GARY THOMAS NEWSHAM

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GARY THOMAS NEWSHAM

With his loving family at his side, it is with profound sadness we announce that Gary Thomas Newsham passed away peacefully on January 18, 2025, at home, following a brief illness.

His legacy will continue and his memory will be cherished by his surviving family including: his loving and dedicated wife of 50 years, Joanne; his brother Dale (Marion); his children, Julie (Dave), Tanis (George), David (Shauna), and Kim (Geoff); his grandchildren, Sydney (Rob), Ayden (Diana), Jordan (Taylor), Chris, Abby, Cara, Leah, William, Henry and Lucas; and great-grandchildren, Atlas, Thor and Arwen.

Gary's actions truly epitomized "a life well lived" and his crowning achievement, of which he was very proud, was his extended family. There was nothing he enjoyed more than visiting with family at his prized cottage. For him, the cottage was a generational mecca for family and friends to gather.

Gary deeply valued his friends, many of whom he forged lifelong relationships with, some for over 70 years. Rarely did a family gathering end without an anecdotal and entertaining story about one of his good friends.

Never shy to provide an opinion and with a twinkle in his eye, Gary often held court for hours outside on his cottage deck. The conversations were robust and punctuated with a sense of humour, always ending with "how blessed" we were to share those times with a beautiful lake vista and meal.

Gary had many accomplishments and interests that are too long to list. He will always be remembered for being principled and doing things his way.

He was an outdoor enthusiast and loved canoeing, curling, fishing and golf, and piloting the cottage boat to ensure his extended family participated in all water sports. At the age of 21, he paddled from Winnipeg to New Orleans with his friend and became an Honorary Citizen of New Orleans and received recognition from the City of Winnipeg.

Gary was also a hard working and successful business owner, turning Tri-Tec Ltd. into a premier building supplies company. He always had a vision which started with family first, so it was not a surprise when he decided to retire and focus on travelling the world with Joanne and spend more time with his extended family, sharing their cottage, Winnipeg home and vacation residence in Palm Desert.

In Gary's words "I never looked back" after he retired and could not have been more proud of his family legacy.

We will look for you in the moon, Grampa.

Godspeed Gary.

With love and respect for Gary's wishes, no service will be held.

The Newsham family would like to express their gratitude and thanks for the extraordinary care and compassion received from the Palliative Care Program that supported Gary during his illness.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Harvest Manitoba or Siloam Mission.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 25, 2025