DEL BELANGER (TOEWS)

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DEL BELANGER (nee TOEWS) Surrounded by her family and friends Del-Marie Susan passed from this life Tuesday evening, July 10, 2007 at the St. Boniface Hospital at the age of 44 years. Remaining to forever cherish Del's memory are her husband Mike; mother Mary; sister Brenda (Harvey) and son Cal in Phoenix; son Sean in Denver; brother Earl (Sandi) and daughters, Brittany and Lauren in Winnipeg. She was predeceased by her father Dave. Born on July 28, 1962 in Winnipeg, Del grew up in St. Vital and attended Hastings and Dakota schools. She also attended the Universities of Winnipeg, Manitoba, North Dakota and Northern Colorado where she earned her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Included among her career stops were St. Amant Centre, Horizon, Agassiz, and Sunrise School Divisions as well as private practice. She even took a shot as a bookstore owner. Del truly was one of the beautiful creatures given to us to show us the way, but unfortunately for too short a time. She had an infectious smile and loved to laugh. Del was forever seeking a way to be happy and to create happiness. Challenges were an acknowledged part of life, never ignored but a requirement for true growth and understanding. She possessed an incredible insight and intuition that allowed her to quickly assess and focus on the heart of the matter; and if patience was a virtue, she is its patron saint. Her life was enriched by openness to learning and willingness to grow; she engaged in a wide variety of endeavors including languages, quilting, stained glass, painting, husband-training, book-binding, gardening and cooking. Reading was a life-long treasure of hers. She loved furry four-legged humans (Higgins and Shimmer) as well, who in turn, treated her like a modern incarnation of St. Francis. Primarily Del wished that people could just be happy. She had a natural charisma and others were drawn to her strength. Those touched by her witnessed her indomitable spirit and passion for living, and were thereby encouraged to seek and use their own inner strength to overcome life's challenges and seek their own happiness. She was also an incorrigible imp, who stated her opinions when necessary even when it would obviously not be to her advantage to do so and relished a good nose-thumbing at authority when they deserved it (those things kinda go hand-in-hand!). Del also loved a good bag of chips, and pickles. She wished that she had thicker hair and never allowed me to open the sunroof until we were returning from an event. Del wasn't thrilled by our winters and her idea of roughing it was a Super 8 hotel. She loved a Corona with an ocean view of a Mexican sunset and a brisk walk on the beach in the cool of the early morning. She cherished her tea with biscotti and loved to host a Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner with mom, Earl and Sandi and Brittany and Lauren. Del loved a lunch date with Susan and Valdine almost as much as dragging them off to her latest endeavor. She might forget that I was showering and do the dishes, but she would always help me look for a lost item following her clean up of a mess that I had made. Del laughed at Jay Walking and loved to cuddle up with a good mystery in her jammies and fuzzy slippers, usually with Higgins in her lap. She loved to watch Martha and others on the cooking channel, but thought I should be committed for watching golf. Conversely she encouraged my golf habit and often insisted I stay for a second round. Spiders in the tub made her scream, but she loved to soak in a warm bath. Del loved her stuffed bears, relished a nice fire in the winter, and loved to give a gift or humourous card to a loved one. She was a treasure and the better part of me, and will be forever missed. If you would like to celebrate Del's life you could either attend a funeral service in her honour to be held on Saturday, July 14 at 2:00 p.m. in the Sturgeon Creek United Church, 207 Thompson Drive, or instead, as Del would recommend, take the day and go do something that makes you truly happy. Somewhere among the stars, she will know, and smile. You will always be with me Del, and I will always remember the sound of your laughter. WOJCIK'S ALL BELIEFS FAITHS FUNERAL CHAPEL CREMATORIUM FAMILY OWNED OPERATED 897 - 4665

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 13, 2007