Don Parker was born in 1917 in Sanford, Manitoba, where he was raised by his parents, James and Rae Parker. Don served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from January 1940 to 1945. After the war, he joined his brother Doug in farming near Sanford and they also joined their father as partners in an International Harvester Dealership, which later became Parker Brothers. In 1952, he married Bernice Olmstead who was the assistant principal of Sanford High School. Don served on the Sanford-Ferndale History Committee and was instrumental in writing and in collecting historical information for the book Sanford-Ferndale, 1871-1987, a historical account of the area published in 1989. Don and Bernice had two daughters: Debra, who was born in 1957 and Heather, who was born in 1959 but who died soon after her birth.

Tim Sale was born February 5, 1942 in Goderich, Ontario. He attended the University of Toronto where he received Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Theology degrees. He is an ordained Anglican Minister. Following graduation he moved to Winnipeg, where he joined the ministry at St. Paul's Anglican Church. Sale also served as a school trustee for Fort Garry from 1971-1977. He was CEO of Winnipeg's Social Planning Council from 1976-1985. He taught in the Department of Economics and in the Faculty of Continuing Education at the University of Manitoba in the early 1990s.

Sale also had a long political career. He was assistant deputy minister of Education from 1987-1989. He ran for the NDP in 1992 but did not gain a seat until 1995. He became Minister of Family Services and Housing when re-elected in 1999. He retired from politics in 2007 after holding a number of ministerial positions throughout his career.

Lorene Francis Milliken was born July 16, 1907 in Humbolt, Saskatchewan, as Lorene Francis Ritz. Her parents were Otto Ritz and Emma Walker Dawes. She moved to Winnipeg in 1915 and graduated with a B.A. from the University of Manitoba in 1928. She then taught in rural schools in Manitoba and worked as a secretary-librarian for the Winnipeg Normal School. In 1932, she married David Milliken and they had two sons, William Dawes and David Erskine.

She began writing, and during the 1950's came out with some chapbooks for publication, as well as a novel. She used the pen-name Sylvia Dawson from time to time, and published a series of chapbooks. They are; "My Soul Sings", "White Orchids", "A Morning Mood-", "Manitoba Landscape", and "Princess of Aune". As well, she published two books of prose pieces, "New Poems and Prose Pieces". and "Interludes", and a novel, entitled The Street of the Red Coat.

Lorene Francis Milliken maintained membership in the Women's Canadian Club, Women's Musical Club, the Inner Wheel club, the University Women's Club, -United College Women's Auxiliary, St. Andrew's United Church, the Winnipeg Poetry Society, and the Canadian Authors Association. Mrs. Milliken was involved with the Women's Auxiliary to the Shriner's Hospital, and the Women's Committee of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. She died on April 14, 1990 in Winnipeg.

Chronology of Important Dates

1907 Born Humbolt Saskatchewan, Lorene Francis Ritz
1915 Moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba
1928 Bachelor of Arts, University of Manitoba
1932 Married David Milliken
1952 Published first chapbook, "White Orchids"
1953 Published "A Morning Mood"
1955 Published "My Soul Sings"
1956 Published "Princess of Aune"
1957 Published "Interludes", a book of Prose.
1958 Published "New Poems and Prose Pieces"
1958 Published first and only novel, The Street of the Red Coat

Kenn Perkins was born May 29,1942. He completed high school at Miles Macdonell Collegiate and attended the University of Manitoba’s School of Art in the early 1960s. After leaving university, Perkins worked for four years in the camera department at Eaton’s where he gained knowledge about photography equipment. Perkins also took a summer job at Phillips - Gutkin and Associates Ltd., (PGA) where he painted animation cells and learned about animation from some of the highly regarded animators working there. During this time, he also constructed his first animation stand at home. He passed away on August 2, 2022.

Around 1968, Perkins began working at the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature (now called the Manitoba Museum) writing and animating a film called “A Brief History of Astronomy.” The film was nominated for best Animated Short in the Canadian Film Awards.

After leaving the Manitoba Museum, Perkins took a six-week internship at the National Film Board of Canada in Montréal. When he returned to Winnipeg, he started Kenn Perkins Animation Limited (KPA) and concentrated on creating animated TV commercials (using classical animation techniques: inked and painted-on cells and shot on film). The business grew quickly and took on large customers such as K-Tel. The commercials produced by KPA began to win awards and receive recognition across Canada.

By about 1973, KPA was awarded contracts to create animated French segments to replace the Spanish content on Sesame Street. Throughout the 1970s, KPA became responsible for the majority of Canadian content for Sesame Street. To keep up with demand, Perkins actively recruited and trained animators to work for his company. Some of these animators went on to distinguish themselves at the highest levels, for example, Cordell Baker and Chris Hinton have been nominated for Academy Awards and several others moved on to successful careers at Spielberg’s DreamWorks,Warner Bros., Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Electronic Arts or became independent filmmakers.

KPA developed into a full service production company offering creative services and production of animation, live action, computer animation and graphic design. KPA was an early adopter of motion control robotics (computer controlled cameras), digital editing, VFX (visual Effects) and various combinations of those individual disciplines. In the 1980s, KPA became the sixth user worldwide of SoftImage (even before Disney used it). In 1994, KPA became known as Commvergence, and although it has reduced its production services it offers creative services like Graphic Design and Website design.

Fredelle Maynard (nee Bruser) was a journalist, public speaker, and academic. She was born in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan in 1922 to Boris and Rona Bruser (nee Slobinsky). Raised in rural Saskatchewan and Manitoba, at the age of nine she moved with her parents and older sister, Celia, to Winnipeg, Manitoba. After completing public school in Winnipeg, Maynard entered the University of Manitoba, where she graduated with and Honors B.A. (English) in 1943. She continued her education at the University of Toronto, obtaining her M.A. (English) in 1944. Maynard then moved to Boston, Massachusetts where she attended Radcliffe College (Harvard University). She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1947 with a Ph.D. in English Literature. During her stellar academic career, Maynard received many awards including: the Governor General's Gold Medal (1942); Arts Gold Medal (1943); Canadian Federation of University Women Fellowship (1943-44); Flavelle Fellowship, University of Toronto (1943-44); Whitney Fellowship, Radcliffe College (1946-48); Warkman Fellowship, Radcliffe College (1945-46, 1946-47).

Maynard began her professional career in 1945 as an English tutor and Radcliffe College, a position she held until 1947. From 1947 to 1948 she was an Instructor in English at Wellesley College. In 1948, Maynard accepted a position as Instructor in English at the University of New Hampshire where her husband was a professor. Due to a university policy that forbade spouses from working in the same department, Maynard's contract was not renewed.

Discouraged but not defeated, Maynard began a successful journalism career that would span four decades. She wrote about education, child care and development, health and medicine, and family relationships. Over the years, Maynard contributed to many publications, both popular and scholarly, including: Good Housekeeping; Ladies Home Journal; Parents'; The New Republic; Family Circle; Woman's Day; Chatelaine; Saturday Evening Post; Reader's Digest; Studies in Philology; the American Association of University Professors Bulletin; University of Toronto Quarterly; the Manitoba Arts Review; the Malahat Review; the Kenyon Review; Scholastic Teacher and many others. In the 1960s and 1970s, Maynard was a ghost writer for Good Housekeeping, writing both the Dr. Joyce Brothers column and the popular column, "My Problem and How I Solved It."

Maynard also managed to continue with a teaching career despite her earlier setback. She was appointed as a Lecturer in English at the University of New Hampshire Department of Continuing Education in 1952, and in 1960-1961 served as an Instructor in English at the University of New Hampshire. Maynard found her way to the public school system, and after many years of substitute teaching was appointed as the Special Teacher and Consultant, Honors English Program, Dover High School. She served in this rewarding position from 1962-1967, inspiring several young students with their writing. Maynard also served as a College Board Reader; a National Examiner in English, CEEB; a consultant in Writing, Reading and Literature, NAEP; and as a Demonstration Teacher and Lecturer at the NEDA Summer Institute for Teachers of English (University of New Hampshire).

Maynard was also noted as an excellent public speaker. She gave seminars, workshops and lectures to many groups including: Canadian Association for young children; the Association of Early Childhood Education; La Leche League; Parent Cooperative Preschools; International Childbirth Education Association; Federated Women's Institutes of Canada; and the Ontario Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, among other. Maynard spoke to these groups about what she new best: family, children, health, and education. During the 1970s and 1980s Maynard was also the initiator and host of two popular Ontario parenting shows: Parents and Children , and The Parenting Academy .

In 1972, Maynard published her memoirs, Raisins and Almonds (Doubleday, 1972). The book, about a Jewish girl growing up on the prairies, was extremely well-received by the public. It spent many weeks on the bestseller's list, and was subsequently developed into a CBC television special, a one act musical (Calgary), a full length musical (Toronto), and a full length play (Saskatoon). Raisins and Almonds was followed by Guiding Your Child to a More Creative Life (Doubleday, 1973). In 1976, Maynard was contributing editor to The Parenting Advisor . Maynard's most controversial book, The Child Care Crisis (Penguin Books 1985, paperback 1986), was published in 1985. It created an uproar in the world of child care, especially from the women's movements. However, Maynard maintained both her position and her dignity throughout the furor. Maynard's last published book, The Tree of Life(Penguin Books 1988), is a poignant reflection of her life. She writes frankly about her relationships with her mother, sister, daughters, and, most telling, with her first husband, Max Maynard. At the time of her death, Maynard was working on a book about raising creative children.

In 1948, Maynard married her former English professor, Max Maynard. Fifteen years her senior, Maynard was a professor of English at the University of New Hampshire for most of their married life. He suffered with alcoholism for the entirety of their twenty-five year marriage. They had two daughters, Rona and Joyce, both of whom have followed literary paths with their careers. Soon after the 1972 publication of Raisins and Almonds the marriage dissolved. After the divorce, Max stopped drinking and moved to British Columbia, where he became a recognized landscape painter before his death. Fredelle met Sydney Bacon, a Toronto businessman. Bacon introduced Maynard to a world she had missed, and he remained her best friend and partner until her untimely death. Maynard moved to Toronto in the mid-1970s to be near Bacon, and spent many successful years there as an author, lecturer and radio-television broadcaster.

In 1989, Maynard was diagnosed with brain cancer. Typically, instead of despairing, Maynard threw a party and married her longtime companion, Sydney Bacon, in a garden ceremony on May 28, 1989. Maynard remained active, aware and involved in life until her death on October 3, 1989 at the age of 67.

Orysia (Paszczak) Tracz (1945-2016) was born in a displaced persons camp in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, to Ukrainian parents who had been transported to Germany as forced labourers during World War II. In 1949 the family moved to the United States taking up residence in Jersey City, Newark and Irvington, New Jersey. Active in various Ukrainian organizations during her childhood and youth, Orysia majored in Political Science at the George Washington University in Washington D.C. (1963-67) and spent her summers working at Soyuzivka, a Ukrainian resort in upstate New York, where she met many prominent Ukrainian émigré artists, including Jacques Hnizdovsky and Edward Kozak (Eko). In 1967 she married Myroslav Tracz, whom she had met at Soyuzivka, and accompanied him on his VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) assignment to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. A year later the young couple moved to Winnipeg, which became their home, and where they raised their three sons.

Orysia was employed by the University of Manitoba Libraries as a library assistant in the Slavic Collection, in Archives & Special Collections, and in Collections Management (1968-78, 1988-2010). In her spare time she was active in the local Ukrainian community: she volunteered, served on the Board of Directors, and was briefly the acting executive director of the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre (Oseredok); she served on the executive of the Alpha Omega Women’s Alumnae; she taught Ukrainian heritage school classes at the “Prosvita” Ukrainian Reading Association on Saturday mornings; she wrote and broadcast weekly commentaries for the Ukrainian program on Winnipeg’s CKJS Radio; she was a columnist for the popular, widely circulated “Ukrainian Weekly” newspaper, published in New Jersey; and she produced a stream of letters-to-the-editor, some of them published in the mainstream press and periodicals, on issues of concern to Ukrainians in North America.

Above all, she pursued her lifelong interest in Ukrainian folk traditions, arts and ethnography with relentless enthusiasm. During the early 1970s she was involved in the Mamaj Gallery and fine arts boutique, established by her husband Myroslav, where works by some of the artists they had met at Soyuzivka were displayed and sold. Between 1971 and 2006 she organized and curated a number of Ukrainian folk and fine arts displays and exhibits at the University of Manitoba Libraries, including several displays of pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs) and an exhibit of the works of the Ukrainian-born American painter, printmaker, graphic designer, and illustrator Jacques Hnizdovsky (1915-1985). In 1975-76 she served as a researcher on the production of Slavko Nowytski’s award-winning film “Pysanka: The Ukrainian Easter Egg” and she published her first article on the subject in “The Canadian Collector.” In subsequent years she delivered countless popular lectures on Ukrainian folk arts and traditions in Winnipeg and in Ukrainian communities all across North America. She served as a consultant on costumes, songs and dances for many Ukrainian-Canadian performing arts groups and she advised several Canadian authors on the Ukrainian content of their novels. From the mid-1980s she was frequently asked to translate Ukrainian-language books on the folk arts into English, working on texts prepared and published by the émigré World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations, and after 1991 on books produced by Rodovid Publishers and the Ivan Honchar Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 1993, and then almost annually after 1997 she organized and led summer folk art and culture tours of Ukraine, with travelers from across North America, Australia and even Japan. In the fall of 2015 Orysia published “The First Star I See Tonight: Ukrainian Christmas Traditions”, an illustrated collection of her popular articles, several of them first published on the pages of the “Winnipeg Free Press.”

During her career Orysia Tracz received the Alpha Omega Alumnae Ukrainian Woman of the Year Award (1990), the Canada 125 Medal (1992), the University of Manitoba Outreach Award (1996), the Bulava Award of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (2016), and she was an honouree of the Osvita Foundation/Manitoba Parents for Ukrainian Education (2013).

Libby Simon (nee Klein) was born on 21 December 1934 in Winnipeg. The youngest of five children and the only girl, she grew up in the North End of Winnipeg. Her parents had arrived in Canada from Poland in 1928. She married Harold Simon in 1956, and together, they raised one daughter.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology, a Pre-Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Manitoba. She was on the Dean's Honour List in both years of the Master's Program in 1970-1971 and received the Solomon Grand Prize in a tie for the highest standing in her final year in Social Casework (Fall Convocation 1970).

In her professional life, she was employed as a social worker for the Children’s Aid Society of Winnipeg for several years, then worked as a school social worker with the Child Guidance Clinic in Seven Oaks School Division for twenty years. While there, she created and led a special program called the Tri-Agency Parent Project, which joined some of the services of Child and Family Services, Child Guidance Clinic and the Seven Oaks School Division to focus on parenting.

Her first foray into writing was in 1992 when she wrote an academic essay for the B.C. Journal of Special Education. Since then she has become a freelance writer who has been published in the Winnipeg Free Press, Homemakers and Geist magazines, Canadian Living online magazine, U.S. anthologies, scholarly Canadian journals, as well as a variety of smaller periodicals. She has also read some of her works on CBC Radio in Winnipeg. In 2006, she received a Grant for Professional Development as a writer, from the Winnipeg Arts Council.

She is a member of the Penhandler’s Professional Women's Writers' Club, The Freelancers Writing group, the Writers Collective, and the Manitoba Writer’s Guild. She also holds membership in the Winnipeg Teachers' Association and the Manitoba Institute for Registered Social Workers. She currently resides in Winnipeg with her husband.

Graham Lawson Shanks was born on November 15, 1889 in Pettapiece, Manitoba. Shanks and his wife Mildred had one son named John Edward. In 1909, Shanks enrolled in the Manitoba Agricultural College (which would later be amalgamated into the University of Manitoba in 1929) and three years later, in 1912, graduated as member of the first graduating class of three in Agricultural Engineering. After graduating, Shanks held a position as an instructor of farm mechanics at the School of Agriculture in Vermillion, Alberta. In 1917, he accepted appointment at the Manitoba Agricultural College as a lecturer in Agricultural Engineering. A year later, he did service in the First World War with the Royal Flying Corps as a Cadet where he returned from duty on December 1918. At the age of 32, in 1921, he then went on to accept a position as Head of the Agricultural Engineering section where he continued to work until his retirement in 1955. Later on in 1930, Shanks would go on to receive an M.S. at the Iowa State College. His position was secure until 1933, when the Department of Agriculture closed its doors due to the depression. During that time Shanks remained on staff as a member of the Department of Civil Engineering but once the Department of Agricultural Engineering was re-established in 1947, Shanks reclaimed his title as Head of the department. In addition to teaching, Shanks also held many memberships in societies. He was member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and the Agricultural Institute of Canada. On December 15, 1951, Shanks took a leave of absence to serve as an adviser in farm mechanization to the government of Pakistan under the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations until December 15, 1952. G.L. Shanks has also made many more contributions by heading investigations into farm affairs and farm machinery problems in Manitoba that contributed to the formation of business and government policy. On June 15, 1983, Shanks passed away at the age of 93.

Vaughan David Watt was born in Birtle, Manitoba in 1892 the only son of David and Mary Jane (Jenny) Watt. David Watt farmed, worked as a grain buyer and was a Manager for the U.G.G. for twenty-two years. Jenny was elected the first secretary of the Federated Women's Institute in 1910 and went on to become the National President of the organization from 1923-1925. The couple's three children Vaughan, Vera and Nell all attended the Oxford School. Vaughan helped his father on the farm and worked in the local Union Bank. He played baseball and was part of the Birtle Band. He enlisted in 1916 at Saskatoon as part of the 28th Battalion Canadian Infantry (Saskatchewan Regiment). He was promoted to Lance-Corporal in May 1918. He was killed in France on August 9th 1918 and is buried in Rosieres Communal Cemetery Extension. One of his final letters home talks of returning to the farm to help his father.

Herbert S. Weil Jr. was born January 3, 1933, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He attended Yale University in 1950-1951 before obtaining an B.A. from Tulane University of Louisiana in 1954. The following year he did graduate study at the University of Paris and the University of Lille. Weil received his M.A. in 1961 and PHD in 1964 from Stanford University. In 1961 he married Judith Richardson, an English Professor.

Dr. Weil taught English at the University of Connecticut from 1962-1978. In 1978 he joined the University of Manitoba as head of the English Department. His wife joined the English Department in 1980. Both Herbert & Judith Weil were made senior scholars upon their retirement in 2002.

Dr. Weil has published extensively with articles on Shakespeare's plays, Sophocles, modern drama, Alice Munro and Carol Shields. He is the author of Reading Writing and Rewriting, (Lippincott, 1964); Discussions of Shakespeare's Romantic Comedy, (Heath, 1966) and The Cambridge Edition of Henry IV Part One, with Judith Weil in 1997.

Rudy Wiebe, is a Canadian Mennonite writer and former member of the Board of Directors for NeWest Press. Wiebe was born on October 4, 1934 in Speedwell, Saskatchewan. He received his BA (1956) from the University of Alberta and Bachelor of Theology degree from the Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg (1962). While an editor of the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren College Herald, he published his first novel Peace Shall Destroy Many. In 1967 he began teaching creative writing at the University of Alberta. He has published numerous articles, reviews, essays, anthologies, film and television scripts. Wiebe's novels include: First and Vital Candle (1966); Temptations of Big Bear (1973); and A Discovery of Strangers (1994). For his literary work, he received two Governor General Awards (1973, 1994) and the Order of Canada (2000). In 2007, Wiebe received the Charles Taylor Prize for his memoir of childhood titled: Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest.

During 1985-1997, Rudy Wiebe served on the Board of Directors for NeWest Publishing Company. He was a president and a chairman from 1991-1997. NeWest Press is one of the most important literary presses in Canada.

William Steven Snyder obtained his B.A.O. and M.A. degrees from the University of Idaho before completing a P.H.D. from the University of Florida. In 1976 he was hired by the University of Manitoba's English Department to teach Film Studies and is currently an associate professor. In 1980-1981 he enrolled in a filmmaking course at the San Francisco Art Institute and began making short films. He has maintained a long friendship with the internationally acclaimed local filmmaker Guy Maddin, helping him in most of his projects. He worked as a photographer on Mr. Maddin's first film The Dead Father and has acted in others including Archangel. For the film shot of Careful, he was the project's official diarist. In 2005 Snyder appeared as a newspaperman in Jeff Solylo’s movie, East of Euclid.

Harry Martindale Speechly was born in Cocin, south-west India, November 1, 1866, the son of the first missionary bishop of the Episcopalian Church in the semi-independent states of Travancore and Cocin.

When he was three years old, his parents returned to England. He received his early education at Perse Grammar School in Cambridge, and the Monkton Combe School located in Bath. He was an academically sound student, but his first love was sports. While in school he playeed cricket, soccer, rugby, and lawn tennis.

He began his medical studies at the London Hospital located in Whitechapel, England in 1884. Five years later he graduated with the degrees of M.R.C.S. Eng. and L.R.C.P. Lon.

With school and college days behind him, he began his medical career as a physician with England's North Sea Fishing Fleet. However, the long months at sea were not to his liking so he resigned his position to accept an appointment as the house surgeon, house physician, and casualty officer at the London Hospital. In 1893, he resigned this position to become the medical officer at a boy's prep school in Chesire, England. He practiced medicine in Chesire for eight years.

While in Chesire, two things happened that changed his life forever. The first was his marriage to Mary Barrett, the eldest daughter of Reverend W.F. and Mrs. Barrett of Neston, Chesire, in 1895. The second event was the opportunity to view some lantern slides depicting scenes of Canada. Dr. Speechly promptly fell in love with the country of Canada, and began to make plans to move his family to Canada.

In 1901, he moved to Pilot Mound, Manitoba. His wife and family joined him the next year. In Pilot Mound he practiced medicine for fifteen years in a manner that was marked by skill and faithfulness. He also served as community Coroner.

During the First World War, he left Pilot Mound to serve as an Army Medical Officer in the Fleet Military Hospital, near Aldershot, England. He served in this position from July 1916 to April 1919. During this period of time, Dr. Speechly did the work of two physicians, and was awarded the Red Cross Medal for meritorious service.

In 1919, he returned to Canada to set up a successful medical practice in Winnipeg. Ten years later he was appointed Provincial Coroner, and served in this position until his reluctant retirement in 1942. Meanwhile his wife, Mary Speechly, also very community-minded, became involved with many committees and associations connected with improving the quality of practical education in Manitoba schools. She was the first female appointed to the Board of Governors of the University of Manitoba.

From 1942 to 1945, Dr. Speechly was Assistant Medical Officer at the King Edward Hospital in Winnipeg. Dr. Speechly sincerely believed that "no man should presume to live in a community without working for it." As a result of this belief, the communities that he lived in have been blessed with many outstanding contributions. His community activities make a formidable list, so only a few of his many accomplishments are detailed in this short biographical sketch of his life.

Dr. Speechly helped found and was President Emeritus of the Manitoba Natural History Society and the Manitoba Museum. He also served as President of the Winnipeg Health League, was a life-time member of the Manitoba Medical Society, and served as president of the Manitoba Horticultural Society and of the Winnipeg Boy Scouts Association.

Dr. Speechly served his church as lay reader for over fifty-five years. He was a member of all the synods of the Anglican Church, and Dominion President of the Brotherhood of St. Andrews. He also served as the president of the Manitoba Branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and of the Lord's Day Alliance.

Dr. Speechly is probably best known for his ongoing battle against mosquitos. In 1927, he took his first step in eliminating this pest by asking the Natural History Society to appoint an expert committee to examine the feasibility of a mosquito control campaign for Greater Winnipeg. Since that time, almost to his death, he served permanently as president and chairman of the Greater Winnipeg Anti-Mosquito Campaign.

Dr. and Mrs. Speechly are the parents three children; Margaret, (Mrs. E.J. Stansfield), William G., and Leslie B.

Dr. Speechly died in Winnipeg, March 17th, 1951, at the age of 84, after a short illness.

Hugh Hamilton Saunderson, B.A., M.Sc., PhD., Dr.Sc., LLD., F.C.I.C., was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 23, 1904, son of Hugh Hamilton Sr., and Linda Dunham (Duval) Saunderson. He received his elementary education in the Public Schools of Winnipeg. He graduated with a B.A. degree from the University of Manitoba in 1924, and Master of Science from the University of Manitoba in 1930. In 1932 he received the degree of PhD. from McGill University, and in 1962 McGill University granted him the degree of Doctor of Science.

On June 15, 1934 he married Patricia Jean Coke at Winnipeg. They had two children, Carol Patricia and Hugh Lawrence.

Dr. Saunderson had a successful and varied career. He was employed as a research chemist with International Paper Company in 1933-34; Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Manitoba, 1934-1942; Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Manitoba, 1942-1945; Professor of Chemistry and Dean of Arts and Science from 1945-1947. From 1947 to 1954 he served as Director of Information Services, Research Council of Canada, at Ottawa. He was appointed President of the University of Manitoba in 1954, a position he held until 1970, when he retired and was named President Emeritus. He was an Honorary Fellow of the International College of Dentists, a member of the Chemistry Institute of Canada, and an Honorary Member of the Pharmaceutical Association. He also served as a director of the Sanitorium Board of Manitoba. Dr. Saunderson was the author of The Saunderson Years, published by the University of Manitoba Press in 1981. Dr. Saunderson was a member of the United Church of Canada, and held memberships in the Manitoba Club and in Rotary International.

Dr. Saunderson died at Winnipeg in May 1984.

CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT DATES

1904 Hugh Hamilton Saunderson Jr., born at Winnipeg, MB, November 23rd

1924 Received B.A. from University of Manitoba

1930 Received M.Sc. from University of Manitoba

1932 Received PhD. from McGill University

1933 Research Chemist, International Paper Company

1934 Married Patricia Jean Coke

1934 Appointed Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Manitoba

1942 Appointed Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Manitoba

1945 Appointed Professor of Chemistry and Dean of Arts and Science, University of Manitoba

1947 Appointed Director of Information Services, Research Council of Canada

1954 Appointed President of the University of Manitoba

1962 Received Dr. of Science from McGill University

1970 Retired as President, University of Manitoba, named President Emeritus

1981 Published autobiography The Saunderson Years

1984 Died at Winnipeg

John Malcolm Symonds was the first Engineer-in-Residence at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba. He received his B.Sc. ME from the University of Manitoba in 1977. After his graduation, he joined Bristol Aerospace Ltd. as a design engineer. In 1983, he became a manager responsible for engineering administration, project management and processes. Mr. Symonds is a co-author of System Engineering Support Contract Proposal for CF-18 aircraft. The contract was published in 1985 by five Canadian Aerospace Companies: Canadian Aerospace Support Team - Bristol Aerospace Ltd.; Litton Systems Canada Ltd.; Bendix Avelex inc.; Leigh Instruments Ltd.

In 1987, Mr. Symonds became a director of Aircraft Engineering. During that time he developed the systems design for Bell Helicopter and CF-5 repairs, updates, and flight tests. In 1996, he took over responsibilities for Defence Missile engineering and in 1998, as Director of engineering Services, he added responsibilities for planning, tool design, tool build and data control. Mr. Symonds worked in Bristol Aerospace Ltd. until his retirement on January 2001.

Symonds taught courses (Program Management and Systems Engineering) at the University of Manitoba. He donated his copy of CF-18 System Engineering Support Contract Proposal to the University of Manitoba in 2005. He retired from the University of Manitoba in 2012.

John F. Templeton is Professor Emeritus in the University of Manitoba's College of Pharmacy. He was born in 1936 in Curling, Newfoundland (now a part of Corner Brook). Templeton studied Chemistry at the Memorial University of Newfoundland earning a B.Sc. (Honours) in 1956 and a M.Sc. (Forbes) in 1957. He was awarded a Rothermere Fellowship and studied at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of London, England where he received the Diploma of Imperial College (DIC). He then achieved a Ph.D from the University of London.

Templeton did postdoctoral work at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1961 to 1962, Brandeis University from 1962 to 1964, and the University of London from 1964 to 1967. He joined the School of Pharmacy at the University of Manitoba in 1967. He was made full professor in 1975.

According to the Chemistry Department newsletter of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Dr. Templeton's research "has been directed towards the study of structure-metabolism relationships, the synthesis of steroid enzyme inhibitors of potential value in the treatment of hormone dependent cancers, and on the cardiotonic structure-activity relationships between the plant cardiac glycosides and hormonal steroids, latterly in relation to an endogenous human digitalis equivalent" and he "gained an international reputation for his research on the organic and medicinal chemistry of steroids."

In 2001, Templeton was given a Doctor of Science by the University of London. In 2002 he was made Professor Emeritus by the College of Pharmacy at the University of Manitoba.

Joseph C. Stangl was a businessman and community activist. Stangl was born at Quantock, Saskatchewan in 1919. He attended St. Thomas College in Battleford from 1934-1937 obtaining the equivalent of a second year university education. In 1937, he moved to Winnipeg where he took a secretarial course that enabled him to get a job with Crane Ltd the following year. He married Katherine Mary Ottenbreit in 1940. In 1943, they moved to Saskatoon where their first daughter Judith Ann was born. Stangl left Crane Ltd in 1950 to return to Winnipeg as a Sales Manager for Anthes Foundary Ltd. Stangl remained with Anthes until 1968 when he took early retirement at the age of 49 as the General Sales Manager for Western Canada.

He was active in his local parish and in several Catholic organizations and was honoured with a papal knighthood in 1958. After his retirement, Stangl acted as the Secretary-Treasurer of St. Paul’s High School for 13 years. He was also involved in education issues at the local, provincial, national and international levels, including the Manitoba School Question. He was President of the Manitoba Association of School Trustees from 1973-1974 and was also president of the Manitoba Federation of Independent Schools Inc.

His community efforts resulted in numerous awards, including the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, the Order of Canada in 1980, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

In 2002, he published his memoirs as Life’s Challenges: A Man for Others. He died in Winnipeg on November 10, 2013.

Catherine Thexton was born in Balmoral, Manitoba in 1921. She and her husband George farmed in the area for over 45 years. She graduated from the Provincial Normal School in 1939 and taught school for twenty years. In 1944 -1945 she studied conservation in Ontario. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Manitoba in 1966. She obtained her Bachelor of Education in 1973 and a Master of Education in 1978. In 1977-1978 she taught the first full course in ecology in a secondary school at St. John's High School.

A lifelong devotee of nature, Thexton recorded bird calls and songs since the mid-1970s. She produced eight commercial recordings. They include: In Praise of Spring (in album format in 1981), Meadowlark Music & Other Nature Sounds (in album format in 1983), Let Nature Sing (in album format in 1987), Songs & Sounds (in audio-cassette in 1989), Dusk to Dawn Nature Sounds (in audio-cassette in 1992), Just Birds (in CD & cassette in 1995), Sounds from Fields & Woods (in CD & cassette in 1997) & Bird Song with Ambient Sound (in CD 2003).

Thexton passed away on February 27, 2019.

Bill Wsiaki was born in Wynyard, Saskatchewan in 1955. In 1973, he began his employment with the University of Manitoba Libraries. He served as the Circulation Supervisor and ultimately as Library Supervisor at the Father Harold Drake Library, St. Paul’s College. In addition to being employed at the University of Manitoba, he contributed news reports, human interest stories, and features and photos to numerous Canadian magazines and newspapers from 1979 to 1989. In 1984, he was one of the official photographers for the Manitoba Papal visit of Pope John Paul II. In 1989, he began WPW Video Productions. From 1989 to 2001, he produced television documentaries and educational video series. During this period, he received four international and three national awards for video production. Two of his documentaries were reviewed in the American national audio and video publication called Videomaker. Some of his works are archived at the National Archives in Ottawa and at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Topics of his video productions include Catholic religious issues, Ukrainian history and culture, and aboriginal marriage preparation. From 1995 to 1999, he was the Winnipeg producer for KONTAKT, the Ukrainian culture and news program produced in Toronto.

Betty Jane Wylie (nee McKenty) is a prolific playwright and author. She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1931. She attended the University of Manitoba where she earned a B.A. (Hons.) in French and English in 1951. She completed an M.A. in English in 1952, majoring in 20th century poetry, with minors in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse. Soon after graduation in 1952, Wylie married William Tennant (Bill) Wylie, with whom she eventually had four children. For the first part of their marriage, the Wylies resided in Winnipeg where Bill Wylie was manager of the Manitoba Theatre Centre. They then moved from Winnipeg to Stratford, Ontario in 1968, where Bill Wylie served as administrative director of the Stratford Festival Theatre until his death in 1973. While married, and raising her four children, Wylie found some time to write poetry and plays, but Bill Wylie's unexpected death in 1973 caused her to take up writing as a career.

While coming to terms with her husband's death, Wylie wrote Beginnings: A Book for Widows (1977), which went through several editions, and has been published in six countries. Since then, Wylie has published books of various types such as children's books, cookbooks, self-help, and other non-fiction books. Over three dozen of her plays have been produced. During the 1989-1990 academic year, Wylie had a fellowship at the Bunting Institute, now part of Harvard University. She was one of only a handful of Canadians ever accepted as a fellow. At the Bunting Institute, Wylie began work on her book about women's diaries, Reading Between the Lines, by taking a Harvard seminar for fourteen invited participants on diaries. Her Bunting symposium took the form of a play about Alice James, performed twice unofficially in Boston and in Cambridge, and published by Playwright's Press as "A Native of the James Family".

Wylie has also been involved in radio and television productions, including a television movie called Coming of Age that aired on TMN (1994) and Global (1995), and won two Gemini Awards. She won the University of Manitoba Alumni Association's Alumni Jubilee Award in 1989. In 2003 she was the recipient of a D. Litt from the University of Manitoba and was named a member of the Order of Canada.

John P. Zubek was born in Trnovec, Czechoslovakia on 10 March 1925. He immigrated to Canada at the age of five with his parents. After his early education in Grand Forks, British Columbia. Zubek completed his B.A.in Psychology in 1946 graduating with first class honours from the University of British Columbia. In 1948 he received a Masters in Social Psychology from the University of Toronto. From 1948-1950 Zubek was an instructor in Psychology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore from where he received his Ph.D. in 1950 graduating Phi Betta Kappa.

Zubek then joined the Psychology Department at McGill University in the fall of 1950. During his three years at McGill as assistant professor, Zubek published eight articles on such widely divergent topics as the cerebral cortex and locomotor activity in rats to a genetic of Doukhobors' attitudes.

In 1953 Zubek joined the faculty of the University of Manitoba as a full professor and chairman of the Department of Psychology, a post he held for the next eight years. In 1954 he and P.A. Solberg coauthored the book Human Development (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1954) an advanced textbook treating the development and decline, throughout the lifespan, of the nervous system, glands, physical structure, senses, learning and thinking processes, emotions, beliefs, attitudes and personality. The following year he authored the Laboratory Manual in Introductory Psychology, a textbook consisting of 25 student-oriented experiments. He also published fifteen articles. In 1959 he added Directorship of the Sensory Deprivation Laboratory to his workload.

Dr. Zubek did not limit his activities to the University of Manitoba. He served two terms as a member of the Associate Committee on Experimental Psychology for the National Research Council of Canada from 1955 to 1961. He also served two terms, from 1958 to 1964 as a member of the Human Resources Scientific Advisory Committee for the Defense Research Board of Canada. Zubek was a member of Directors of the Canadian Psychological Association from 1956 to 1958.

In 1961 Dr. Zubek turned his attention solely to research. His new position as Research Professor reduced his teaching load to only one class. In the next thirteen years he wrote or edited four more books. One of them, Sensory Deprivation: Fifteen Years of Research (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1969), consists of chapters written by eight of the leading investigators in the field. The book gives some 1,300 references to articles in journals and government technical reports, many of which were published in foreign languages. Zubek also published another 50 articles during this period, many of which were published in foreign journals.

Zubek and his associates received prestigious research grants to further their work. The National Research Council provided six years of funding (1968-1974) at $13,200 per annum for research on the effects of prolonged sensory deprivation. The same funding body provided a development grant of $110,000 in 1968 to establish a centre for research in sensory deprivation at the University of Manitoba. Furthermore, from 1959 to 1974 the Defence Research Board provided operating grants of $15,000-$21,000 for additional sensory deprivation research. Between 1964-1967 Zubek received $100,000 from the United States Public Health Service.

Dr. Zubek was made a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association in 1967. He was the recipient of the Clifford J. Robson Distinguished Psychologist in Manitoba Award bestowed by the Manitoba Psychological Society in 1973. The same year, Manitoba's research in sensory deprivation was listed among the 30 major achievements in Canadian science and technology.

Dr. Zubek died suddenly on 22 August 22 1974 at the age of 49. His academic legacy includes six books and over eighty articles. He helped to establish two awards for academic excellence. The John J. Zubek Award, named for his father, has been presented to younger staff members at the University of Manitoba for excellence in research and scholarship. The purpose of the award is to accord public recognition and provide encouragement to younger professors who show promise of gaining prominence in their fields. Zubek was also responsible for establishing the Clifford J. Robson Award in the memory of his friend Dr. Robson from the Department of Psychology at the University of Winnipeg. The award is for teaching excellence at the University of Winnipeg.

The Michalchyshyn family is one of many Ukrainian pioneer families who have shaped the history of Ukrainians in Manitoba. Walter Michalchyshyn was born on June 24, 1909 in Byczkiwci (Chortkiw), Crownland of Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Ukraine). In 1923, he came with his parents, George (Yurii) and Kateryna Michalchyshyn to Canada, and settled in Portage la Prairie. His parents were deeply religious and were very active in the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Portage la Prairie. They inspired their children and Walter followed his father’s footsteps, and became a cantor in Ukrainian Catholic churches.

In 1935 Walter married Catherine Kuzyk and worked as a baker in Brandon. Catherine was a devoted member of the Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League and other Ukrainian women’s organization. In 1948, the couple bought a bakery in Shoal Lake and worked there until 1959. When they moved to Winnipeg, Walter got a position as a supervisor at the Donut House. Walter was a member of the Parish Council of St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, and the St. Nicholas Mutual Benefit Association. Walter and Catherine Michalchyshyn had five children: Irene (Gajecky), Stella (Hryniuk), Joseph, Ivan, and Ray. They are all educated professionals who followed their parents’ example in their love for Ukrainian culture and history. Catherine Michalchyshyn died on October 8, 2009 predeceased by Walter Michalchyshyn, who died on September 1, 2000

Irena Knysh was a feminist, journalist, and author of many books on the Ukrainian women’s movement. She is well known among the Ukrainian Diaspora in Canada and America, as well as in Ukraine. Irena Knysh was born on April 20, 1909 in Lviv, (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Ukraine) to Dmytro and Anastazia Shkvarok. In 1933, she graduated from Lviv University with a Master’s degree in Philosophy. She was fluent in many languages including Ukrainian, Polish, French, German, and English. After her graduation, she became an instructor of linguistics and taught at various secondary schools in Lviv and Przemyśl (Peremyshl’). During the 1930s, she collaborated with the Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO) and Ukrainian Organization of Nationalists (OUN). In 1939, she married Zynovii Knysh, a political and community activist. Her son, George Knysh, was born in 1940. During the Second World War, the family lived in Cracow, Lviv, and Austria. After the war they moved to France, where Irena Knysh became the Head of the Ukrainian Women’s Alliance in France.

In 1950, she immigrated to Winnipeg and worked as a journalist for various Ukrainian newspapers including Kanadiis’kyi Farmer, Novyi shliakh, Zhinochyi Svit, Promin, and Ukrains’kyi Holos in Canada; Svoboda, Samostiina Ukraina, and Nashe Zhyttia in the United States; and Ukrains’ke Slovo in France. She wrote extensively on the Ukrainian women’s movement. Her books are also well known in Ukraine. Her major works include Na sluzhbi ridnoho narodu: iuvileinyi zbirnyk Orhanizatsii Ukrainok Kanady im. Ol’hy Basarab (Jubilee Collection of the UWOC) (1955), Ivan Franko ta rivnopravnist’ zhinky (Ivan Franko and Equal Rights for Women) (1956), Smoloskyp u temriavi (Torch in the Darkness) (1957), Patriotyzm Anny Ionker (The Patriotism of Anna Jonker) (1964), Zhinka vchora i s’ohodni (Collection of articles published in various Ukrainian newspapers) (1964), Nezabutnia Ol’ha Basarab (Unforgettable Olha Basarab) (1976), and Try rovesnytsi, 1860-1960 (Three Ukrainian Contemporaries) (1966).

Irena Knysh was one of the first Ukrainian-Canadian women to be included in the Ukrainian Literary Encyclopaedia (Kyiv, 1990). She visited Ukraine in 1970 and her book, Vich-na-vich iz Ukrainoiu (1970), was a reflection of her journey. After Ukrainian independence in 1991, she was elected a member of the Ukrainian Women’s Alliance in Lviv, Ukraine (2005) and in her honour a scientific conference took place on June 4, 2005. Irena Knysh passed away on May 11, 2006.

William (Bill) Lobchuk was born in Neepawa, Manitoba and is a very accomplished artist. He received a Diploma of Art from the University of Manitoba (1966) and has played an active role in the arts community for over 40 years. He has received several awards and has been commissioned by numerous organizations. Lobchuk has had his artwork displayed in exhibitions since 1970 at many venues in Canada such as the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Burnaby Art Gallery in Burnaby, British Columbia, the Susan Whitney Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan as well as internationally in Yugoslavia, Japan, and Holland. Lobchuk's artwork can be found in personal and corporate collections throughout Canada and the world. In 1996 he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art (R.C.A.)

Anne Smigel was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She attended the University of Manitoba (B.A., B.Ed.), the University of Winnipeg, and the University of Minnesota. As a teacher and educator she taught in elementary and junior high schools in Manitoba for more than 44 years. Anne Smigel was a member of the Ukrainian Curriculum Committee on Ukrainian language at elementary and secondary school and the first woman of Ukrainian decent to become a Principal (Ashland School, Pinkham School, William Whyte School) in Winnipeg.

She belonged to many organizations such as the Alpha Omega Alumnae, the Council of Women of Winnipeg, the Manitoba Association of Principals, the Canadian College of Teachers, and the United Nations, Winnipeg Branch. Anna Smigel was a founding member of Altrusa Club of Winnipeg and Altrusa International Club. Altrusa is an international organization of professional women (13 countries) who are serving the needs of their communities. From 1980-1982, she served as the Governor of Altrusa International, District 7.
Anne Smigel was an educator and philanthropist who made great contributions to the University of Manitoba. In 2004 she received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Manitoba. To honour her memory a Scholarship was established in her name at the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies and a Research Endowment Fund was created to support the acquisition of research material for the University Libraries. Anne Smigel died on February 10, 2008.

Born in 1953, Marie Bouchard grew up in a Manitoba farming community. She completed a Bachelor of Arts Honors degree at the University of Winnipeg in 1980, an Honors History degree in 1984 and a Master’s degree in Canadian History at the University of Manitoba in 1986. In 1985, as part of her Master’s work, she was invited by the Winnipeg Art Gallery to assist Inuit art scholar Jean Blodgett in the 1986 exhibition “Jessie Oonark: A Retrospective.” The accompanying exhibition catalogued detailed Oonark’s artistic oeuvre and her life at Back River based on interviews Bouchard conducted in Baker Lake, Nunavut.

Upon receiving a Canada Council Explorations Grant, Bouchard with her husband, Jim McLeod moved to Baker Lake in 1986 where she undertook indepth research on the people of Back River and the starvation of the 1950s. Her collection of archival research and oral history in the form of numerous documents and interviews also details the Government of Canada’s role during the relocation of Inuit from outlying camps to the fledgling community of Baker Lake during the 1950s and the Inuit survivors’ account of these events. These records are significant because they document the ensuing cultural upheaval and tragedy from starvation because of a lack of resources and Government plans to populate the North and promote sovereignty during the Cold War.

During her eleven years in Baker Lake, Bouchard developed her interest in Inuit art and economic development. She began supporting Inuit women artists and resurrected their creation of intricately embroidered wall hangings soon after arriving in the community. Bouchard eventually opened Baker Lake Fine Arts, a small, privately-owned cottage industry which brought financial support to the artists, as well as the necessary art supplies and marketing skills. With the closing of the local sewing centre, her venture allowed women in the community to continue to sew and care for their children at home. Her interests included all genres of art but primarily focused on the works on cloth which she showcased in public and commercial exhibitions both nationally and internationally. Her collection chronicles the production of Baker Lake works on cloth, soapstone carvings and drawing in the area over a ten year period through slide images, artist interviews and her library of Inuit art exhibition catalogues and books.

Bouchard was also instrumental in establishing the Baker Lake Historical Society which promoted cultural tourism and the revival of traditional knowledge for educational purposes.

Bouchard left Baker Lake for Winnipeg Manitoba in 1997. She worked as an independent art curator and consultant for the next ten years. She repatriated the representation and celebration of art by local Inuit artists by involving them in the representation of their work and hosting exhibition openings in the community. She curated major art exhibitions focused on Inuit and aboriginal art for institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Itsarnittakarvik: Inuit Heritage Centre, Plug In ICA, and in the United States at the Los Angeles Fowler Museum, and New York’s American Indian Community House, as well as at several college galleries. She also took her collection of Baker Lake works on cloth to Japan for a major international exhibition. She has delivered numerous lectures and author essays and articles on Baker Lake works on cloth, drawings, sculptures, eco-museums and tourism.

Val Werier was born in Winnipeg on June 29, 1917. He graduated from St.John's High School and then attended Manitoba Junior College to obtain the equivalent of first year university. He held a number of jobs while working as a freelance writer, having published in the Winnipeg Tribune as early as 1939. He was hired as a Tribune reporter in 1941. He joined the RCAF in 1942 and trained as a navigator. He completed a tour of operations with the RAF Bomber Squadron 626 achieving the rank of Flying Officer. Werier returned to the Tribune upon his discharge. He covered every major beat and was made City Editor in 1955. In 1961 he was appointed News Editor and was promoted to Associate Editor the following year. With the folding of the Winnipeg Tribune in 1980, Werier moved to the Winnipeg Free Press. Werier's life long devotion to heritage & environmental issues has enabled him to foment change through his writings. He continues to write the occasional column in a journalistic career that spans nearly 75 years.

Werier has been the recipient of a myriad of awards. In 1979 he was presented the Heritage Canada National Communications Award. In 1986 he received the Environment Canada National Heritage Award. He was named to the Order of Canada in 1998 and became an Order of Manitoba recipient in 2004. Werier has been appointed to several Commissions. He was member of the provincial Fact Finding Committee on Legal Aid in 1970. He was Commissioner of the Manitoba Law Reform Commission from 1971-1979. He was a Member of the Board of the Canadian Housing Design Council in 1978-1982. He was a member of the program committee, Manitoba Museum of Man & Nature. He was a member of the Winnipeg Jewish Community Council, 1986-1989.

Val passed away in Winnipeg, 2014.

Born in Chicago in 1930, Sandra Barz completed her education at Skidmore College graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1952. She began her career in publishing and later became interested in Inuit art after purchasing a few pieces while visiting Canada. Thereafter she began to research and compile information relating to Inuit prints from Arctic Quebec/Puvirnituq, Baker Lake, Cape Dorset, Clyde River, Holman Island, and Pangnirtung. Her first exploration in this field involved developing, editing, and publishing 28 issues of Arts and Culture of the North from 1976 to 1984. She followed this work with a series of three volumes titled Inuit Artists Print Workbook, Volumes I, II, and III. The volumes catalogue over 8,000 Inuit print images dating from 1957 to the present, produced in the aforementioned communities, as well as prints produced independently of the Arctic co-operative system.

Barz developed her knowledge of printmaking and Inuit culture by making numerous trips to the Canadian Arctic, Alaska, Greenland, and Siberia over a thirty year period. By organizing tours to the Arctic, Sandra Barz connected participants with artists and printmakers and helped expand their appreciation for northern culture and the environment. To further connect art dealers, scholars, curators, and Inuit art enthusiasts, Barz coordinated and sponsored six Eskimo-(and Inuit Art) in-Art Conferences held in the United States and Canada. These venues included Toronto (Art Gallery of Ontario), Ottawa (National Museum of Man (currently Canadian Museum of Civilzation)), Winnipeg (Winnipeg Art Gallery), Washington, DC (The Smithsonian Institution), Chicago (The Field Museum), and Cape Dorset (West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative Limited).

Barz's papers detail over forty years of dedication to documenting Inuit artist biographies, the evolution of printmaking, and encouraging growing interest for Inuit art worldwide. She also documents the recognition given by governments to Indigenous art and culture with her collection of stamps from Europe, Greenland, United States, and Canada.

Dr. Oleh Walter Gerus was born on July 9, 1939 in Bludlow, Volhynia, in what was then, part of eastern Poland (present-day Svitanok, Ukraine), to parents, Reverend Serhij and Anna Gerus (Palianychka). From 1946 to 1950, he received his primary education in the Displaced Persons Camps in Munster Lager and Fallingbostel, in Northern Saxony, Germany. Upon immigrating to Canada with his parents, he completed his public school education in Vita and Winnipeg. He received his BA (1962 History and Slavic Studies) and MA (1964 History) from the University of Manitoba and his PhD from the University of Toronto (1970), under the supervision of Robert H. McNeal. He was awarded a doctoral fellowship to Lomonsov State University, Moscow (1966-67), where he studied with Piotr A. Zaionchkovsky. In 1967 Oleh Gerus lectured at the University of Manitoba and the following year he was appointed as an assistant professor at Brandon University. In 1969 he joined the University of Manitoba’s Department of History where he served for over 47 years. In 1996, he was promoted to full professor. He retired in 2016. Dr. Gerus is married to Yvonne (Bonnie) née Kowalchuk, and the couple have 3 children: Helene, Andrew and Roman.

Dr. Gerus‘s fields of specialization and teaching include: Ukrainian history, modern Russian history, Ukrainians in Canada, Ukrainian Orthodox Church history and the late Metropolitan Ilarion (Ivan Ohienko). His publications focus on the Ukrainian experience. The Canadian media has often called upon Dr. Gerus to provide commentary on the Ukrainian community in Canada, as well as on current events taking place in Eastern Europe and Russia, because of his knowledge and expertise of the history and politics of the region. His strong commitment to the university community has been reflected in: participating in the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies, Policy Council; various committees within the Department of History, including the associate headship; and serving on the board of directors of St. Andrew's College and college committees of St. Paul’s College. Dr. Gerus’s contributions to the University of Manitoba have been recognized through various awards and accolades, which include: the University of Manitoba Outreach Award; the University of Manitoba Dr. & Mrs. Campbell Outreach Award; the Fr. Cecil Ryan, SJ, Rector’s Award (St. Paul’s College); and the bestowing on him the degree of Doctor of Canon Law (DCL) Honoris Causa (St. Andrew’s College). Always focused on the students, Dr. and Mrs. Gerus endowed a scholarship in European history for St. Paul's College students as well as a memorial bursary in the Faculty of Education.

Throughout his academic career Dr. Gerus has remained very active in the Ukrainian-Canadian community: first as a student leader in the Ukrainian Student’s Union of Canada; later as an executive member of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in Canada; as president of the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre, Oseredok; and as a member of the boards of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko and the Oseredok Foundation. Dr. Gerus accompanied the Oleksander Koshetz Choir of Winnipeg on its concert visits to Ukraine and to the Ukrainian diaspora in Europe and South America where he lectured on the Ukrainian Canadian experience. In the late 1980s, as Ukraine inched closer to independence, Dr. Gerus was involved in founding the Canadian Friends of Rukh, the popular movement for political and cultural reconstruction in Ukraine. He also assisted Ukraine’s academia, by working with and helping to develop a curriculum for the re-born University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, a historically important institution of learning. Following Ukraine's independence, Dr. Gerus was invited by the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences in 1992 to participate in Ukraine's celebration of Ivan Ohienko's (Metropolitan Ilarion) 110th anniversary of his birth and his remarkable intellectual achievements.

In addition to numerous articles on Ukrainian Orthodox Church history and the history of Ukrainians in Canada, Dr. Gerus’s major publications include an edition of Dmytro Doroshenko’s A Survey of Ukrainian History (Winnipeg: Humeniuk Foundation, 1975), which he edited, updated and introduced, and (with Denys Hlynka) The Honourable Member for Vegreville: The memoirs and diary of Anthony Hlynka, MP (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2005).