Katherine (Kathy) Elma Mae Swann

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to World Vision, Canada. The address is listed below.

Kathy was a deeply kind and generous woman —considerate and compassionate toward others, steady in her love and loyal to her family. Her strength was quiet but unmistakable. She was fiercely independent, devoted to truth and fairness, and unwavering in what she believed.

Each spring, Mom recorded the first robin, the first blue jay, the first cardinal — knowing her joy would soon return, as if Mother Nature herself knew she had been waiting. The orioles were spoiled properly. Only Welch’s grape jelly would do - no other brand was good enough. The birds, apparently, had standards —and she respected them.

The kitchen was less about the recipes and more about shared laughter and learning. She taught her son Brian to bake at just nine years old, beginning with apple pies, and the two of them spent many good hours cooking and baking together. In later years, mom carried that love into hosting classes with a well-known chef and into the meals she prepared for the bed-and-breakfast guests.

Over the years, my mother moved through many creative and public-facing roles — from refinishing furniture and hosting her own television talk show to serving as Executive Director of Parkland Tourism. She made a lasting mark on rural Manitoba’s tourism industry, including the much-loved “Supper in the Field,” which brought people together under prairie Manitoba farmland skies.

“life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain