AYNSLIE RUTH MACPHERSON

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AYNSLIE RUTH MACPHERSON

(nee BUCKLAND)

December 2, 1936 - June 28, 2026

Aynslie would never have made it to heaven if she had to find her car keys. It’s a good thing that an exceptionally kind heart and an unconditionally open mind were enough.

Mom was a fixture in Riverview and at Victoria Beach, where her parents built the family cabin with scraps from the woodpile. She was fiercely independent, a relentless competitor, and wildly resourceful. She could beat her grandchildren at ping-pong, diagnose anything ending in "-itis,” and jerry-rig a solution with the bits and bobs she saved. We teased her for never throwing anything out until we found the very thing we needed in her shed.

We knew she wasn’t one for fancy meals, but we didn’t quite expect her last request to be a hot dog. She proudly claimed her Rice Krispies squares disappeared first at every bake sale because she used margarine, and she believed chocolate chips belonged in pancake batter.

Sometimes we wanted to hide behind a tree when mom struck up a conversation with an unsuspecting stranger. But we softened as we watched how they responded to her. She made others feel good about themselves.

Lovingly remembered by her daughters: Sandi Hagenaars (Henry) and grandson Rick (Danielle), great-granddaughters Nellie and Addie; Tracy (Brad Hutto) and grandson Skyler (Lindsay); Kerri Stokes (Gordy) and grandsons Kav (Agustina) and Ian (Emily); and Tamara Vukusic (Alan) and grandsons Adam and Finn. She was predeceased by her son, Rick, who died at 19. She thought the world of Heather Parrott (the daughter from Dad’s second marriage) and her family.

She had a close relationship with her home care workers over the past six years. Special thanks to Martha, Angelie, and Terry. They say she worried about their comfort more than her own, always reminding them to button up their coats and drive safely in the snow. She loved them.

Thanks to the Medicine Shoppe Osborne team for their compassion in tending to Aynslie’s shifting needs with Parkinson’s.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s in-home palliative care team was beyond exemplary.

Independent for 40 years, devoted to raising five children and later caring for her aging parents, Mom taught us by example that women could build full, capable lives on their own terms.

In her final weeks, we reminded her that while the world often admired her beauty, what we admired most was her remarkable mind. In her memory, tell the smart and clever girls and women in your life that they are so much more than beautiful.

Aynslie’s video tribute is posted at Ethical Death Care Winnipeg. If you would like to reach the family, please email Tamara (Tammy) at tamarainkamloops@shaw.ca.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 04, 2026