DOUGLAS WILLIAM MACEWAN

Condolences & Memories (8 entries)

• I met Dr. MacEwan when I walked with him twice as part of his goal to walk 1km per day for 96 days straight in 2020. He was very taken with our dog Jasper and asked, specifically, for me to bring him along on the second walk. Dr. MacEwan was a fantastic walking partner and conversationalist. Fortunately, for me, he was willing to share many parts of his life, particularly his experiences in and around WW2. Interesting and friendly man and my thoughts go out to his family. Deepest condolences on your loss. - Posted by: D Grant Suderman (Friend) on: Apr 26, 2024

• I think I only met Doug once; I'm friends with his children. However, I fondly remember his collection of "xray art" - many Inuit prints of animal skeletons or other animal images that fit the radiology theme. A very creative mix of his profession and his passion. Doug sounds like he was amazing man. Sincere condolences on his passing. - Posted by: Shanley Allen (friend of the family) on: Apr 19, 2024

• I met Dr. Doug and his beloved Elizabeth almost 30 years ago when we became neighbours. We exchanged information over our respective gardens and with a grin, he agreed to help my “purple thumb”. We agreed the large, treed green space we shared would never need fencing. The friendship and exchanges grew over the years, but my relationship with Dr. Doug deepened several years ago in a way I couldn’t have foreseen. I was recovering from cancer surgery and had fallen asleep in the summer warmth and shade of our backyard oak. I awoke to his gentle footsteps and sat up, swinging my legs around to offer him space at the end of the lounge chair. He sat down and said nothing. I told him very quietly how exhausted I felt. We silently gazed at the flower bed and shrubbery for what seemed like hours. Then his hand gently squeezed my knee and he got up and slowly walked back to his garden. I felt such comfort and love in that simple gesture. He had done exactly what my late father would have done. From that moment on, I thought of him as Dr. Dad. I will miss my constant, understated and kind friend and father figure. - Posted by: Jan Belanger (Friend and Neighbour) on: Apr 15, 2024

• The Fall Garden Ritual My morning starts like most other mornings, I come downstairs, grab the newspaper from the mail box, make a pot of coffee and I sit down at our sunroom table to leisurely read the newspaper. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a squirrel jump onto a planter on the patio and I watch it frantically shoot dirt out of the planter and bury another acorn. Then I notice a tall sleek silhouette of a man standing in the garden just beyond out backyard flower bed. The air is cold and crisp and the morning sun highlights the breath that powers this methodical gardener. It is Dr Doug performing his annual fall ritual, the turning of the garden. He starts at one end and with only an old sturdy pitch fork, he turns the soil to a depth of 8 inches and in swaths about 3 feet wide, the entire garden is turned. Every year, one swath receives a special treatment, it is dug out at a depth of 12 inches. Into this trench, all the leaves from his and neighboring yards are placed and the soil is back filled. This has been happening for almost sixty years, the soil has been transformed from Manitoba gumbo into a rich crumbly soil that has produced vegetables that fed his family and countless gift baskets for friends and neighbors. As I finish by cup of coffee I look over at Dr Doug, he is resting with his chin and hands on the end of the pitch fork, reminding me of Ken Dryden’s pose with his goalie stick. After a few minutes of rest the soil turning resumes and that cycle continues for most of the morning. He will be out in the garden tomorrow; until the last swath is turned. I marvel at the man who is over thirty years my senior, his patience, tenacity and determination can move a mountain, one pitch fork at a time, year after year. - Posted by: Marcel Belanger (Friend and Neighbour) on: Apr 15, 2024

• Although I do not know Dr. MacEwan I just want the family to know that others unknown to you, admire him for all that he had done and contributed to society. How proud you must be of your father and what a life .. one well lived. Bless him - Posted by: Wendy (None ) on: Apr 14, 2024

• I initially met Dr. MacEwan when I was a med student at U of M then continued to work with him during my internship and residency at the Health Sciences Centre (initially Winnipeg General Hospital). My first impression was that he was a great teacher. During my neurosurgery residency I spent considerable time in the radiology department daily & really got to know what an incredible person he was. As stated in the obituary, he was indeed very soft-spoken, unassuming, and humble. I experienced some tough times during a rigorous residency and Dr. MacEwan was perceptive enough to recognize that and council me. It was personally a very difficult and trying time that I'm not entirely certain I could have survived without his support. When I returned to Winnipeg for numerous med school reunions Dr. MacEwan was always at the breakfast class receptions and always came to shake my hand, talk to me, and see how I was doing and congratulate me on my ultimately very successful career. He, of course, also talked & visited with many other reunion attendees from numerous U of M classes. Not only was he a wonderful radiologist and teacher but a very caring person. As chairman of Radiology, he was able to build a phenomenal radiology department, almost entirely with staff that in so many ways emulated himself; quiet, highly intelligent, soft-spoken and great teachers and terrific radiologists. I spent a great deal of time with most of these radiologists and they were so great to work with that at one time I seriously considered changing the direction of my training. Over past several years I have often thought of Dr. MacEwan, wondered if he was still active; reading the obituary I see that he basically did as I anticipated, continuing to support the Winnipeg community. With regard to my personal contact with Dr. MacEwan, I literally owe him a great deal and I'm certain that applies to numerous other med students, interns and residents. He was an incredible individual. Deep condolences to the MacEwan family. - Posted by: Arnold Zeal, MD (Student & resident contactwith Dr. MacEwan) on: Apr 07, 2024

• Doug was a true “Renaissance“ man! He supported the Winnipeg Arts Community by his presence, and in later years with one of his grandchildren. He was also a vital presence at the ZigZag Yacht Club. Virginia Snyder and I interviewed him several years ago about his involvement at ZZYC and learned so much more about his and Elizabeth’s early life together and their life long love of sport and nature. He will be missed but remembered for his genuine warmth and outgoing personality. What a guy! Our condolences to the family! - Posted by: Ken and Lynn Cooper (Friends) on: Apr 06, 2024

• Doug was near 90 when we first met him at various Concert Hall and RMTC events. Even in his nineties Doug would have bussed to his club by the Osborne Bridge, curled, walked to the Concert Hall and then post concert. ballet, or play in winter snow, ice, wind, he'd head over to City Hall to wait for the bus which would drop him a good distance from his home where, on arrival, he'd shovel the drive if needed. Our tickets and Doug's often coincided and at intermission we'd confirm a ride home. We were the real winners of this happy arrangement. For 30 minutes we had Doug all to ourselves to question him and listen to his remarkable stories of his profession, travels (he was always off somewhere) but mainly he'd talk about family and cooking dinner for them of a Sunday evening. Doug was a wonderful, caring, kind, calm, generous man. His obituary, starts perfectly identifying him as "Unassuming, soft-spoken, and humble..." It is a blessing he was able to die at home. Every now and then he'd get an offer of a dinner at a retirement residence to entice him to move. From time to time he'd go. Always he said a reminder why he didn't want to live in a retirement home if he could help it! Covid put an end to our event going and time with Doug. While our meetings were irregular and time limited, things can be said, questions asked, in the dark, bundled in a warm car at night and a short drive with Doug was better than a longer visit in a different place could ever have been. As we follow behind Doug he has been and will always be an inspiration. We are privileged and out lives much enriched by our drives with Doug on snowy evenings. We extend our deepest condolences to his family who, by the way, always tried to either pick him up or arrange a car to take him home rather than bussing at night but Doug would have none of it! We'd best add not being a bother to others and a strong dose of independence to his CV. - Posted by: Sheldon and Penny Bowles (Friends) on: Apr 06, 2024