Obituary of WALTER JOHN PINDERA

WALTER JOHN PINDERA 1933 – 2014 Walter John (Wally) Pindera passed away suddenly but peacefully on February 20 at the St. James home where he and his beloved wife Mary (1934 1993) raised their family. Funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, February 26, 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2400 Portage Avenue, the Winnipeg parish where Wally and Mary celebrated the faith they cherished and the Roman Catholic community they long served as Eucharistic ministers. Wally lived life with purpose. In many roles throughout his rich life, Wally always lived his values of personal responsibility and social justice. From his childhood, the hard-working eldest son of Polish immigrants raising a family in the railway towns of Depression-era Saskatchewan, to his final chapter as Grampa Wally with the booming voice perhaps better suited for the bargaining table than for the kids he loved to bear-hug, Wally brought passion to life. Wally journeyed well through life, visiting all of Manitoba and Canada as a labour leader with the Manitoba Teachers Society and, mostly in retirement, as a global trekker who visited 57 countries (according to the detailed notes he fastidiously left in his home office). Wally was predeceased by his wife Mary in 1993, by his father Karol in 1996 and his mother Joanna in 1999, and by his grandsons Francis and Julien in 2009. Left to mourn, remember and, follow in his footsteps are his friends and colleagues, his brother Joe and sister Donna and their families, and especially - Loreen, Lisa, Greg, Carla, Joanne and Mark - along with their partners and Wally's 13 grandchildren: Chloe, Ana, Lena, Jayne, Joseph, Erik, Sophia, Matt, Luke, Grace, Theo, Olive and Winnie. We miss you already, Big Wally! In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Wally to Winnipeg Harvest or to Development and Peace.