Dennis Laverne Belanger

Dennis was born on September 20, 1930 at Seven Sisters, MB. He passed in Winnipeg on September 22, 2018 at the age of 88. He was predeceased by his wife Colleen, son Christopher, mother Agatha, brother Ashley, sisters-in-law Connie and Eileen; brothers-in-law Bernard, Rae, Art and Jack; sons-in-law Henry and Ted; and daughter-in-law Del. He leaves to mourn his eight children: Glenna; Anne (Kathleen); Michael (Cynthia); David (Brenda); Mary; Laura; Kathryn (Bill); and Patrick (Melanie). His grandchildren Stephanie; Sean (Elizabeth); Dylan, Bridget, Zane, Jasmine and Willem; his great grandchildren Elena and Sofia; his sister-in-law Agatha; niece Monica (Ron) as well as many more nieces, nephews and cousins, as well as his housemates Kirby and Larry. Dennis' biggest passion was his family and he enjoyed the family get-togethers for birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. There were so many family birthdays that the Happy Birthday sign never came down in the family room of his home. Denny, as most people knew him, was an aircraft engineer and spent most of his career working for the Ministry of Transport. He retired as Superintendent of Flight Operations for Transport Canada in 1987. He made many life-long friends in his working and private life. Dennis at heart was a proud and ardent Canadian. While born in Seven Sisters, he was raised in and was a life-long Ft. Rouger, living in the same house in Riverview for the last 60 years. His career allowed him the opportunity to travel across the country he was so proud of including the High Arctic. He was a man of faith and over the years was very active at Our Lady of Victory Church. He was a champion for the underdog, acutely aware of and knowledgeable about social issues and the trials and tribulations of his fellow human beings and contributed to numerous causes and charities, both local, federal and international. Denny had a love for history, which he imparted to all of us children. We visited many a museum or historical site growing up with our eager father leading the way with his knowledge and insatiable curiosity. Denny was a voracious reader. Our parents lead many interesting conversations around our dinner table. Denny was an animal lover. While we had numerous animals of all varieties, no pet was ever loved more by our dad than Mina the Persian Cat. He had more pictures of that cat in his bedroom than of his children! He was a passionate sports fan and could often be heard yelling at the TV during a Blue Bomber or Jets game… “Shoot the Puck already”. He enjoyed all kinds of card games, from the simple to the complicated, especially bridge. He loved family games; he was a fearsome lawn-darts opponent (no one held a marathon lawn-darts tournament like Denny and Colleen) and he and Colleen were a formidable pair when playing Trivial Pursuit, so much so that we banned them from playing again as a team. He coined many expressions, such as ‘Sacre blueberries’ and ‘Only a fool would argue with an idiot’. He read the Free Press daily and religiously completed the daily Jumble, Scrabble and Crytoquotes. He enjoyed his summer vacations at Grand Marais, especially playing a friendly game of volley-ball - Murphys vs the Belangers! A special thanks to the staff of the Misericordia Interim Care, 6th and 5th Floor, for taking such good care of Denny. Rest in Peace Pere