Harish Chander Sud

Harish Chander Sud passed away on November 5, 2022 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Harish was the son of the late Amarnath Sud and Parsinni Devi Sud, and the brother of the late Prem Chand Sud (2005) and the late Pushpa Vati Sud (2004). He was predeceased by his beloved first born child Arun. Harish is survived by his wife Devi, children Anil and Gita, son in law Rob, grand-daughter Anokhi, sister Raksha, and many other relatives in India and North America.

Harish was born on December 27, 1931 in the village of Manakpur in Punjab, India and died a world away in Winnipeg after a life that crossed distances and borders, and weathered upheaval. Throughout a life of change, he maintained simple practices that gave him comfort - walking, exercising, eating a vegetarian diet, gardening, daily prayer, and in his younger years, caring for animals and farmland.

His life of change was marked early on by the challenges his family endured during India’s partition, when they lost their home and businesses and started a new life in Rajpura from what remained.

The next of Harish’s many new lives began when he undertook his education, moving from place to place and often travelling several miles by foot in the dark. He completed a MA in English and a BA of Teaching from Punjab University in 1956.

In 1957, he began a teaching career that would span five decades, cross continents and cultures, and see Harish engage with hundreds of students, many of whom remained friends. Between 1957 and 1965, he taught future teachers at the Teacher Training College in Moga, a semi-urban Punjabi community. He immersed himself in college life as staff secretary, volleyball team coach, and editor of the college magazine, 'The Light'.

The biggest moment in a life of change and motion came in the 1960s when he married his wife Dev Bala in 1961, and their first son Arun was born in Rajpura in 1963. On July 17, 1965, the family of three took a big leap into the unknown and immigrated to Canada, hardly knowing about life there beyond story book pictures and letters from his sister in law Santosh in Winnipeg. Dressed in their finest clothes, the family transited through Delhi, Tehran, Cairo, Zurich, London, Glasgow, Montreal and eventually Winnipeg - it was a great surprise that the sun never set during the flights from Glasgow to Winnipeg.

Over the coming 60 years in Canada, Harish and his family traversed immense cultural and physical distances. His Canadian teaching journey began in Winnipeg, where he braved the cold and took buses to all corners of the city as a supply teacher. While he marvelled at the roads full of cars and buses and the gleaming department store escalators, so different from his life to date, the year took a toll on him. In 1966, the family ventured to Churchill, Manitoba, where the Northern culture and landscape of ice and polar bears were again diametrically opposite of his experiences to date. The extreme winter weather and isolation led him to seek the warmer climate of Southern Manitoba, and the family moved to Pilot Mound in 1967 where his second son, Anil was born. In 1968, Harish and his family settled in the small farming village of Ethelbert where he spent the rest of his career and where his family would grow with a final addition, Gita, in 1970.

In Ethelbert, a small Ukrainian village, Harish would make a home and a focus for a life reaching its prime. As the only Indian, Hindu and vegetarian in the area, he had many opportunities to share his traditions and practices with community members, while also learning about their culture - enjoying Ukrainian food, attending Ukrainian celebrations and trying (and quickly stopping) winter sports such as curling. Harish, Devi and the children would form a core part of the fabric of the town and contribute to its vibrancy. He volunteered for the local ambulance service, was active in the Lion’s Club for over a decade (winning Lion of the Year in 1987), was a member of the skating and curling club boards and helped launch the local paper, the Ethelbert Echo. He was equally active in his work at the school, helping generations of students develop their curiosity, coaching the Reach for the Top team twice to a CBC Winnipeg television appearance, and taking students to science fair competitions at all levels including the Canada Wide Science Fair.

His years in Ethelbert were a period of intense family activity and growth. He was devoted to his children's learning across all spheres, and overcame his nervousness of winter driving to spend countless hours criss-crossing the province taking them to music and dance lessons, 4-H public speaking competitions and hockey games. Alongside all of this, Harish maintained a deep connection to his Indian identity, helping organize the Parkland East India Association to meet with other immigrant families and bringing his family to Winnipeg to attend the temple and take Indian dance lessons.

Harish retired on Dec 31, 1991 (4 days after his 60th birthday). While maintaining the simple practices that were the touchstones of his life - walking, prayer, gardening - moving to Winnipeg enabled him to immerse himself in the Indian community. He volunteered as the Secretary, and later Vice-President, of the Hindu Seniors Club of Manitoba, and helped organize annual camps and picnics for Hindu seniors. He tapped his excellent English skills once more, helping edit the Samnavaya and Hindu Darshan publications. He was also very active in the local International Training in Communication group.

Strengthened by the experience of a life lived across distances he could not have imagined in advance, and enriched by the crucible of changes he encountered throughout that life, he faced the rapid spread of his cancer and awareness that his time in this life was coming to an end, clear-eyed and bravely. He said many times that he had lived a good life and was not afraid to leave this life and move onto the next. This peace came, in great measure, from looking back at a life that was marked by people and places that comforted him. He thought often in his final days of his beloved mother and his golden son Arun – his visions of their souls was a source of great comfort to him.

As his cancer advanced, Harish felt much gratitude for the blanket of care he experienced day and night from his family, caregivers, volunteers from Palliative Manitoba and Age and Opportunity, Dr. Rhoma, his cancer specialists, and the outstanding staff at Riverview Health Centre's palliative care ward and Grace Hospice. After a life that was long and wide, and after a final morning visit with his family, Harish listened to his favourite bhajan Gayatri Mantra and drew his last breath.

For anyone wishing to do something in Harish’s memory, please consider a donation to Palliative Manitoba https://palliativemanitoba.ca/giving/donate-now/ .

Harish's funeral will be held on December 10, 2022 at 10 am at Thomson "In the Park" Funeral Home, 1291 McGillivray Blvd, Winnipeg. The funeral can be watched online at https://youtu.be/Vqn2YAEb9R8 .

Shanti Path will be on December 10, 2022 at 4 pm at the Hindu Temple, 999 St. Anne's Rd, Winnipeg.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.thomsoninthepark.com for the Sud family.