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Obituary of CARL STEPHEN BREZINSKI
Carl Stephen Brezinski
Carl Stephen Brezinski passed away April 28, 2013. Celebration of Carl's life was
postponed to coincide with the passing of his beloved wife of 66 years, Anna Vivian
Brezinski.
Dad was born in Saskatchewan on December 29, 1919 into a farming family of 12
children.
Dad's early years were all about going to school and contributing to the family farm
operation. Dad mentioned about how many stones they unearthed every time they went
to cultivate the soil. The land wasn't ideal but they did their best to work with what they
had.
That was the norm until on October 13, 1941 when Dad became a Soldier for the
Canadian Army. He received training to become a Anti-Aircraft Gunner stationed in
Halifax. He was then stationed off the west coast in Prince Rupert B.C. where he was
part of the RCAF Prince Rupert Light Anti-Aircraft Battery to take down enemy aircraft in
the Aleutian Islands. Dad was discharged from active duty on April 1, 1946.
Returning home to Saskatchewan, he met Mom, and after a brief courtship, married on
October 14, 1946.
Jobs were hard to find. After searching for work in Toronto and Detroit, they decided to
take any job in Winnipeg to still be close to back home. One of his first jobs was shaking
hides at Canada Packers. He then tried auto mechanics working for George Swan at
Swan's Service on Isabel Street (now Rondex). He surprised himself as to how much he
liked what he did and his boss happy with his work, promoted him to manager. Dad
thought if I could do this for somebody else why can't I do this for myself? So he sought
out the help from Veterans Affairs who graciously put him through auto mechanics
school and gave him a salary while going to school so they didn't have to worry about
putting food on the table. Dad received auto mechanic repair and welding training then
quickly secured his first service station as a sole proprietor in 1949 at the corner of
Colony & Ellice under the Electro Gas brand banner. That location lasted several years
and closed when another location became available at the corner of Maryland & Notre
Dame under the North Star name. This location became useful to the City for the
Cumberland Roadway so the station was lost. Dad then moved to the corner of
Tecumseh & Notre Dame to again operate a service station this time with White Rose.
Shell took over the White Rose brand, demolished the building to build one of the first
Shell Car Guard centres in Winnipeg. This lasted for a few years until Shell decided to
try self serve and convert the bays into something other than vehicle repairs. This took
him to his final move to Salter & Bannerman again with Shell. Dad officially retired in
1985 providing quality service and a friendly smile for 36 years but long time customers
knew Dad didn't "retire" because son Richard took the business over and customers
could see Dad from time to time pop in to help out wherever he could. He enjoyed
getting to know people, kibitzing with them and took pride in the trust they placed in him
by bringing their vehicles for service.
As Dad's family grew, so did the need for housing. Dad again turned to the Veterans
Affairs for help. Through the assistance of the Veterans Land Act, Mom & Dad
pioneered in 1951 to the community of Rivercrest in West St. Paul. When this house
became too small, land was acquired across the street and in 1962 their current house
was built. Dad enjoyed building things, renovating, doing electrical work, gardening or
just sitting in his lawn chair enjoying the summer sun.
Mom and Dad enjoyed vacationing in Hawaii and as a family we made many car trips to
both Canadian and American destinations.
Dad attained the age of 93 years. At the time of his passing he was the only member of
his family to pass the age of 90. He ate well thanks to Mom, he looked after himself and
kept active doing the things he liked. He was even driving up until a few months before
he passed.
At Dad's passing he left to cherish his memory his beloved wife of 66 years Anna
(passed March 10, 2016), his daughter Pam, sons Richard & Kenneth Carl, daughters-in-law Christina & Maria, grandchildren Steven, Jaclyn (Jason), Alana (Shawn), Lisa,
Leah, Kenneth Kyle & Alexandra. He also leaves two sisters Adele & Mary (passed
away in 2014) and brother Tony who passed away in 2015.
He was predeceased by his parents Michael & Anna, his eldest son Larry (2009), seven
brothers (Peter, Edward, Walter, John, Marion, Stan & Louis), and sister Josephine.
To honour our parents and to offer respect and gratitude, extended family and close
friends joined together in a private memorial service for both Carl Stephen and Anna
Vivian at Cropo Funeral Chapel on Thursday, June 09, 2016.
A private family interment was held after the memorial service.
Special thanks to the Canadian Veterans Affairs Department.
Memorial donations may be made in Carlʼs memory to: Children’s Wish Foundation, 350 St. Mary Ave., Wpg., MB R3C 3J2.
Rest in Peace, Father.
Spoczywaj w pokoju, ojciec
A Memorial Tree was planted for CARL
We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ the staff at Cropo Funeral Home
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