Date of Birth: September 25, 1933
Date of Death: October 26, 2017
PORTER – Donald William, of Foxwarren, MB passed away on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017 at the age of 84 with family by his side, after an extended battle with cancer and dementia.
He was predeceased by his mother, Lillian (1953) and his father, William (1965).
He is survived by his wife, Coreen; his children: Debbie, Brian, Bruce, Michelle, and Keith; his grandchildren: Jeremy, Haylea, and Sarah; and his siblings: Betty and Robert.
Don was born in Foxwarren in 1933, the second of three children and eldest son of William and Lillian Porter. His father (the son of a banker in London, England) emigrated to Canada in 1908 at the age of 16, with the dream of becoming a farmer. He fulfilled this dream, first on a half section southeast of Binscarth, MB (1919-1938) and later on a half section northeast of Foxwarren (1938-1961). Don took over the farm when his father retired in 1961, then purchased the adjacent three-quarter section Armitage farm in 1971, which he actively farmed until the late 1990s.
Don resided in Melville, SK from 1956 to 1973, where he worked on the railroad as a fireman/engineer. It was here that he met the love of his life, Coreen. They married in 1957 and had five children. He found working on the railroad and raising a family in Melville while farming in Manitoba to be too much. So he began renovating the Armitage farmhouse, and in the summer of 1973 they packed up the family and moved to Foxwarren. They lived on the farm until late 2015, when he and Coreen moved into the personal care home in Birtle, MB, where he would spend the rest of his life.
Don will be remembered as a storyteller, which he would recite in the most intricate detail. He was a collector of things, anything and everything, which accumulated over the years in the farmhouse and the farmyard. The local auctioneers knew him well, and he could often be found hauling truckloads of treasures back to the farm (much to his wife’s dismay). He was a skilled mechanic, welder and machinist, who loved to build, invent, and fix things. He was a perfectionist, who held himself and others to an extremely high standard “A job not worth doing right is a job not worth doing at all.”
He loved to read. You could find him huddled around the woodstove on a chilly Manitoba winter morning buried in a book or agricultural publication. He could often be found sipping tea from a cup saturated with as much sugar as the hot liquid would absorb. His famous trick was to put enough sugar into his tea to stand-up a spoon. He loved his ice-cream, and there would always be an ample stash in the basement freezer. He was a frugal man who lived well within his means, yet he was an avid supporter of many charities, the church, and World Vision.
He will be sadly missed by family and friends.
Funeral services were held at Grace Lutheran Church in Russell, MB on Friday, Nov. 3 with Pastor Janet Kostyna officiating. Interment followed at the Foxwarren cemetery where he was buried beside his parents, followed by a gathering at the Foxwarren Leisure Centre. Pallbearers were Bruce Porter, Keith Porter, Michelle Porter, Fred Ward, Brian Porter and Yvonne Dolmer.
Donations may be to Living Legacy Community Foundation, Expanding Community Cancer Care, P.O. Box 1343, Russell, MB, R0J 1W0.
Condolences may be shared with the family at www.braendlebrucefs.ca
Braendle-Bruce Funeral Service of Russell, Manitoba in care of arrangements 204-773-2747.
