FAMILY WEB PAGE

When Jeff was little he would tell everyone that he was born on the 24th ‘to’ May.  It was not only a National Holiday but it snowed that day.  It was a very special day for the family and probably his sister Laurie’s earliest memory.  When Jeff was a baby they would put him in his crib and bring it to the table and Jeff would entertain them at every meal with his cute and funny baby antics.

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 Jeff’s earliest memory is of his little red fire engine and his mom taking him down to the playground at Notre Dame Park.  When it came time to go to school he wasn’t having any of it.  The first day of school Laurie and his Mom took him to Kindergarten and left him in the room, Vivian went home and was working around in the kitchen when she turned around and there he was – he had decided he didn’t want to be at school.  The next few days were a challenge to get him to school and make sure he stayed there.  Laurie sat in the classroom with him for a few times to help him get used to it.  He says today that he never liked change.

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When he was 10 years old he joined the YMCA and met Bruce McLaughlin who became a life-long friend and basically a member of the family.  They soon joined Indian Chiefs and Jeff says Bruce was the ‘Chief’.

 

He did well at school and in the fifth grade was put into the Major Work Class, which was a special class for children who needed more challenge.  He stayed with the same Major Work Class through Principal Sparling School, Sargent Park School and in the 8th Grade the Major Work Class was moved to General Wolfe.  Again he refused to transfer to the other school because he didn’t want to leave his buddies so he marched down to see the Principal.  The Principal made a deal with him to try it for three months and if he still didn’t like it, he could return to the old school – but of course, everything was fine after the time was up and he stayed even becoming School President in Grade 9.

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Most of Jeff’s memories of school are centered around Sports.  He remembers playing all kinds of sports at the St. Edward’s Playground at the corner of the street and it was there that one of the neighbor kids who was continually bugging him went too far, Jeff finally gave him a shove and the kid fell and broke his arm.  The kid’s mother was soon at the Konchak door telling Vivian about it and that Jeff was a ‘hooligan’ which in those days was really bad.  He played Playground A Hockey at Principal Sparling, Bantam B at West End Memorials and Bantam A Hockey at Orioles.

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He then switched to curling and basketball where he played on the school teams at Sargent, General Wolfe, three years at Daniel McIntyre High School and two years Varsity at the University of Manitoba.  The University basketball was the most fun because they got to travel and flew everywhere to their games.  They even played some of the American Colleges and did a sweep through the U.S.  He also followed in his dad’s footsteps and played three years of football at Daniel.  At Daniel he won the Joe Worbaneck trophy for outstanding athlete of the year.  He also sang in the school Music Festival and has always had a great love of music.

 

He says summers were boring until the family bought a cottage at the lake, although he did have the opportunity to attend a Leadership Training Camp at Camp Gimli for a few years, one year being asked if he would like to stay on as a leader for the girls camp – he and his friend Glen Orris and 125 girls!!!!.....would he?...you bet! 

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During his years at High School and University he had begun singing with a group of guys who called themselves the “Talismen”.  They entertained at a Club called The Fourth Dimension where singer Neil Young (who went on to gain fame with Crosby, Stills and Nash) was the M.C. His second year at the University of Manitoba he decided he had had enough and decided to work in Thompson, Manitoba so he could get a ‘grubsteak’ together and be able to go off and do some of the things he wanted to do.

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          In the summer of 1967 he headed for Toronto and with some friends had a singing group that entertained at local night spots.  It was during this time he met Mitch Rider and the Detroit Wheels, who were famous for the song, “Good Morning Starshine” and ended up traveling with the group for a while on their concert tour.  During this time he also met Bill Swaford who’s singing name was Oliver and who became popular with his song ‘Jean’.  Bill offered Jeff an opportunity to join his singing group but Jeff turned it down because he was having too much fun with his buddies.   

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          He and his friend Ken Dadsun bought an old car and drove 5,500 miles around the U.S.  The car gave up and died in Baton Rouge when they were headed for Mardis Gras so the rest of the trip was by hitch hiking They visited Bill Swaford along the way.  Next year he and Ken headed for California for eight months and ended up working for Cousin Louis Formanack who had a roofing business.

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           Jeff worked for a while for the Canadian Pacific Railway in the dining car between Toronto and Winnipeg and remembers that since he was low man on the totem pole he was given the four tables at the far end of the dining car (the kitchen being in the next car at the opposite end of the dining car).  He had to be formally attired and on one trip didn’t have his black dress shoes so borrowed his cousin Peter’s shoes.  It was a terrible trip because he basically walked all the way to Winnipeg in shoes that didn’t fit and ended up with shin splints and almost crawling home after getting off the street car at the end of his street.

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          The summer of 1970 was a hard one for him, his Dad died, his good friend Bill died and his girlfriend Patti whom he had met in California and who was going to come to Winnipeg to live decided to get married to someone else instead.  For the next three winters he went to Europe.  Summers he would work at Molson’s Brewery and spend every minute he could at the Lake.  He lived in Switzerland where he and his friends rented a chalet and skied, bought a van with the guys and traveled all over Europe, living on beaches in Greece and in general having a great time.

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In 1975 he and his friend Bruce traveled through the U.S. for the winter, then back to the Lake where he worked as a bartender and eventually started his own construction business.  He and his friend Murray bought the Riding Stables at Falcon Lake and Jeff married Robin in 1978.  In 1979 Krista was born and Jamie the following year.

          The family spent their summers at West Hawk Lake and went to Invermere for the winter to ski, where Bruce was living.  When Robin and Jeff were divorced the girls came to the Lake to spend the summers and finally in 1989 Jeff was able to sell the cottage and move to Calgary where he renovated a house.

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          The next year he moved to Invermere and began his present career as a Real Estate Appraiser.  He married Rhonda (and daughter Mariah) in 1995 and in 1996 their son Levi was born.  For all the adventures and traveling he has done in the past, he is now completely happy to be a dad and enjoy his family.