HAROLD LOSTER

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HAROLD LOSTER Suddenly on Saturday, November 22, 2008, Harold beloved husband father and grandfather passed away at home at the age of 81. He is survived by his wife of 57 years and best friend Marjorie, son Gordon (Helga), sisters Beatrice and Viola, brother-in-law Ron (Doreen), grandchildren Lindsay, Carleigh, Randell and Garrett and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, John and Elizabeth, his mother-in-law Lillian, his brother Bill (Lil), and brothers-in-law Harry and John. Harold was born in Winnipeg Manitoba on September 27, 1927. He grew up in the North End and attended Machray and St. John's Tech. He was active in all sports and had many friends growing up. There are numerous untold stories about the antics of the North End Boys and late night train rides to Winnipeg Beach. Harold enjoyed a successful career in the brewing industry working at Drewrys, Shea's, Pellisers, Kiewels and finally 38 years as an engineer at Labatt retiring in 1989. During his time at Labatt he served eight years as President of the Brewery's Workers Union Local 330. Harold was perhaps best known for his secondary jobs and his volunteer work. Jack Matheson gave Harold his first job at the Winnipeg Tribune and Harold was at Assiniboia Downs when it opened in 1958 and spent 31 years covering horse racing as Handicapper and Columnist for the Winnipeg Tribune and Winnipeg Sun. He often received calls at home asking what his Best Bet of the Day was. For several years, Harold was an announcer for horse racing for CJOB. Harold was an avid bowler and wrote about 5 and 10 pin bowling in Manitoba in a column entitled Write Up Your Alley for both newspapers. He served on the Executive and was an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Winnipeg and Manitoba 5 Pin Bowling Associations. For many years Harold coached and managed the Colts and Mustangs Minor Hockey Allstar teams from Winnipeg. Many of the players went on to professional hockey careers. Harold Ace organized and ran the Celebrity Charity Dunk Tank for many years on behalf of various Winnipeg Charities. He and Jack Matheson founded the Sportsmans Curling League which ran for 40 years at the Granite Curling Club. He was also a member of the Winnipeg Press Club and involved in the annual Beer and Skits which was a spoof of the media. Harold was always available to play Santa at the Labatts and Press Club Children's Christmas parties. Harold's timeless promotion of sports, his dedication to journalism and his self-less volunteerism earned him many awards and accolades. Amongst those are Induction into Manitoba Bowling Hall of Fame and he was named the Bowling Writer of the Year in Canada in 1979. He was also inducted into the Media Roll of Honour by the MSSA for sports journalism. He was appointed an Honorary Official of the MB Horse Racing Commission. After retiring, Harold finally slowed down and he and Marjorie had time to travel. They visited Hawaii, Florida, Las Vegas, the Eastern USA, Mexico, the Far East and Europe. Harold acted as a tour guide to Las Vegas for several years for Lew Miles Tours. In recent years the two of them enjoyed going on mini holidays with their friends to casinos in the US. Harold's greatest joy was his four grandchildren. Papa would think nothing of shuttling the kids to and from school, providing the whole class with pumpkins at Halloween, becoming a short order cook for breakfast and he was always there to attend school concerts and all sporting events. He especially enjoyed family vacations to Disney World and summer vacations to Gimli. Family time to Harold was very precious. Harold will be sadly missed by all who knew him. Cremation has taken place and a memorial service will be held on Tuesday, December 2 at 11:00 at St. Joseph's Parish, 355 Andrews St. with a reception to follow. A private interment will take place at a later date. Mosaic Funeral, Cremation and Cemetery Services, 1839 Inkster Blvd. 275-5555

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Nov 29, 2008