CHARLES EDWARD TANNER

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CHARLES EDWARD TANNER Peacefully, Charles Tanner passed away on January 31, 2018 at the age of 95. Charles was predeceased by his wife Winnifred H. Tanner in October of 1991. He is survived by his son Philip Charles and was a parishioner of St. Andrew's Anglican Church and served on the vestry and maintenance committee for many years. "Charlie" to his friends, was born on September 23, 1922 and grew up in St. Andrews, Manitoba. He attended St. Andrew's School and St. Andrew's Anglican Church on the Red. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1943 and served on the minesweeper HMCS Mulgrave as an upper deck stoker. He was part of the D-Day invasion, sweeping the English Channel of mines before the landings. After his navy service, Charlie enrolled in a diesel mechanics and welding course and was hired by the Province of Manitoba Highways Department as an apprentice. He worked for the Highways Department as a mechanic on snowplows and graders, rising to Garage Foreman and finally Mechanical Supervisor before retiring in 1988 after 42 years of service. He was greatly respected and by all his co-workers. In the early 1950s, Charlie and his wife started to build a family cottage in the Whiteshell Provincial Park. Using his carpentry and scrounging skills a waterfront lot was cleared and a small cottage was constructed. Over the years the cottage was expanded with indoor plumbing, a boathouse, a woodshed and a storage building. Charlie and the family spent many enjoyable summers at "the lake" swimming, boating and fishing. Always a traveler, Charlie enjoyed the outdoors and exploring the world. During his working years, with the family, many trips were taken across Canada and the U.S. with a camper trailer. After retirement he explored the world with trips to Australia and Europe. Charlie kept in touch with the Tanner family relatives by flying across the pond to England, Scotland and Wales. Charlie enjoyed curling, participating in many local bonspiels and afternoons at the local curling club with friends. He was an avid sports fan. There were trips every summer to catch MLB games for his favourite teams. He was proud to be a 25-year season ticket holder with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He travelled to many CFL Grey Cup games, no matter what teams were playing, to cheer and revel in the festivities. For the last 20 years he made a trip each year to see the Green Bay Packers, meeting many fans and players. Charlie spent a lot of time enjoying one of his hobbies: woodworking. Always looking to build something useful and decorative out of wood, be it a table, cabinet or chairs. He was very proud of the wood saw that he built, allowing logs to be cut into lumber. Many afternoons were spent with friends sawing lumber to be used for that special woodworking project. Charlie caught on to snowmobiling after retiring and rode many kilometers each winter. He was introduced to West Yellowstone, Montana in 1995 and was able to make the destination an annual trip. Always fresh snow, groomed trails and next door to Yellowstone National Park and Old Faithful. Charlie was a senior member of Scouts Canada for over 50 years. Either as a youth leader, committee member, trainer or resource person, he supported and taught the Scouting brotherhood to so many youth. He was able to attend many Provincial, National and World Scout Jamborees. He championed the development of the George Lake Scout Camp in Eastern Manitoba as a wilderness camp. He spent many winters hauling in building material by snowmobile and summers adding to the original homestead cabin. He was one of the key members of the "Over-the-Hill-Gang". He was instrumental in organizing the Trail's End Popcorn warehouse for the annual provincial fundraiser. And he was always available to assist in the Scout Trees planting weekend. In October 2010, he was inducted into the World Scout Foundation in Ottawa. Charlie's motto was "always be twice as busy in your retirement as when you were working". He lived up to this and more! He was always willing to help when needed, be it with a kind word or an extra hand, and will be sadly missed. A celebration of Charlie's life will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, February 9, 2018 at St. Andrew's Anglican Church, 2700 Portage Avenue. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Andrew's Anglican Church. NEIL BARDAL FUNERAL CENTRE 204-949-2200 neilbardalinc.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Feb 03, 2018