ERWINA KATHERINE THIMSEN B.A

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ERWINA KATHERINE THIMSEN B.A

WINA

On Saturday July 29, 2023, in Winnipeg, of a head injury after a recent fall in her home. Wina, 90, was predeceased by her immigrant parents, Cecilia Sara Monaghan from Kilwining, Scotland and Erwin Dinesen Thimsen from Viuf, Denmark; her brother Preston and sister Cecilia, both of British Columbia. She is survived by her eldest sister Thelma Powers of Washington State, her sister in-law Claire Thimsen of British Columbia, as well her children Janice Selina Hample (Winnipeg), Dean Bryan Hample (Thunder Bay), Rabbi John Erwin Hample (Winnipeg), and other family members on the West Coast.

Wina was born in Winnipeg on October 1, 1932, and graduated from Lord Selkirk High School. Only as a mature student was she able to pursue her BA, one of her proudest achievements. She worked as a MTS switchboard operator from age 16, and then became a bank teller as well as a young wife and mother during the early 1950s. She was married to Jack Hample for 27 years ending in 1979. She retired as a City of Winnipeg employee after decades of service in 1999. Wina’s ferocious, fair-minded concern for vulnerable, disadvantaged people, her love for her family, and her exceptional decency illuminate the great blessing of her presence in the lives of her 3 children, and of other people. We cherish the memory of Wina’s perceptiveness, unstinting generosity, love of beauty, and capacity for joy as an enduring, incomparable gift.

At Wina’s request, cremation has occurred and there is no formal funeral service. Those who wish to remember Wina are asked, please, to consider making a modest contribution to a charity or social-justice organization of their choice.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 12, 2023