MARCEL ANTHONY BERTRAND

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MARCEL ANTHONY BERTRAND Peacefully, with his family by his side, on Monday, July 23, 2007, at Grace General Hospital, following a courageous battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Marcel Bertrand passed away at the age of 66 years. Remaining to forever cherish Marcel's memory are his wife, Sheilagh; children, Derrick Bertrand and Shelley (Bruce) Bertrand-Meadows; grandchildren Serena, Graham and Talia, Tejas; siblings Lorry (Jacqueline) Smet, Jan (John) Cox, Yvette Justice, Ray (Frieda) Bertrand, Lea Menzie, Albert Bertrand, Rene (Shelley) Bertrand; also he will be greatly missed by numerous nieces and nephews, friends and business associates. He was predeceased by his mother, Odile Bertrand, brother-in-law, Jim Justice and sister-in-law, Gloria Bertrand. Born, raised and educated in Winnipeg, Marcel married his wife Sheilagh in 1963. Family was very important to Marcel. He remained close to his siblings despite the geographical distances that separated them and supported his children's activities in their younger years by volunteering with scouting, softball, hockey, soccer and football. In his spare time, Marcel also enjoyed working on home improvement projects and spending an afternoon on the golf course. In more recent years, Marcel took great pride in all of his grandchildren and enjoyed playing with the younger ones despite his physical limitations. Marcel had a very strong work ethic and enjoyed the interaction with people his work provided. His early work years were in the fields of accounting, payroll, and general and personnel administration. Marcel also spent five years teaching high school driver education with the Manitoba Motor League. He made the transition from personnel administration to sales while working at Dashwood Industries and found his true calling. Marcel continued to work in the field of sales, training and development, and sales administration in the window and door industry and eventually joined the family-owned company of Paramount Windows where he worked until his retirement. Marcel truly enjoyed working in the building industry and created many lasting friendships during this time. Over most of his career, Marcel was also very active in many organizations such as the Manitoba Home Builders, the Manitoba Renovating Contractors Association, the Rotary Clubs of Winnipeg, the Chamber of Commerce, the Winnipeg Businessmen's Association, the Commerce Club and the Winnipeg Architect and Spec Writers Association. He took an active interest in all of these organizations as a committee member and assumed the responsibility of president in two of them. After his diagnosis in February, 2000, Marcel worked tirelessly on behalf of the ALS Society of Manitoba, taking on such roles as board member, advocate and major fund-raiser. He served two terms as president of the ALS Society of Manitoba and was also instrumental in the planning and reconstruction of the Brummitt-Feasby ALS House. Marcel strongly believed in the need for a specialized ALS care facility and spent his last few years working with the WRHA to try and secure sustainability for the House. He was awarded the Exceptional Support Services Award, the Myra Rosenfeld Volunteer Award and an Honorary Life Membership award from the ALS Society of Canada, as well as other commendations for his work with the Society. Marcel's funeral service will be held on Tuesday, July 31 at 1:00 p.m. in the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 637 Buckingham Road, Winnipeg, with Pastor Lanny Knutson officiating. A special thank you to Dr. Christopher Bourque and his staff for their years of care, Diana Rasmussen for her unwavering support and advocacy, Chris Clark and the staff at ALS House for all of their assistance and most recently, Carla Dahl for her wit, character and willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Marcel's memory to the ALS Society of Manitoba, N108-2109 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3J 0L3. WOJCIK'S ALL BELIEFS FAITHS FUNERAL CHAPEL CREMATORIUM FAMILY OWNED OPERATED 897 - 4665

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 28, 2007