Obituary of JOHN CHARLES PRITCHARD

JOHN CHARLES (JACK) PRITCHARD August 21, 1929 – December 14, 2014 Jack was a proud Winnipegger, born and raised, who lived most of his life here. He loved our city, thought of Assiniboine Park as its crown jewel, and greatly valued its surrounding assets like Winnipeg Beach where we spent many glorious summers. He and Joan, who survives him, just celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary, surely a rare occasion. His devoted daughter Carol (husband Bill) and the grandsons he was so proud of, Brendan and Aaron, are grieving with Joan as is CJ his grandson by choice. Jack’s brother Ron and wife Margaret, as well as Joan’s sisters, Carol Knott and Miriam (Brian) Wright, and their families also survive Jack. Jack’s father, John Charles Pritchard (b. January 2, 1899 – d. September 30, 1959) and mother Elizabeth (nee Gray) Pritchard (b. February 22 1908 – d. April 21, 1966) were born and died in Winnipeg. The West End is where Jack grew up and really enjoyed visiting old classmates at recent reunions for Principal Sparling School and Daniel McIntyre Collegiate. Jack was a man of broad interests, an inquiring mind with a philosophical bent, and a great sense of humour. He was a voracious reader (loved his Saturday Globe) who enthusiastically embraced his Apple computers and used their growing power from iMac all the way to MacBooks and Apple TV in exploring the many issues that fascinated him and stimulated his thinking. Chronicler of family history from the days of 8mm film to CD’s and DVD’s Jack has created for us a detailed visual history of major family events over the decades, from Carol’s first bath at the cottage, to Brendan’s first steps and Aaron’s birthday parties. Jack was a pioneer member of the Reh-Fit Center where he served as a Board member for many years. He was a dedicated heart patient who, with his commitment to fitness and diet, survived 37 years after his first major heart attack. Jack took his retirement from his position as Assistant Secretary Treasurer of Frontier School Division in 1994 and certainly enjoyed these last 20 years. Joan and he travelled widely both before and after retirement enjoying the wonders of Europe and North Africa, the Bahamas, Florida, Palm Springs, as well as many hot Caribbean vacation destinations and even to Australia in 1997. A funeral service according to his wishes will be held at 1:00 PM, Friday, December 19, 2014, at All Saints Anglican Church, 175 Colony Street, reception to follow at the church. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Reh-Fit Center for membership subsidies.