Obituary of FLOYD BENNET WILLISTON

FLOYD BENNETT WILLISTON He was born on January 12, 1931, He lived; He died on December 28, 2015 After a brief illness, Floyd passed away peacefully. Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Floyd came west in the early 1954 Ever the traveller he was the Canadian representative for the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and was involved in the planning for the two world Youth festivals, In Moscow in 1959 and Vienna two years later. The World Youth Festivals for Peace and Friendship, Mir I Druzhba, Rauha ya Ustivis. The Festivals, which were occurring in Europe every two at that time. In Budapest he married his Winnipeg sweetheart, Elsie Sawiuk, his lifelong partner and when they returned to Winnipeg with infant son Donny he became manager of the Coop Book Shop in which capacity he also became the impresario for the Coop Folk Concerts, bringing in such notables as Pete Seeger, for whom he was Canadian agent, Guy Carawan, Odetta, Ewan Macall, the Mitchell trio, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee and even had a contract with Bob Dylan (who never showed up), as well as many other luminaries in the field of folk music field at the time and played an important role in the Canadian Folk Song Revival. Over his lifetime Floyd’s career included: A founding member of the Winnipeg Folk Festival; Winnipeg Folk Festival; New FACESS: Child and Family Services: General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres: Director of the Provincial Job Office (SNNEP); a member of the Manitoba Peace Council; Freelance correspondent for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Newspapers; partner in Galleria Travel, Manitoba Maritimers Association, and in the last few years he was a member of the Boards of the Seven Oaks Historical Society and the North East Winnipeg Historical Society. Despite all these activities Floyd also found time to write. He authored the first biography of ” Johnny Miles, Nova Scotia’s Marathon King,” Boston marathon runner and two time winner, with whom he formed a life time friendship and then “Through Footless Halls of Air: “ -the stories of several RCAF pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain in which two of his brothers died, David and Albert. Floyd is survived by his wife Elsie. He was predeceased, by his two sons Donald and David, his brother in law William (Sawiuk) and by his in-laws, Peter and Irene Sawiuk He was also predeceased by his mother Katherine (McLeod) Williston and father, John Harry Williston; brothers and sisters, Malcolm, Royce, David, Albert, Art, Harry and Dr. Johnny, Isabelle, and Mary: his nephews, Jack, Jimmy Billy MacDonald and his uncle A.A.McLeod. A special thank you to Dr. Harvey Lee and Doctor Pilot and the caring staff at the N332 Concordia hospital who for making him as comfortable as they were able. There will be a reception in Floyd’s honour at Cropo Funeral Chapel, 1442 Main Street, on Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 1:00 p.m.