Giants of the community celebrated

They come from all walks of life, from communities throughout the Southeast. But all 34 recipients of the King Charles III Coronation Medal represent the same thing, according to medal presenter Provencher MP Ted Falk.

“You are the giants of our communities that are being recognized for your service,” said Falk at Tuesday’s presentation ceremony at Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach.

He went on to assure the recipients that any feeling unsure about all this fuss deserve the public praise.

“Because you get it. It’s not about glory, it’s not about the accolades, it’s not about the prestige. But it’s about service and it’s about people.

“And nobody understands that better than the people in this room, folks who’ve dedicated their lives to serving their communities, their country, their families,” said Falk.

He spoke briefly about his familial connection to King Charles through a sister-in-law whose father served with the monarch, and about the trials and challenges faced by all receiving their medals.

But after the room sang O Canada together, Falk had to make the opening speech quickly. Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk and Coun. Jake Hiebert had a council meeting to get to.

Many of the medals went to public servants who are or were on councils, including mayors and councilors from Piney, Hanover, St Pierre, Niverville, Ste Anne, Montcalm, La Broquerie, Tache, and Springfield.

But they and the others there had biographies that stretched well beyond their last venture.

“As I was listening to your very brief bios being read, I couldn’t help but think back of where there is the rest of the story; because with each one of you there’s a rest of the story. And there’s so much that’s been not told… You’ve contributed much more and more greatly than what has been recognized here this evening,” said Falk in his closing remarks.

Those brief biographies were impressive though.

Take Paul Dusty Rhodes from Niverville.

Rhodes served 33 years with the Canadian Armed Forces, including overseas peacekeeping missions. When not deployed, he was serving his community as a coach and camp director. Since retiring he has put a lot of time in with the Royal Canadian Legion and other veterans support services. He is also collecting tabs for wheelchair parts. That is a small piece of the long list sent to Falk’s office.

And all the medal earners had similarly long lists of service.

Patricia Danylchuk served in education as a teacher, principal and consultant for 35 years at École Lagimodière in Lorette. She helped establish the French school division Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine (DSFM) in Lorette. Danylchuk also served on the board with Villa Youville in Ste Anne, as president of the Caisse Populaire Credit Union, on the boards of Cancer Care Manitoba and Southeastman Health, and as co director of Notre Dame de Lorette Parish. She worked alongside her late husband William who served on Tache council for 40 years, 15 as mayor.

“It’s been said that when we bless others, we bless ourselves. And that’s often the way it is when serving in our communities,” said Falk.

He made a connection to scripture where a servant did well in handling a small service, so was given much more to do.

“You’ve all been given resources: time, talents, and your treasure. You’ve all invested it wisely. And by using those gifts to invest, you’ve invested in the lives of others in your communities.

“And as the king of Canada says, ‘let us now rededicate our lives to serving others.’

“And as the king of kings says, ‘let us celebrate together.’”

Coronation Medal Southeast recipients

Wayne Anderson

Roger Armbruster

Wilma Arnold-Hebert

Alan Barkman

Howard Bredin

Patricia Danylchuk

Curtis Dawydiuk

Raymond Dowse

Ray Duerksen

Myron Dyck

Margaret Feilberg

Earl Funk

Jim Funk

Paul Gilmore

Kelvin Goertzen

Jacob Hiebert

Elmer Hildebrand

Shirley Hoult

Joel Lemoine

Herm Martens

Raymond Maynard

Leonard Neufeld

Richard Pelletier

Armond Poirier

Paul (Dusty) Rhodes

Jorie Sawatzky

Tom Schmidke

Ron Schuler

Iris Swiderski

Louis Swiderski

Kenneth Tallaire

Patrick Therrien

Gary Walker

Benjamin Weatherby