February 9, 1941 – February 1, 2017 It is with deep regret that the family wishes to announce the passing of our Husband, Father, Grandfather, great grandfather, uncle and Godfather. It is with great relief in our hearts that he graduated from life and is free of the pain of pancreatic cancer. He will be sadly missed by his wife Vivian, sons Cal (Cindy), and Greg (Corinne) and grandchildren Taylor, Cole, Sarah, Bethany, Rebecca and great grandchildren Ava & Brody.

Harry was born in a farm house near Benito Mb. to Frank & Helen Popoff where he grew up with his brothers Bill,  Jack and sister Nettie. Throughout his teen years he enjoyed  being a member of the Rythym Rocks as a fiddle player playing numerous barn dances and weddings. The height of his fiddle career peaked on television with a few appearance on “Profile” in Yorkton Sask.

Upon graduation from High School he made his way to Winnipeg where he worked at various jobs before finding his way back to the country to work with Searle grain which later became Federal and finally Manitoba Pool grain elevators. He operated elevators in Birch River, Endeavour, Runnymede, Angusville, & La Rivierre. He was always very fond of the people he met along the way and became very respected as an agent and community member. It was in those years in Angusville that he along with other members of the community sponsored the construction of the Angusville Community Center where his name still proudly appears on the plaque along side of the other founding members.

He later shifted careers to Manitoba Crop Insurance as an agent in Birtle and later in Stonewall where he became a regional manager and retired in 1995.

During his time with Crop Insurance he enjoyed many great relationships with work collegues and especially loved working with the farming community as he always felt like the prairie boy that he was.

During the 1980’s in Stonewall he (along with Rudy Peters) started the Quarry Toastmaster Club. Recently in the last few years the Quarry Toastmasters Club celebrated a 25 year milestone where he was honored to be recognized as a founding member.

Not one to sit around in retirement he later joined Canadian Auto Group/Adesa Auction. During his 20 yrs as a core driver, he enjoyed building many friendships with his fellow drivers and especially with Jaret Thiessen whom he held in very high regard. He enjoyed many long conversations during extended trips with his work buddies and always came home with humorous stories. He loved nothing more than sharing laughs with all his friends at  dealerships throughout the prairies.

Eventually in January 2016 he retired a second time to care for Vivian and to spend more time with family.

In August he received the unfortunate diagnosis of Pancreatic cancer and started his courageous battle with dignity and maintained a positive attitude.

He always spoke highly of Dr. Daeninck and the rest of the staff in St. Boniface Cancer Care as well as compassionate staff at the Gimli Cancer Care where he took his chemo treatments. The family would also like to thank the staff at the Dr. Evelyn Memorial Hospital in Stonewall for a great care shown towards Dad during his final days. Your compassion was extraordinary and thank you doesn’t seem to be enough.

As per dad’s wishes, there will be no funeral and a private internment  will take place in the summer at  Semenoka Cemetery  along side his parents and grandparents. Dad had a strong belief in God and knew that one day he would be reunited with family and friends that have passed before him especially his old buddies Adam Sawaryn and Bill Strukoff.

Helen Skogan October 17, 1921 – January 13, 2017

I am very lucky to come from a family of storytellers. I guess, more accurately, it is a family of memory-tellers. Every family dinner that I can remember would end up with everyone around the table reminiscing about people they used to know; places they used to visit; old stories that would still make everyone laugh. In writing my Grandma’s obituary, I sat down and thought about all of the stories and all of the memories. Here’s one that stands out for me. Years ago, when my Grandpa was sick, I went home to spend time with him and Gram. We talked a lot about “the old days”. Which prompted my Grandpa to put his arm around Gram and say: “We had fun. We had a (colourful language) good time”. He said this knowing that his cancer was not going to go into remission this time; knowing that their days together were limited. I left there in tears. Sad ones, mixed with happy. Because I had the privilege of witnessing people who were still deeply in love after 58 years of marriage, and still having fun together. And it’s a memory I bring up here because it encapsulates my Grandma. She loved having fun more than anyone I know. Gram was feisty before it was considered a compliment. Family lore has it that she and my Grandpa started courting when he yanked on her pigtails, and she punched him. A little bit “Anne of Green Gables” and a little bit “Fight Club” and completely and totally in character for both of them. Grandpa never stopped teasing her. She never stopped rising to the occasion. I miss hearing the two of them in action; one would get the other riled up about something, and they’d end up laughing so hard that they had to sit down. They were each other’s best friend and favorite pastime. Gram also had a great love for her family. Nothing made her happier than having all of her kids and grandkids around. Except maybe a game of cards. Which is why you’d find the Skogans and Willises around the table after every holiday dinner playing a cutthroat game of 31. It was very hard for my Grandma to see the number of card players drop when Grandpa -her Herb (also known as “Herbert”, depending on her level of annoyance)- passed away; when her beloved son Billy died; when her daughter-in-law Sandra died; and when she lost her brother Fraser and sister Marion. Hard, too, to have had to say goodbye to family members and to life-long friends. Here’s my Grandma in a nutshell. She loved her family and friends, fiercely. She loved a good laugh; a good argument; a good pork roast. She could bake better than anyone I know. She cheated at cards. Dementia stole her debating and baking skills; her appetite these last few years didn’t allow for too many roasts. But she still enjoyed good laughs, right up until the week of her passing. And the statistically improbable number of times that she “won” at cribbage tells me that her cheating ways remained intact, too. Thank you to everyone at Red River Place: at Goodwin Lodge; and at Hunter Memorial Hospital for taking such good care of someone we loved so much. Thank you for the kindness, the compassion, and for sneaking her the odd tomato sandwich. I’ll miss my Grandma. So will Lana (Kelly), Eric (Tina), Karla, and Kyle (Anita). Jayden, Vayha, Noah, Kelvyn, and Kevin were lucky enough to know their Great-Grandma and to have a special relationship with her. Bert Skogan (Shirley) and Karen Willis (Lyle) will miss their Mother terribly, too. As will her many friends and the rest of her family members, including her sister, Annabell (John Bueckert) and cousins, nieces, and nephews. Goodbye, Grandma. We had a (colourful language) good time. Following a private graveside service, friends and family are invited to celebrate Gram’s life at the Teulon Rockwood Centennial Centre on Monday, April 17 at 2:00 p.m. Flowers gratefully declined. Memorial donations to Goodwin Lodge (at Box 89, Teulon, MB., R0C 3B0) would be appreciated. Please make cheques payable to  T.H.M.H.D -fdn.