NORMAN JAMES MACKIN

Adjust Text Size: A+ A-

NORMAN JAMES MACKIN August 15, 1937 - September 23, 2005. Norman passed away suddenly on Friday morning, September 23, 2005 after suffering a heart attack. He had been enjoying retirement with his beloved wife June, and visiting family in their native Liverpool, England. Norman and June had spent the summer touring around Europe. They had just returned from a wonderful week in Portugal when Norman collapsed in the Manchester airport. To everyone's loss, he was never revived. Norman was predeceased by his father James. In addition to his wife June, he is survived by his mother Charlotte; his sons, Roy, Paul and Norman; his daughters-in-law, Michele and Stephanie; and his grandchildren, Jonathon, Andrew and Alyssa. Others who will miss Norman are his two best friends and brothers-in-law, Frank Pauls of Port Coquitlam and Richard Pauls of Winnipeg, and their respective wives Margaret and Shirley, Carol and Bernard Sebastian of Port Coquitlam, Edna Pauls of Liverpool, godchild Bernadette Pauls and nephews, Mark Pauls and Stephen Pauls, and countless other family in Liverpool and friends from Winnipeg, Ste. Anne and Steinbach, MB. This simple, gentle man was born in Liverpool and came to Canada with his family in 1969. After moving from England he and his family lived in Winnipeg and Ste. Anne and had called Steinbach home for the last seven years. He worked as a machinist at CN Transcona Shops for many years and owned a convenience store in Ste. Anne and a bakery in Steinbach. Like many other husbands and fathers, he had worked hard to support his family and earn his retirement. What makes our father special to those who knew him is the grace with which he dealt with people. From helping those who had come on hard times at the store to refusing to let staff go when business times were hard (he would simply take less for himself and work harder), our father always put himself behind others. We can honestly and proudly say our father lacked all the skill of a businessman. What he was cut out to be was a friend, a good son, a loving husband and, most of all, a dad and a grandfather. Our father was only 5 feet 3 inches tall and 140 pounds, but to us, and all who knew him, he was a giant among men. At the same time services are being conducted in Liverpool, a memorial service will be held in Winnipeg, on October 5, 2005, at 9:00 a.m., Green Acres Funeral Home and Cemetery, Highway #1 at Navin Road. Phone 222-3241 In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Norman's favourite charity, the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Canada. GREEN ACRES Funeral Home, Cemetery and Crematorium Hwy. #1 E. at Navin, 222-3241

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 01, 2005