GARY ERNEST GALTS

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GARY ERNEST GALTS

Gary Ernest Galts passed away at the age of 92, on his favourite weekend of the year, Thanksgiving, October 12, 2025. He was born to the late Edwin and Helen Galts on May 5, 1933.

Gary was predeceased by his wife Cathy (Fritz) one year ago, almost to the day. Gary leaves to mourn his three children, Wayne and Marla, Cindy and Greg, Susan and Ron. Grandchildren Joey (Karly), Sam (Anthony), Danny (Samantha), TJ (Kyjsa), Josh, Jamie (Meghan) and Carter. Along with four great-grandchildren: Kennedy, Reese, Rylan and Paxton. Dad’s “Little Ones”. Gary is also survived by his sister Leona and sister in-law Shirley, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Gary was predeceased by his brother Ron in 2004.

Growing up, Gary had many fond memories of Lulu Street, Alexander and Bannatyne Avenues. Walking on the Arlington Street bridge placing coins on the tracks to make them pancakes and roaming the streets having good times with his brother Ron and friends. While his sister was too young to join the boys they also enjoyed spending time with her playing in the yard. Going to the farm in St. Andrews was always an adventure to go help on the farm with some chores that needed doing as well as having fun playing around.

Gary started working at the very young age of 16 alongside his Dad who was a contractor. Shortly after that his Dad helped him get a job at The Winnipeg Free Press as somewhat of a “gopher” (go for this, go for that). He then proceeded to work his way up to a Stereotyper which he enjoyed very much. When Stereotyping was cut out of the process of producing a newspaper, Dad became one of the head maintenance employees which he gave his all to every single day till he retired in 1993.

Gary met his beautiful wife at the curling club, where he apparently walked in saw Mom for the first time and said, “that’s the girl I am going to marry.” They began a very special courtship, which included spending time with family and friends, the church choir, went on many camping trips with the choir, enjoyed every holiday together and many Sadie Hawkins celebrations along the way.

Gary married the love of his life on October 6, 1956, where they lived in an apartment for two years until they bought their first home in 1958 which they remained in until August 2022.

Mom and Dad could always be found doing things together. They were both very passionate about the cabin at Twin Lakes Beach. You could find them both spending hours in the garden, Dad with the vegetables (Best Potatoes Ever) and Mom with the flowers. Dad took great pride in his garden. Every seed had to be placed just perfectly in a straight row and every year his garden not only looked stunning, but every vegetable was grown to perfection and tasted delicious.

Time at the lake was always the highlight of every summer. If Dad wasn’t in the garden, fixing something, cutting the grass, straight lines of course, you would probably find him taking a dive in the lake with his soap on a rope, then enjoying a nice cold beer at the picnic table where family and friends were always welcome. By night he loved sitting around the table playing cards with their dear friends, Reg and Joan Haley, always bragging about who won more money and whose money jar was fuller by the end of the night, big competition, all in good fun of course, just to do it all over again the next evening.

Dad’s favourite holiday was Thanksgiving. He would spend all day raking up the leaves in the yard at the lake into big piles so that all the kids could come and jump in and destroy them all within minutes. He would just shake his head and laugh saying, “What a bunch of yahoos” loving every minute of seeing their excitement and playfulness and all round having so much fun. Next was the famous Thanksgiving dinner feast ready to feed an army. Dad would do his part, peeling all the potatoes, boiling and mashing them to perfection (lots of butter and no lumps), make the turnip and carve the turkey to feed 25 people, who all sat at the table with Dad at the head of it proudly grinning, enjoying all the good food, good drinks and great company which he truly enjoyed to the fullest.

Dad was always puttering around fixing anything and everything. He could fix absolutely anything. We never needed a handy man for anything because Dad could do it all. Oddly enough, one of Dad’s favourite things to do was mix and pour concrete. He couldn’t wait till he could shimmy it smooth, just so he could observe it and say, “What a perfect pour.” Building, fixing and pouring cement Dad was your Guy!....never a doubt.

Dad would be the first one up at the lake to get the coffee on and patiently wait for everyone else to rise while he read the paper and sipped on a couple of cups of coffee. He would then start his famous breakfasts complete with lots of bacon, eggs and extra potatoes from the night before dinner, to make his one of a kind hash browns while Mom would complete the breakfast with special pancakes and toast. It always was the best tasting breakfast, then everyone would sit around the table, usually for a good hour, sometimes more, sipping on a 3rd or 4th cup of coffee just chit chatting about everything and anything. One thing that never got old at the lake were the sunsets. They would sit and watch the sun go down far too many times to count.

You could always find Dad and Mom cheering on their grandchildren, in a rink, on a field or in a gym. They were the grand kids biggest fans getting to events an hour early just so they would not be late and to get the perfect seat. They would get very into the games cheering loud and, of course their grandkids never did anything wrong. One of Dad’s favourite pieces of advice was, “Be a leader not a follower.”

Sports were always very important to Dad and Mom. On Jet game days, you could find them both wearing their jerseys and watching intensely and waiting for that big win, Bomber games, too, cheering very loudly thinking it would help in some way the louder they were. In fact during Dad’s last few days in the hospital he watched a Jets game and a Blue Jays game giving his coaching opinion on every play and was still picking his picks for his football pool he had entered into.

Dad’s trip to Hawaii in 1979 was definitely a highlight of his life. The memories had never faded and he could still explain them in great detail like they had just returned home.

Dad was extremely involved in the community. He started managing Wayne’s hockey team, then moved on to the Fort Garry Fort Rouge Twins, was on the executive team for many years, which led him to starting an annual Christmas tournament at Century arena which required a lot of work and dedication. The tournament always ended up being a huge success year after year, which made Dad very proud. Dad could never get enough hockey! Besides hockey, Dad curled for many years at numerous curling clubs, played darts at The Fort Garry Legion, The Pembina and The Cambridge Hotel. Dad and Mom would help out at The Legion delivering poppies to a lot of vendors, working the occasional meat draw and enjoying all the fun festivities The Legion would have put on for their members. He enjoyed these activities immensely always keeping active and having great times with family and friends. No matter what Dad was doing, he did it with pride and perfection, nothing was ever done less than that.

As per Gary’s wishes there will be no funeral service just a small family gathering at a later date.

If you wish, in honour of Dad, please raise a glass of beer (Bud Light) or dark rum (Captain Morgan) and have a toast to a special memory(s) or moment(s) that you had shared together.

If so desired, a donation may be made in Dad’s name to The War Amps Manitoba, specifically The Child Amputee (Champ) Program.

May you rest in peace Gary, Dad and Papa, know you are deeply missed already and will forever be in all of our hearts today and always. We love you so very much.

 

“If I should die before I wake I Pray Thee Lord My Soul To Take”

Richard Rosin

Funeral Director Ltd.

204-219-1126

Tribute Link: richardrosin.ca

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Nov 01, 2025