Kenneth Ramsundar Ramlal

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Kenneth Ramlal on October 3, 2021.

He will be lovingly remembered and is survived by his wife of 64 years Peggy, his children Patricia (Patrick) and Wayne (Janet), his brother Frank (Ena). His Samlal cousins who were brothers and sisters to him: Rena, Vilma (Indar), Ralph (deceased), Rudolph, Sylvia (Albert), Kenrick, Gloria (Paul), Dennis (Omela), Amelia (Winston), Ramona (Ramsey), his cousin Rachel (Wilfred, deceased); his brothers and sisters by marriage: Eileen (Bill), Carol (Rolf; both deceased), Judy (Laurie), Bob (Peggy, deceased), Annakyn and Doug (deceased), many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, friends and extended family loved him for his kindness, generosity, intelligence and sense of humour.

Ken was predeceased by his mother Roonie, father Frank, father-in-law Leonard and mother-in-law Roberta.

Ken was born in Cocoyea Village, Trinidad on December 16, 1933. When he was five his family moved to Palmyra Village, Trinidad. He graduated from Naparima College (High School) in 1951 with a Grade1 Cambridge School Certificate. After finishing high school he worked as a Refinery Lab Technician and then as an Elementary School Teacher until he immigrated to Canada in September 1955. He was a member of the Happy Hits Cricket Team in Trinidad and played cricket in Winnipeg for years. Ken immigrated to Canada to further his education at United College and the University of Manitoba. Following graduation he worked as a chemist, including at the Geology Department of the University of Manitoba and at the Freshwater Institute. He spent many happy (and some frustrating) hours on the Wildewood Golf Course and was particularly proud of, and happy to relate to anyone who would listen, how he made his hole-in-one on the third hole. His happiest times were those spent with family and he was a notorious kibitzer during the annual Christmas Trivial Pursuit games.

He married the love of his life, Peggy, in 1957 and they spent most of their married life in the same home, building a life and making a garden that passers-by often stopped to admire. His children benefited most by his guidance, compassion and kindness. Although he sometimes appeared to have a gruff exterior he loved children and animals and they responded to him in kind. For someone who “hated” cats, his constant feline companion of the last 11 years, Arthur, says otherwise.

A celebration of life will be held in Spring 2022.

The family sends special thanks to the staff of Riverview Personal Care Home and the Grace Hospital for the kindness and care that they gave him during this past year and during his final illness.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Kenneth Ramlal’s name to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Siloam Mission or a charity of your choosing.

Notes on the Life of My Father

Thank you to all of you for making the time to join us in the celebration of the life of my father, Ken Ramlal. And it is a celebration of a life well lived. While I certainly still have moments of sadness (Uncle Frank’s music choices), my memories now are filled with the singular moments that we shared and those we shared as a family.

Before I start in on some of my thoughts about my dad, on behalf of my mother, Peggy and my brother Wayne, I want to take the time to thank my Uncle Frank for helping to put the events of today together and to the people here at Thomson’s, especially Lorraine Griegg, for making the planning of this event as easy as possible.

My dad was many things: a son, husband, father, brother, uncle, friend, golfer, good neighbor, chemist, seeker of information, story-teller, and a very competitive game player (he finally had to be banned from playing cribbage and was convinced the people who wrote the answers to the Trivial Pursuit questions were idiots) and so much more. I hope that we can take the time today to share some of the stories.

But today, I thought that I would take a little time to share the lessons, intentional and unintentional, that I learned from my father.

Lessons:

Importance of education: From a very young age my brother and I were drilled with how important it was to get a good education, and if it was only an ”A”, why wasn’t it an A+? But my dad came to Canada on a scholarship and the opportunity that provided allowed him to give him and his near and extended family a great life. Even growing up in the 60’s and 70’s when opportunities for women were only just becoming more available, there was never any idea that I would do anything but get a good education and be anything that I wanted to be (although he really did want me to be a pediatrician). It has made me a life-long believer about the importance of education and that it is something that can never be taken from you.

Kindness: My dad was pretty shy when meeting new people, but his kindness shone through, especially when he was around children and animals. Some of you have heard a lot of stories about the infamous Arthur the Cat, who has ruled their household since 2010 and our dog Chopper who we had in the late 1970’s-early ‘80s. You will see pictures of them in the montage. My dad claimed to want neither, yet became inseparable from them both. I am not sure where Wayne and I might fit in that hierarchy and I never wanted to ask.

He especially enjoyed meeting and interacting with his many nieces, nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews, here in Winnipeg, throughout Canada and those in Trinidad.

Do good works for family and community but don’t expect, or look for recognition: When he could my dad would give a helping hand to family and friends, without expectation of repayment, just being happy to be able to help when he could. I don’t know a lot of details, because he never talked about it, but I do know that it happened. He gave generously to a number of charities, especially those that look after people who were struggling with life.

Be a good neighbour: My dad delighted in his neighbours and the neighbourhood they lived in for almost 60 years. He and my mom had lived in the same house since 1963 and they enjoyed the companionship of many neighbours over those years. But in the last decade or so he felt really close to their current neighbors and would do whatever he could to help out when he could as they did for my mom and him. It gave me great comfort to know that he was literally surrounded by such kindness. I know that it also gave him comfort that that support was still there for my mom when he was no longer able to be there.

Family, friends and community whatever that looks like to you: Everything my dad did, he did for his family. It is extraordinary to me how well looked after we have always felt and knew that he would always be there for us. His legacy on that front still continues and he is still “taking care of us”. His main concern, especially during his last year, was that my mom would be taken care of. My brother even had to bring spreadsheets to his place in Riverview so that he could see the numbers and know that she would be well.

The best lesson I learned was to love without reservation. One of my cherished memories of his last few years, occurred while he was living at Riverview. It was during COVID and we were finally able to take my mom to see my dad in his room. He and my mom were sitting on the bed and he turned to me, beamed and said “I just love this woman”. It was a reminder that even though he was dealing with so many challenges, he never forgot that. It was also during that time that we were able to connect with many of his cousins all over Canada and in Trinidad with video calls and he just loved to be able to talk with them and share stories from when they were kids. And they did have a lot of them.

So, I will leave you with these lessons I learned and hope that you can take something away about who my dad was: be kind, be a good neighbor and friend, take care of and be with family, be an active part of your community whatever that looks like to you, and love without reservation.

Thank you.