Mr. Garth Muir

SEPT 15, 1948 - JUNE 29, 2001

"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord to those who love him and know him"

After a three and a half year courageous battle with cancer Garth passed away at the home that he loved in St. Adolphe, Manitoba.

He is predeceased by his parents Bert and Anne Muir. Left to mourn his loss are his wife of 40 years Lorna, his son David, his sister and brother in-law Patti and Len Rolfson, their two sons Evan and Scott ( Katherine ), his sister and brother in-law Joan and Robert Bond, his sister in-law and husband Brenda and Bill Hewitt as well as numerous cousins and friends.

Garth first grew up in Wildwood Park in Winnipeg, then in 1960 his parents moved their family to their farm in St Norbert, Manitoba. After high school he went to work for Northern Telecom, CN rail as an industrial electrician, and as a Supervisor with New Flyer Industries and Kitchen Craft.

Garth was an outdoors man and an animal lover. Garth and Lorna raised Alaskan Malamutes for 35 years, and Garth felt privileged to be able to spend time training and running his dog team. He loved nothing more than being out in the bush winter camping with his dogs or on the trail with his team.

The family wishes to thank all the staff at MB Cancer Care especially Dr. Gary Harding and his nurse Cindy Pearce. The nursing and home care staff from South Eastern Health who made it possible for Garth to remain at home, especially his two regular nurses Rachael and Jennifer who were with him from the beginning and were very special to Garth. A heartfelt thank you to all the people who were holding us up in prayer, Garth was so grateful for you.

A memorial service was held at 2:00 pm Thursday, July 8, at Thomson “In the Park” Funeral Home, 1291 McGillivray Blvd.

GARTH MUIR (Biography)

SEPT 15, 1948 - JUNE 29, 2001

Garth was born in Winnipeg and lived in Wildwood Park until he was 12 when the family moved to their "hobby farm" in St. Norbert Manitoba. Besides his mom and dad Bert and Anne and sisters Joan and Patti both Grandmother Muir and Grandmother McInnes lived with them. So as you can imagine this was a home that always had something going on in it. Besides the humans in the household there was always a menagerie of animals. The Saint Bernard's "Barry" and "Brandy", a sheep named "Betsy ", a horse named 'Willy", and a gander who didn't get along with anyone very well but Garth, mostly because he took his job as "Watch Goose" very seriously. There was also an array of cats and rabbits and hens just to keep the mix interesting. I am sure this is where Garth developed his lifelong love of animals.

As Garth grew so did his interest in cars and hot rods, in his mind the farm provided a perfect place to deposit all his old cars and spare parts. His Dad wasn't exactly on the same page as him and kept insisting that he remove a few. Garth would just reshuffle the cars and parts to make it seem he had actually removed some. I don't think his Dad was that serious either because the night he found two guys cornered up a tree by their St Bernard he felt justified to leave them there all night ..how dare they steal his son's car parts.

After high school Garth started working for Northern Telecom and his job took him to many cities through out North America. Memorably being the times he and his family lived in Calgary and Montana and Lorna and Garth's trip to Alaska. After they had settled into their own country home in St Adolphe the traveling got to be too much, so Garth quit his job to be at home. He then worked for CN rail and became an industrial electrician. After leaving the CN Garth worked for New Flyer Industries and most recently Kitchen Craft.

For 35 of their 40 years of marriage Garth and Lorna have lived in St Adolphe Manitoba where they raised there son David. Perhaps not the easiest place to live ! Surviving the flood of 1979 and then the flood of the century in 1997 where they lost there home and had to rebuild. Garth planted every tree and pounded in every nail to rebuild his home and through it all Garth loved it here.

Garth and Lorna have bred Alaskan Malamutes for over 34 years and have been active in all areas of the dog sport. Garth being a lover of the outdoors and an animal lover found his niche in training and running a dog team. He looked forward every day to being out there training " His Kids ' as he called them (of course never in public ) . His team over the years has taken him tracking wolves, teaching survival courses and many miles out on wilderness trails

He loved nothing more than to be out in the bush winter camping with his team, back packing or canoing. The people he met along the way in this sport he never forgot and many became his lifelong friends

Garth was an strong, honest, straightforward, caring man that will be missed by many.