Gerold "Gerry" Pankiewicz

Gerry was predeceased by his parents, Edith and Gunther Pankiewicz and his wife Erika Pankiewicz. Left to mourn his passing are his children Lara Heinrichs (Kirk Walker) and Stephen Pankiewicz (Melanie) and his granddaughter Jordan as well as other close family.

Gerry was a highly educated and respected individual with a passion for teaching whether it was in the classroom, high school office or University lecture hall. Gerry was always open-minded to learn anything new as his commitment to keep well-informed never abated. His enthusiasm for exploring the nature around him via cottages or RV’s was where he spent his down time.

His love for his granddaughter was unsurpassed. His encouragement of his son’s musical teaching career and daughter’s commitment for continuous learning within the pharmaceutical industry is the reason Lara and Stephen are where they are today.

The Celebration of Gerry's Life was held on Sunday, December 10, 2017 at Klassen Funeral Home, 1897 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Gerry's memory can be directed to the Wheels of Hope Transportation Service, care of the Canadian Cancer Society. For more information, please visit https://secure2.convio.net/cco/site/Donation2?23340.donation=form1&df_id=23340&s_locale=en_CA#.WiXLacKovIU , and select Manitoba.

Memories from Stephen

My father and I only had a few things in common. Let me go over that list first:

1. We both loved to travel

2. We both loved trying all types of food

3. We both loved beer

4. We both loved football

5. We both loved educating young, impressionable minds

Ummm… I think that’s it folks. The rest… well… we just kinda worked out our differences. Thankfully, those efforts brought us closer than I had ever hoped.

Let’s start examining some of those well, noticeable differences:

I am mechanically declined. Remember those Fisher Price toys where you fit the shapes into their correct slots? I kept trying to jam the square shape into the circle slot as a kid. My dad hoped it was just a phase… it wasn’t. Meanwhile, my father could build or fix ANYTHING. What really troubled me was that he actually enjoyed doing it. I didn’t see the fun in rewiring cottages or accidently slicing through hidden wasp nests with a chainsaw. I didn’t see the enjoyment of running power tools at 6:00 a.m or designing intricate pulley systems to lift heavy luggage up to our Kenora area cottage. And I most definitely didn’t see the pleasure in learning all the fancy knots to tie boats to a deck or risking my delicate piano fingers trying to put a nail into a 2 X 4. I remember when my dad had an idea to build an arbour for the purpose of growing grapes over our deck in Ottawa. Unfortunately, with all the maturing grapes came the destructive force of hungry racoons within a 10 km radius. The last handy thing he ever did for Melanie and I was secure a spice rack in a kitchen cupboard after it had toppled on her. I had found the cascade of spices hurtling towards my wife as a source of amusement. Unfortunately, she did not. My dad to the rescue…as always.

I hate camping. My version of camping is staying in an Airbnb. All my father needed was a flimsy piece of waterproof material secured by rope over his head. He tried in vain to have me join one of the mountain trips he organized at Kildonan East. After many family excursions in a tent and eventually tent trailer, he sensed it wasn’t my thing. I tried again in my adult years to camp with him in Newfoundland but we ended up in a motel room not too long afterwards heating up a can of beans over a Coleman camping stove.

I didn’t hate fishing but I didn’t have the patience for it either. I remember listening to Bomber games on a little radio while fishing at the Lake Manitoba Narrows. Cheering on our Bombers took away the monotony of floating endlessly in the boat. But what my dad really loved was surf fishing or fly fishing. Why? Because it was ACTIVE. I guess we both had another thing in common… we couldn’t sit still. I remember, while in Alaska, he waded into a stream filled with spawning salmon and proceeded to fall in among the rotting carcasses. My mother promptly quarantined his soiled clothes that evening.

Speaking of being active… he loved to drag us out not matter what the weather. That meant biking on Henderson Hwy to Lockport in the summer (where he bribed us with an A & W meal) and cross-country skiing in the winter where he bribed us with…absolutely nothing. I still remember the icicles dangling from his beard in 30 below weather. His face looked like it could be carved off… yet he called this a fun way to get exercise…

He did embrace Manitoba winters with us in other ways. He masterfully built igloos for us at the cottage and cleared half the snow over Lake Manitoba so we could skate on it. However, during the summer he made me mow a gigantic lawn at the cottage riddled with every insect imaginable. My grandmother would pay me 5 bucks to do it while he drank one of favourite beers called “Cool Spring.”

My father was not afraid of the natural world. You could literally have every type of tick, worm, centipede or spider on you and he would calmly examine them instead of removing them from harm’s way. He didn’t have a fear of anything… he just went with the flow. One of my last memories of him was dragging him through a haunted house my high school music students run as a fundraiser. He barely flinched… or maybe that was because his hearing aids were off…

I will honestly say that my father was the most educated human being I’ve ever known. Whether it was science, math, history… he knew so much and always wanted to learn more. I have heard from his friends that he was a fantastic teacher and a wonderful administrator. In my 23 years of teaching high school, I owe it to him for learning how to make the career of teaching the most successful sales pitch ever. If students feel safe in a structured environment and the teacher is enthusiastic, the kids will buy into your product, no matter how unappealing it might seem at first.

So back to what we don’t have in common… music. I have to comment on this because it is a big part of my life. My father despised any kind of music that wasn’t inspired from science fiction, spaghetti westerns or 1950’s rock. The music you heard playing before the ceremony and will hear again afterwards is from the soundtrack of the movie “The Sting” He REALLY loved that movie. His tolerance level was low for music he didn’t like though. I eagerly brought him to Ottawa’s newest brewpub this past Thanksgiving and he walked right back out because of what he called “noise.” Yet… when I created the music… no matter what type it was… he was there every step of the way.

I love technology once someone else figures it out for me. My dad was always ready to attempt anything new technology-wise. He was the first person at the University of Manitoba to submit something using a Word Processor. It was his PhD thesis on vocational education. How’s that for a feather in your cap eh? Problem was, my father was also extremely modest. Up until a week before his death, he drove Cancer Care patients to and from their appointments. His saved a woman’s life when he made a judgment call and brought her back to the hospital when he sensed she wasn’t well. There was even an article in the paper it. He casually told us about the incident but sure didn’t mention the article.

So folks… my father was many things that I wasn’t. But he embraced our differences and supported and encouraged whatever decision I made in life. He was by my mother’s side every step of the way as she struggled with her prolonged illness. He was my sister’s best friend on long walks and her most dependable handyman. He was the cool grandfather for Jordan because he was up for anything even if it meant the risk of throwing his back out.

I know many of you sitting here today were fortunate enough to be touched by my father’s kindness, his generousity and his open-mindedness. His mission was to be as friendly as possible to everyone, especially to strangers in the retail industry. Every human being cracks a smile eventually according to him. I hope you all walk out of here smiling today. He would want to see this gathering as a reunion of all his friends and colleagues from Kildonan East, River East, The University of Manitoba and countless other closely-knit influential communities he was a part of. His two most famous words are “Don’t Fuss” Let’s take his advice and enjoy this celebration of his life. 

Memories From Lara

My father, Jordan’s Opa’s Life, is worth celebrating. I wish we could have supplied you all with a beer stein and some of his home brew. Now that, he would call that a celebration! But here we are doing what we can to celebrate him, to remember and honor his life. He wasn’t much for long speeches and I agree with him so I’ll try not to ramble on too much.

I wrote and re wrote this so many times. I just kept going off on tangents telling you all the amazing things he’s done as a father for Stephen and I, and as a grandfather to Jordan. Its too much to tell quite honestly. There are so many highlights and special moments that I wanted to share and this tribute became more of a novel than a short story. So here’s a summary of my novel:

Dad believed in the value of life experiences and enrichments rather than material possessions. We are a family that is rich in those values. He created in all of us a passion for travel and for life. He believed if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. I remember asking as a child why we didn’t have as many presents under the tree as some of my friends appeared to have. I cringe in shame a little bit at that memory. At the time I didn’t realize how much my parents sacrificed in order to provide us with those experiences. Mom rarely had new clothes or bought herself things. Dad wore the same 2 pair of shorts for about 20 years.. (might be a slight exaggeration…but only slight)

What they did spend their money on was travel and cabin life. Both had very modest beginnings. Early on we all squeezed into tents and braved the elements. Mom was such a good sport. The outdoors wasn’t her thing, but even from this we learned a lesson in compromise within a relationship. After the tent adventures we progressed to a pop up trailer and then the cabin which we shared with Dad’s parents at Lake Manitoba. Many great memories were made at Lake Manitoba. Dad was always game to jump in the lake with us, he taught us how to water ski, canoe and fish among other things. Bon Fires at night and igloo building in the winter. Eventually we traded up to the beautiful cabin in the Whiteshell. Here again I don’t think I knew quite how lucky we were to have this in our family. I promised a short speech so I won’t go into every great memory from those days as there are many.

Every summer we travelled for several weeks all over Canada and the US. We were very fortunate that Dad worked in education and had several months off in the summer. We hopped in our car and camper and put on a lot of miles and had a lot of adventures. As time went on the cars were a bit nicer and not quite so rickety. The first few trips we went on I remember we nicknamed the car Huff Puff… as it huffed and puffed and barely made it up the mountain pass.

Dad always encouraged adventure and was very playful. Try new things, he said! Like the time he and I waded in a mangrove swamp in Florida. He promised me we would find beautiful shells in the water. As I waded blissfully along looking for that perfect shell, Dad said “Lara, don’t move.” He sounded very serious so I froze. I asked “why?” “Just don’t move” he said. Later he shared with me he had seen a snake “or something like it” swim by me. We didn’t go shell hunting again in that area. By the way, I found a huge conch shell… unfortunately the snail still lived in it. The task of getting that snail out and cleaning the shell is a tale for another time.

Dad was an amazing grandfather to Jordan. He would often say to her that she’s his favorite granddaughter, and she would say with a giggle “Opa, I’m your ONLY granddaughter” It became a bit of a game between them.

Jordan spent a lot of time with her Opa. He was always up for a bike ride. First it was in the bike trailer, then it was on the bike extension so she could ride behind him. Dad was with me the first time Jordan rode a two wheel bike herself and he was so proud of her! Much of her childhood with him was very similar to mine. She had many adventures with him. The cottages were gone by then but the Fifth wheel trailer was now in play. Jordan and I were able to visit Oma and Opa several times in South Padre Island where more memories were made. I also know he was very proud of her recent academic achievements. He shared with us that he didn’t get grades that good when he was in grade 10. This would also be about the time that he was jumping out of classroom windows to skip school.

I want to touch on the last 3 years. Most of you know, my mom passed away this time 3 years ago. It was a huge blow to the family, but especially to my dad. During these past 3 years my dad and I became very close and we took care of each other. We turned to each other in a way that was new to us, and while I miss my mom terribly, I’m so glad he and I got to know each other on a deeper level. He and I walked my dog Penny for hours and hours every week. Penny made him laugh with her antics and it was just easier to talk and walk. We also shared many meals every week. Several times a week Dad would walk over from his place to mine, about a 15 min walk. He would bring one of his pic a pop bottles of beer and I would try out some new recipe on him and Jordan. His code word for something that he didn’t particularity enjoy was it was “edible” but he made sure to reassure me that it was better than cooking a meal himself. You’ll notice his pic a pop bottle up front here. There’s about 100 more in his basement just in case anyone would like one… My partner Kirk would often join us for dinner and on the topic of Dad’s home brew I would like to quote Kirk as saying “It’s really good… but I can only handle about one pic a pop bottle a night”

Jordan and I were lucky to be able to share a few more adventures with Opa in the last three years. We went to Cuba together, and true to form, Opa was up for snorkeling, playing in the ocean, the pool and walks on the beach. This past summer during our trip to the BC mountains, Opa took pleasure in the fact that he was the oldest person who had ever gone on the Primal Swing, an extreme thrill ride which paralyzed me with so much fear that Opa had to step up at the very last minute and take my place. He also went Zip lining, White Water Rafting and hiking with us that summer.

I know this was a bit long, but there is so much to say! I guess it’s good that his life can’t be summarized in a few pages. It a good thing Dad lived for today and squeezed as much out of life as he could, as he was not yet ready to go. He had plans to go to South Padre Island this year and meet up with his fishing buddy Randy, another trip to the mountains with Jordan and I this coming summer was in the cards, maybe a trip around Europe with his cousin Titus and many more visits with Stephen and Melanie.

His life is an unfinished story… but at least it’s a good one.