Obituary for
Walter Brown
On Sunday, October 21, 2018, Walter Powell Brown received a one-way ticket on his final flight, high up in the skies to his eternal destination. He is survived by his sister, Sylvia Reagh (widow of Terry); nieces Jana Reagh (Dave), Lauralee McDougall (Brad), Debra Hanna (Robin) his great nephews Evan (Gina), Jesse (MacKenzie) and Ryan, and great nieces, Tiffany (Jeff) and Kayli as well as many friends he met throughout his life.
Walter was predeceased by his mother in 1948, his father and step-mother in 1989 and brother-in-law in 2011. Born in Gladstone, MB in 1940, Walter moved with his father to Winnipeg in 1956 where he attended Daniel McIntyre high school. He went on to receive his Honours degree in Business Administration at the University of Winnipeg in 1971.
He was destined to see the world and so purposely chose a career in the airline industry where he took full advantage of his airline passes. He spent most of his career with Canadian Airlines and its predecessor companies, transferring to Calgary in 1978. He retired from Air Canada in 2001.
After retiring, Walter enjoyed volunteering for various organizations including Tourism Calgary, the City of Calgary Golf Courses & Air Canada’s retirees association.
Part of the enjoyment of travelling for Walter was the planning, including the what-ifs that went with such adventures. His conservative personality did not deter him from exploring various parts of the world. It was difficult to peg which trip was his favourite because of his prolific travel experiences. Meticulous in nature, he kept detailed diaries of all his travels, right down to the cost of hotels and meals because it was extremely important to him to score a great deal! A man of routine who thrived on predictability, often surprised those around him with his resilience to the “glamour” that came with standby travel.
Even when dementia reared its ugly head, he still had us traveling all over the world with him, taking us all on imaginary trips. It wasn’t surprising when his strong opinion of the sub-par hospital food was deemed less than satisfactory for revenue passengers.
He faced the adversity that Lewy Body Dementia brought with courage and tenacity. Fear and loss of control were terrible partners in crime through it all but did not stop his fight in his last months. With little time to adjust to the changes, he did his best to go out in first class.
We would like to thank Dr. Alexandra Hanson from Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary; From Winnipeg, Dr. David Chan for taking on such a complex patient; Dr. Adam and Dr. Pirzada from Victoria General Hospital, who took extra special care to make a difficult situation more bearable; to Dr. Borrett who helped to make the end of life dignified and to all those nurses and health care aids who work tirelessly at both Victoria and Grace Hospitals – continue to work at making your patients come before politics.
Donations are gratefully accepted to the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba, Epilepsy and Seizure Association of Manitoba or Cancer Care Manitoba in Walter’s honour.
Funeral services will be arranged by Neil Bardal Funeral Services.
“My home is Heaven. I’m just travelling through this world” – Billy Graham
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Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Walter Powell
Brown 1940 2018..
Décès pour la Ville: Winnipeg, Province: Manitoba