ACHIEL "ARCHIE" DELBAERE

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ACHIEL "ARCHIE" DELBAERE On Thursday, April 24, 2003, Archie Delbaere died peacefully in his sleep at the Tache Centre, at the age of 90 years. He will be deeply missed by Mary, his wife of 63 years; by his 12 children, Albert (Madeleine) of Winnipeg, Mauri (Donna) of Sydney, Australia, Louis (Carol) of Saskatoon, Ray (Wendy) of Winnipeg, Frank (Judy) of Vancouver, Teresa (Satish) Kashyap of Ottawa, Linda (Vianney) Vandewater of Winnipeg, Roger (Lynette Husum) of Edmonton, Irene (Phil) Pines of Winnipeg, Leona (Paul) Vandale of Winnipeg, Anne Morsette of Calgary, Louise (Dean) Scammell of Stonewall; by his 30 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; by his sisters, Adrienne, Mary and Julia, and by many other family and friends. He was predeceased by his sister Bertha and his son-in-law Grant Morsette. Archie was born in Bissegem, Belgium on April 28, 1912. In 1913 his parents came to Canada to make a better life for their family but Archie was not able to join them until 1919 because of the First World War. He attended Provencher School in St. Boniface until 1929 when he began work for Westeel Ltd., his employer for the next 47 years. The Belgian Club was an important part of Archies life. It was at the Club that he met his wife Mary Stove with whom he shared a life-long love of playing cards. They played their last game of cribbage together the night before he died. They married in 1939 and had 12 children over the next 25 years. Providing for this large family required remarkable devotion, hard work and sacrifice, all of which was displayed unfailingly. Archie was very proud of his family whom he taught the value of hard work and integrity by his example. He was a tireless worker, the first to offer help to family and friends and the last to stop work; he often said "a Delbaere quits when the job is done." Archie also knew how to enjoy life. He loved playing games with his family and friends and enjoyed the camaraderie of the St. Sebastian Archery Club and the many other clubs to which he belonged. The stroke he suffered in 1986 impaired his speech and reduced the frequency of his visits to the Belgian Club, but he remained a formidable Belgian Bien player for many years. His family is very grateful to the staff of the Tache Centre who provided Archie with wonderful care in his last 18 months. A funeral mass celebrating Archies life will be held on Monday, April 28 at 1:30 p.m. in the Holy Family Church, 778 Archibald St. in St. Boniface. Interment will follow in Green Acres Memorial Gardens. The Coutu family in care of arrangements: EDWARD J. COUTU LTD. 680 Archibald Street 253-5086

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 26, 2003