSELL HENRY STINTON

July 28, 1929 - July 3, 2023

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Russell, a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother-in-law, uncle, and friend



Russell was predeceased by his loving wife of 70 years, Ethel Stinton (aka Boyle), and leaves to mourn his daughter Judy (Wayne); son Brian (Nancy); grandchildren, Tyler (Carrie), Chad (Jessie), Shannon (Jared), and Clint (Tianna); great-grandchildren, Wyatt, Walker, Pasiley, McKinley, and Harper.



Russell was born and raised in Ninette, Manitoba, to parents Charles and Millicent (aka Staples) Stinton. His family consisted of sisters, Betty-Ann (Elmer) Shaw and Myrna (Paul) Kerbis, and brother Gordon (Emily) Stinton. He attended School in Ninette and then went on to apprentice and complete his Red Seal Certification as a Painter/Decorator.



He began his painting apprenticeship with the Sanatorium Board of Manitoba in Ninette on January 2nd,1948. He then went to CFB Shilo as a painter for a period of time, and then returned to Ninette on April 16th, 1953 to resume as the Painter for the sanatorium, and shortly after was promoted to Head Painter and Sign Maker until the hospital closed.



During his work in Shilo he met and married Ethel Boyle. After they were married they lived in Brandon for a period of time, and then moved back to Ninette where they raised their two children beside Pelican Lake. When the sanitorium closed the family relocated to Brandon, where Russ worked until retirement at the Brandon General Hospital as their Head Painter.



Russell, sometimes referred to as "Corkie" by his friends, was a huge community supporter over his life and spent countless hours raising money to improve and attain things for Ninette, in addition to working at building and maintaining community buildings in the town. Russell played an instrumental role in helping build the skating rink, hall expansion, and managed to head up raising the money and building the very first artificial curling rink in southern Manitoba, all with the help of his friends in town. He also headed up the construction of the Ninette Hotel for friends that had moved to Ninette to open up a new business in town.



Russ was a solid and dependable volunteer after work hours. You could find him late at night either scrapping and flooding the curling surface or cleaning and flooding the hockey rink, cutting grass in the fairgrounds, running and calling the bingos at the hall, or outdoors at the fairgrounds. He was a great cook, worker, and organizer for large events such as the Pancake Breakfasts for the fair or parade organizer, Fall Suppers and bonspiels. Russ would also help out with putting in additional curling sheets of ice on the skating rink for large bonspiels. He enjoyed helping with the Sanatorium Annual Picnic, coaching hockey, and putting on hockey tournaments. He was always busy repairing and building new things, or painting whatever needed to be done in the community run facilities. He also took training and worked as a volunteer fire fighter for the Town of Ninette and RM where he was called upon many times.



Russ could not sit idle, and spent countless hours doing carpentry work and painting after hours for thousands of people over the years in southern Manitoba, and continued on with this even after moving to Brandon. He was extremely talented and was not afraid of taking on any job. He had many talents such as tiling, floor laying, building cabinets or furniture, sign making and freehand lettering, structural building, roofing, custom framing for pictures, custom glass cutting, and custom mixing of paint. He also loved helping his brother-in-law farm, and spent many hours in the field when it came time to harvest.



Russell built his own home in Ninette and took over from the developer to finish off the building of his home in Brandon. He also built the cottage he and Ethel enjoyed up at Clear Lake, where they spent many weekends dancing at the big red barn and visiting with friends. Even while at the lake he did not sit idle, and helped build several other cottages for other people. Russell helped his son build and refurbish many other homes over the years in addition to helping his daughter build their home and barn. He enjoyed helping his son-in-law with the cattle and horses, and putting up feed and fencing, as he had fond memories from a young man of driving teams of horses.



Russell was very athletic and was a very good hockey player, and played competitively with the Killarney team. He was an avid curler and played and won many trophies. He also enjoyed bowling, and then later in life he took up golfing as well.



He and Ethel became snowbirds after retiring, and headed south every winter to Arizona where they would meet up with new and old friends to golf, dance, and attend park events. He of course would help anyone out in the park with whatever projects they might have.



Russell was a great dad and solid role model, and involved his kids in all his work projects while still finding time to get them to any type of sports or other activities they were interested in. He believed in hard work as well as volunteering and ensured his children experienced that from a very young age. He could somehow turn work into a learning experience while still being a fun family event.



Russell also enjoyed teaching his grandchildren to skate as well as other things and attended many of their sporting events. Russ loved teasing and playing with the great-grandchildren, and they loved to hear his many stories of his childhood, particularly his hockey days.



Russell will be remembered for his hard work, invaluable contributions to the community of Ninette, as well as his strong family and moral beliefs.



A Graveside Service to Honor Russell's Life will be held at the Ninette Cemetery on Saturday, July 22nd, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. with a lunch to follow at the Ninette Community Hall.



In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Ninette Community Hall.

Messages of condolences may be made online at www.wheatlandfs.com

As published in Brandon Sun on Jul 15, 2023