A leader in life, pioneer in business

Winnipeg woman put her all into having father’s war diary published

By: Janine LeGal

Harvelyn McInnis’s childhood wasn’t an easy one. She faced the hardships of the Second World War while her father, a Winnipeg Grenadier, was imprisoned in Hong Kong.

Years later she made it her mission to have his story told and worked with publisher Harper Collins to compile and print his war diary.

“The book was a big project for her and a legacy that she has left us,” her daughter Lisa Grewar said. “She was a child when her father went off to Hong Kong. He was in a prison camp for four years. While he was there, to sustain himself he wrote a diary. This kept him going.

“He had to bury the pages in a boot. He couldn’t send them,” she continued, alluding to the ever-present threat of execution.

“He wrote to mom’s mom and to mom in this diary. He did make it back to Winnipeg and lived for 10 years after that. He didn’t want his diary to be published. After he was gone, mom wanted to give him a voice for those years, saying it was important to her to show the atrocities of war.”

The book, Letters to Harvelyn, was published in 2002 and launched at McNally Robinson.

“She toured across Canada, to major cities, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg, and spoke to media about his diary,” Grewar said of the rare and brutally honest glimpse into a prisoner-of-war experience. “They were really love letters. This was really important to her, a big accomplishment.”

Another area where McInnis excelled was at cultivating relationships. Long before social media existed, McInnis continually added to her list of friends, but hers were real-world friendships, involving interactions, connections and conversations. Genuinely interested in getting to know people and their stories, she had a way of making everyone feel at home.

Often characterized as a strong, focused and vibrant force of nature, McInnis is further described by Grewar as an only child who looked after herself and everyone else, too:

“She was very independent, socially outgoing and she would make friends wherever.”

McInnis died at age 92 on Dec. 22, 2023, following a short illness. Born in Winnipeg, she was predeceased by her husband Fraser. Their 64-year marriage brought the couple three daughters, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Having studied home economics at the University of Manitoba, then finding her calling as an interior designer, she soon became widely respected as a creative problem-solver.

Known for getting things done, McInnis was a pioneer in shattering stereotypes. At a time when women were expected to stay home and look after the family and the household, she forged her own path.

“She was a family person (and) a working person. She was busy. She did it all. She was a woman of action,” said Grewar.

McInnis was the first designer hired by Kensington Homes in Winnipeg to furnish dozens of show homes in the growing community of Transcona. She worked in sales and design at Wilson’s Furniture for many years and went on to sell real estate and manage home renovations.

“Long before HGTV and reno makeovers, mom entered that world,” said Grewar. “She had to decorate over 100 rooms. They were building dozens of homes and she had to decorate all those homes and have it done to deadlines. She was in a man’s world but she could hold her own. Mom was able to work with them very well. She was a natural. She nurtured those skills right through her life,” Grewar explained, about a profession where women often faced bias and sexism.

“Mom wanted to work, so she went off to work. She’d come home and make dinner and do the laundry. She designed our home too, and it was lovely,” Grewar said.

“I think mom’s greatest gifts were an ability to live in the present, think positively and always throw in a dash of humour for good measure,” said Grewar.

After publishing her book, McInnis continued to make things happen. She took on housing projects, volunteered at thrift shops, donating things to people who needed them and helping fundraise. Her voracious appetite for reading saw her making weekly library visits, borrowing as many books as she could. She loved to host dinner parties, gatherings at the family cottage in Minaki and looking after a slew of beloved companion pets. She worked well into her 80s.

“She was a very caring person,” Grewar said. “She looked out for her mother. My dad had dementia for seven years and she was a real advocate for him. She was a member of the junior league of Winnipeg. She was always very active in things. She was a volunteer. She worked with the City of Winnipeg and the City of Victoria, on planning boards for low-cost housing.”

After she and her husband retired, they moved to Victoria, where she became the president of the Saanich Newcomers Club and later president of the Alumni Club.

Though in her 50s when she left Winnipeg, she always came back.

“She had a lot of friends in Winnipeg,” said Grewar. “You can’t beat the community spirit and the people of Winnipeg.”

Bev and Bruce Jacobs remember their longtime friend with fondness.

“Harvelyn was a caring friend and a wonderful hostess. We cherish happy times sitting in the lounge chairs on the cottage balcony, watching the Winnipeg River and chatting. Our lives are better for having known her.”

Betty Dack’s friendship with McInnis spanned over 60 years.

“We were friends in Winnipeg, then we both moved out here (Victoria),” said Dack.

“We had a very fine, wonderful, loving friendship. She was just part of the family here; she was a true friend. We had potluck dinners once a month in Winnipeg: the hostess did the entrées, the rest of us brought something else.

“I miss her dearly. We always had dinner together. We saw each other over coffee, throughout the day; she was a wonderful lady.”

After her husband died, McInnis moved to Oak Bay, another community in Victoria, and with her business savvy, she was elected president of her building’s strata council and held this position for 10 years. “They wouldn’t let her go,” Grewar said. “She knew how to manage the building, she understood the construction.

“My mom was an A-type leader, a woman with business management skills. She led the way, she brought people together. As I look back and observe her leadership, she is definitely someone I look up to and admire.”