EDWARD SYDNEY (TED) FOREMAN

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EDWARD SYDNEY (TED) FOREMAN

January 12, 1934 - April 19, 2026

On Sunday, April 19, 2026, after a very long game and a bravely fought overtime period, Ted hung up his skates for the last time and passed over the rink quietly and peacefully.

He was predeceased by his parents, Irma and Syd, his beloved wife Heather, sister Arlene Turnbull, daughter-in-law Marnie Foreman, and sister-in-law Noni Kemp as well as brothers-in-law Jim Turnbull, Bill and John Kemp. Left to cherish his memory are his loving and dedicated wife Lynne, daughters Carol, Barb (Charles), sons Bill and Brian (Meredith), granddaughter Madison (Thomas), grandson Brayden and great-granddaughter Georgia. He will be greatly missed by the Turnbull families in BC as well as all the Kemp families in Ontario and BC.

Opening face-off was on January 12, 1934, in Edmonton. While it is difficult to believe, Ted weighed in at 3 lbs 3 oz at birth (but more than made up for that over his lifetime.) The family moved to Riverview in Winnipeg and he attended various schools, finally graduating from Tech Voc High School. He happily considered this the end of his formal education - a quote: “I did not like school and school did not like me.” Indeed, his passion was always sports. He was an accomplished athlete, excelling at baseball and hockey as well as coaching. From humble beginnings at Riverview Community Club to playing a pre-season game at the Forum in Montreal as a Canadien, his talent and passion for the game was great. Unfortunately a significant injury forced him to pack up his NHL dreams and at twenty he turned his sights to the working world.

Ted started his career at Imperial Oil as an office boy. He quickly began to rise up the company ladder and it was there that someone suggested he may have some sales skills. However, he was saddled with a serious speech impediment. Working hard for six months at a company-provided public speaking course solved the problem, and he became a Sales Rep in Winnipeg and Brandon. He resigned from IO and in 1961 purchased an Esso station on Pembina Highway which he later sold realizing that this was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. A chance meeting with a gentleman named David Ritchie sealed his fate and he became a Sales Rep for Investors Syndicate. In no time he had combined his talent for selling with his passion for hockey and was handling financial matters for professional hockey players, becoming long-standing friends with all of them. In the late 1970’s, when the Winnipeg Jets entered the WHA, Ted was one of a group of directors responsible for operating the team. In 1983 he was a part owner of the Fort Garry Blues, serving as president for six years and chairing the club’s fundraising efforts for eighteen.

In 2009, Ted was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame as a member of the St. Boniface Canadiens (1952 - 53) and in 2011 as a builder. He was also inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023 as a member of the Norwood Junior team (1953 - 56). Visitors to the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame will also see that the decades exhibit for the 1950s is called The Ted Foreman Gallery, owing to his sponsorship.

In January 2005, a very successful financial planner finally headed for the locker room and thanked the stars above for the good fortune to have done what he loved doing for so long. He had worked with IG Group for over forty-two years and was able to travel the world on Sales Leaders trips with Heather and later Lynne. He was one of the biggest producers in the company’s history receiving awards, trophies, and media attention, but his greatest reward happened when clients turned into friends. He was a true “people person” and was most happy when he was connected or connecting with others. Known for his zealous communication style, Ted was the “original” social media, unplugged.

Another quote: “I have always felt that I wanted to do something to help someone else.” Ted loved “giving back” and philanthropy was a major driver in his life. He was a member of the Masonic Order, Scottish Rite and a Shriner. In the seventies he played the bugle in the Shrine Drum and Bugle Corps, once confessing that they always stuck him in the centre of the row at parades so that the crowd on either side of the street couldn’t hear him. He sat on the board of the Victoria Hospital for many years and was institutional in its fundraising efforts, and most recently established The Heather Foreman Miracle Garden Memorial Endowment. He supported his favourite charities with cheques but he also stood outside in December and rang the bell for donations or waited with his walker to hand out water to Rotary half-marathon runners. In 2007, he was honoured as Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He was also proud to be an original member (and past-president) of the Fort Gary Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. In 2024 the club honoured him for his over sixty years of service with a gala dinner and a commemorative bench was placed in Wildwood Park near the former family home. He did these things faithfully until he couldn’t do them anymore.

This was a life well lived. Ted loved: his family and friends, hockey, people, chocolate, the phone, golf, TSN, things that weren’t good for him, baseball, Lake Winnipeg, fundraising for a good cause, A&W, ice cream (chocolate), winter, animals, checking the stock market channel, fishing, Florida, delivering eulogies (many, many eulogies), delivering Rotary fruitcakes for Xmas, cookies (chocolate), Frank Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way”, Rae and Jerry’s, helping others. And chocolate…

Heartfelt thanks to the staff of the Grace Hospital, 3 North (Team Ted) for their wonderful care and compassion. He was comforted and cared for right up until the last hug.

A gathering to honour Ted will take place at Chapel Lawn Funeral Home, 4000 Portage Ave. on Saturday, June 20, at 2:00 p.m., under the leadership of Rev. Glenn Morison and Rev. Dr. Michael Wilson. A private interment will take place. We hope folks will wear Jets’ colours or gear as we share warm memories and funny stories.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Ted’s name may be made to the Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre. (Tribute info chapellawn.ca)

Chapel Lawn Funeral Home

204-885-9715

Tribute Link: www.chapellawn.ca

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on May 02, 2026