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MICHAEL ROY KOSTELNUK
Date of Passing: Mar 02, 2022
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MICHAEL ROY KOSTELNUK
Passed away on March 2, 2022 at the age of 84, from complications of a stroke.
Predeceased by parents, Steffie and Frank Kostelnuk and brother Daniel. He is survived by sister Constance Heck of Minnesota; nieces, nephews and friends.
Mike was born and raised in the north end of Winnipeg. After high school and United College, he started his lifetime career in the newspaper business. His first job was at the Winnipeg Free Press, working there for 15 years as a movie book critic and general columnist. Over the years, he worked for many newspapers across Canada, including the Alberta Report, the Calgary Sun and the Montreal Star.
In 2010, Mike became a resident of Tuxedo Villa. Thank you to all the staff at the Villa for the care and compassion they gave to Mike, right until the end.
His humour, knowledge, stories and eccentricity will be greatly missed by many.
Interment will take place at 1:00 p.m. on May 4, 2022 at Glen Eden Cemetery, 4477 Main Street, West St. Paul. Please meet at the graveside in the Garden of Devotion section.
Family and friends may sign
a Book of Condolence at www.glenedenmemorial.ca
Glen Eden Funeral Home
204-338-7111
As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Mar 12, 2022
Condolences & Memories (2 entries)
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Michael and I worked for the Montreal Star in the mid-1970s - copy editors on the overnight desk. He was secretive and rather unhappy but with a downbeat charisma. We kept in touch to the end. When I passed through Winnipeg every few years, I would gather him with wheelchair at the Tuxedo Villa and follow a fixed circuit - shop at the McNally Robinson bookstore in Grant Park and then drinks at the Cambridge on Pembina or (in our last meeting) in 2017 at the Silver Heights restaurant in the west end, where the owner knew him. After a first stroke long ago, he jocularly called himself a BIP (for brain-impaired person) but he seemed largely recovered. His happiest days to my knowledge came with the first Mars Rover which he followed eagerly, wearing a NASA baseball cap and calling himself a "webhead". I only saw one piece of his writing - about Robert Hunter of Greenpeace - and Michael wrote like an angel. He applied for the rock music reviewer job at the Montreal Star and when it was given to someone else, he quit the Star annoyed. Michael had only one friend I knew of in Winnipeg - we crossed paths once at the Villa but stupidly we neglected to exchange names. So I am glad to find this nicely written obituary that in fact tells me more then I ever knew about Michael. We were to meet in April but he stopped answering emails and when I called to inquire, the Tuxedo nurse told me "Michael is no longer with us." - Posted by: Peter Leney (Friend, work colleague) on: May 27, 2022
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Although I didn’t know Michael personally, I fondly remember reading his film reviews in the ‘60s in The Winnipeg Free Press. He was a great film critic and provided tremendous insight into each film he reviewed. I like to think that I got a better understanding of movies through him. I am glad to see that he had a long career in the newspaper industry. Deepest condolences to his family. - Posted by: Len Paquin (Reader) on: Mar 13, 2022
