Wojcik's Funeral Chapel Receives Thank You from Deacon Woodbeck's Family

Richard and Staff,

Thank you for your amazing service to us as we mourned Bill's death.
Your generosity is a huge indication of eh love and hope you offer those you serve and we are better for having received it.
Your humour, respect, and presence were a gift to us.

Blessings, Kathy Woodbeck and Family

Winnipeg Funeral Director, Richard Wojcik Receives Thank You

Hi Richard and Staff of Wojcik's,

Thank you for the good care you have shown to us in the planning and executing of the Funeral for our Dad, Grandfather, Brother and friend, Clifford Alexander. We were pleased to have put him in your care at the time of his passing and the respect and dignity that was shown.

Thank you for a job well done.

The family of Clifford Alexander

Wojcik's Funeral Chapel Receives Thank you from Matthew Brown's Family

Dear Wojcik's,
Just wanted to thank you for handling a sad, difficult situation well. We appreciated your care and thoughtfulness. The laughter was good too. Our Matthew laughed a lot.

Jennifer
For the Brown's

Richard Wojcik Receives Thank You from Domenico Bevacqua Family

Richard and Laurie, Thank you for your assistance in making my Dad's Service a lovely one. Your kindness and thoughtfulness meant so much to all of us. We received so many compliments on the Service and a large part was due to both of you. I would not hesitate to recommend you to anyone. Thank you to Richard for being so comfortable to deal with.

Thank you

Liz Horne

Funeral Director Richard Wojcik - Vaughan Baird Funeral Arrangements

     VAUGHAN LAWSON BAIRD

It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Vaughan Lawson Baird, CM, QC, LLD, on Saturday, August 17, 2013 at his beloved home of Bel-Ami in Ste-Agathe, Manitoba. Vaughan was just shy of his 86^th birthday. He is survived by his sister, Elsie Hughes; nieces and nephews Barbara Menard, Kathryn Desai, Hugh and Michael Munro, Joanne Boyne, James Baird, Janis, Shawn and Jeffrey Hughes, and Susan Cunningham; and the many grand-nephews and nieces who were an increasing source of delight for him in his later years. He was predeceased by sister Barbara Munro; brothers Samuel Lawson, James Harold and Jack Douglas; and niece Irene Baird Fast.

The youngest son of Nova Scotia emigrants Samuel Garnet Baird and Elsie Katherine Lawson, Vaughan was born in Winnipeg and earned a BA at the University of Manitoba in 1949, and a law degree at Dalhousie University in 1952. His life-long passion for art, history, politics, and the French language was no doubt nourished by his post-graduate studies in French Civilization at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1987, his academic distinctions were crowned by an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Winnipeg.

Vaughan’s 31 years as a partner in the law firm of Newman MacLean were bracketed by practice with Pitblado Hoskin at the start of his career, and Baker Zivot and Pullan Guld, respectively, towards the end. Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1966, one of his most signal achievements as a lawyer was the successful challenge of the constitutionality of Manitoba’s English-only legislation in Bilodeau v. AGM, a multi-year struggle that began in May 1980 and wound its way to a June 1984 hearing in the Supreme Court of Canada alongside the Reference re Manitoba Language Rights. He subsequently argued before the Supreme Court at an additional special hearing of the Reference in 1991.

Further underscoring Vaughan’s commitment to constitutional language rights was his pride in having served as a defence attorney in a separate matter that was the first French-only trial to be heard in Manitoba in some 90 years. 

The combative—some would say “pugnacious”—spirit that served Vaughan so well as a lawyer and litigator also served him well in sports, where he distinguished himself during his university years in swimming, diving and boxing. However good an athlete he may have been, it was as a sports administrator, fundraiser and official that Vaughan made his most enduring mark.  His particular devotion to diving led him to establish, in 1968, the Canadian Amateur Diving Association, now known as Diving Canada, of which he was at the time of his death the Honorary President. At the same time that he asserted diving’s independence from swimming, he helped to unite those two disciplines with water polo and synchronized swimming under the umbrella of the Aquatic Federation of Canada.

Vaughan’s role as a chef de mission for Canada’s national diving team took him throughout Europe and the Soviet Union.  A member of the Canadian Olympic Association and board member of the Commonwealth Games Association of Canada, the Amateur Swimming Union of the Americas (ASUA) and the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), Vaughan also judged diving at the Olympic, Commonwealth, and Pan American Games and various World competitions from 1964 to 1990.

As a member of two of the committees planning the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Vaughan waged a year-long campaign to obtain federal funding to put a roof over Pan Am Pool. His local contributions to sport also included his involvement in the founding of the Manitoba Sports Federation, which evolved into Sport Manitoba, and the creation of a sports lottery organization that, under his guidance, eventually grew into the Western Canada Lottery Corporation.

Always a great lover and patron of the arts, Vaughan was especially fond of painting and sculpture, and buildings and parks all over Winnipeg have been embellished with works that he donated. A perfect union of his predilections for art, aquatic sports and history was formed when, at the request of Mayor Stephen Juba, he founded the Aquatic Hall of Fame and Museum of Canada in the context of the 1967 Pan Am Games. The curation and upkeep of the hall’s rich collection of aquatics-related art and memorabilia was one of his most cherished projects, and he continued to tend to it through to his final days.

An incurable optimist imbued with an infectious joie de vivre, Vaughan generally met life’s adversities with a shrug of the shoulders and one of his favourite sayings: C’est la vie. When it came to matters of principle, however, no one was more tenacious. As an active member and executive of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, he was a leading proponent of the One Member, One Vote approach to electing party leaders and was gratified to see his efforts rewarded by the slow but steady march in that direction by his and other political parties in Canada and Britain.

A three-time recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal who was decorated by the Government of Peru for his 23-year service as an Honorary Consul, Vaughan earned many more honours and awards over the course of his lifetime, most of them acknowledging his contributions to sport. He was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1984 and appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1992.

Although Vaughan had no descendants of his own, he served as the chronicler of the Baird family history and his greatest gift to the family’s far-flung members was maintaining and, in some cases, restoring their connections.

The family would like to extend special thanks to Thérèse and Albert Dorge of Ste-Agathe and, above all, Kathryn Desai of Winnipeg, for their care and attention to Vaughan over the years.

A private celebration of Vaughan’s life for family and close friends will be held at his home on the river in which he swam his entire life. For further information, please contact Wojcik’s Funeral Chapel and Crematorium at 204 - 586-8668. 

   Wojcik’s Funeral Chapel & Crematorium, 1020 Main Street, Winnipeg, wojciksfuneralchapel.com  204 – 586 - 8668.

Wojcik’s

FUNERAL CHAPEL & CREMATORIUM

1020 MAIN STREET

204 - 586 - 8668

www.wojciksfuneralchapel.com

Richard Wojcik Receives Thank You from Augusta Struss' Family

Dear Richard and Staff,
Thank you, thank you for everything you did to make my mother's passing less difficult. I also remember how wonderful you were also when my father died 5 years ago.
You truly are incredible and have found your true calling. Words cannot describe how grateful we are to you, Richard!
Thanks for being there both times!!
Sincerely Ruth and Graham Bain

Darah Jospeh - Richard Wojcik of Wojcik's Funeral Chapel in Care of Funeral Arrangements

DARAH RENEE JOSEPH

May 4, 1999 – August 18, 2013

It is with deepest sorrow that we announce the passing of our dearest sweet Darah after a 2 year long courageous battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma. Darah’s story of her quiet yet fiercely valiant fight with cancer touched many hearts around the world.  She will be greatly missed but never forgotten.

Left to cherish Darah’s memory are her Mom Dana Hoffman (Brad Wood); Dad Dennis Joseph (Amalia Albanito); Sister Haley Joseph;  Great-Grandma Jean Belluk; Grandma Jan Hoffman; Papa Ron Hoffman; Grandma Rolande Joseph; Step-Sisters Marlee Wood and Samantha Wood; Step-Brothers Aaron Albanito and Charlie Wood;  numerous aunt;, uncles; cousins and friends.

Darah grew up in Lac du Bonnet and eventually moved to Selkirk and then finally to Beausejour, making many friends along the way through school and sports.  She had a love for sewing, baking and crafts. She loved her special doggies and always had them by her side to comfort her during her tough times. Darah’s passion for fishing was evident by her many angling accomplishments, most of them achieved during her battle with cancer. She recently received a special award for multiple Master Angler species in Manitoba waters.

Prior to her diagnosis, Darah was an elite athlete competing in many sports. She played ringette and soccer since the early age of 3 years old and most recently, she belonged to the Manitoba Maple Leafs AAA Hockey, Selkirk Steelers Hockey, Royals Club Volleyball, and competed in the Hershey Provincial Track and Field qualifiers.  Her ability to play competitive sports came to an abrupt halt when she broke her leg running in a 100 m sprint qualifier in June of 2011. This broken leg led us to her cancer diagnosis, multiple treatments of chemotherapy, radiation and a rare rotationplasty amputation surgery to preserve function with hopes of playing sports again one day. 

This past May, Darah was asked to try out for the Canadian National Sitting Volleyball Team in Edmonton.  She trained hard several times a week with aspirations of making it to Rio for the 2016 Paralympics. Just days short of her try-out, Darah was stricken with a fourth relapse of cancer.  She was determined to fight until the very end with her Never Ever Give Up (NEGU) attitude.  Even with no cure available, Darah remained determined to try some of the newer treatments that were available at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, TX.  Only weeks before her death, her and her family drove to Texas to seek this treatment.  Unfortunately, the cancer became far more aggressive than the drugs that were used to treat it. It was Darah’s last self-less wish to have her tumors harvested and sent to the Children’s Oncology Group for research purposes to help find a cure for this rare childhood and young adult cancer.

We would like to give special thanks to Darah’s Pediatric Oncologist, Dr. Geoff Cuvelier, Nurses Michelle Morton and Cathy Bourne, Child Life Specialist Dawn Kidder, Dr. Ken Brown of Vancouver Children’s Hospital, Dan, Doug and Becky of the Rehabilitation Centre for Children, the Pain and Symptom Management Team and the rest of the staff at Children’s Hospital CK5 Ward and Cancer Care Manitoba for the limitless support, care and comfort over the past two years. We would also like to thank the Children’s Wish Foundation, Hockey Manitoba and VL Ranch Children’s Ride for Wishes for allowing Darah’s dream to come true. She was granted her wish to Hawaii in February 2013 during her last brief stretch of good health.

A private family Interment has taken place. A public come-and-go Celebration of Life will take place in the Brokenhead River Community Hall at 320 Veterans Lane in Beausejour, MB on Friday, September 6, 2013 from 6:30-9:30 pm.  All are welcome to pay their respects. 

In Lieu of flowers or gifts, please help find a cure and donate in Darah’s name to the Ewing’s Cancer Foundation of Canada 72 Rockport Crescent Richmond Hill, ON L4C 2L8

Richard Wojcik of Wojcik’s Funeral Chapel & Crematorium, serving Beausejour, wojciksfuneralchapel.com 204 – 268 – 2263.

Wojcik’s

FUNERAL HOME & CREMATORIUM

SERVING BEAUSEJOUR, MANITOBA

1 - 866 - 424 - 6271 ~ 1 - 204 - 268 - 2263

www.wojciksfuneralchapel.com