Donald Thomas Verwey

It is with great sadness and with gratitude for a life well lived, that the family announces that Donald “Don” Verwey died at the age of 87 years at Portage District General Hospital, on March 14, 2026, surrounded by his loving family.

Don was predeceased by his beloved wife Shirley, grandson Noah, sister Florence and brothers John and Frank.

Don was born April 12, 1938 the youngest child of Frank and Irene (Tolhurst) Verwey. He started his career in 1956 with the Department of National Defense at Southport. He married Doreen Meseyton, and moved to Winnipeg where he was employed at CN Rail followed by 30 years with the City of Winnipeg. While working for the city his favourite job by far was when he worked at the Zoo with the animals. When Don took his young daughters to the zoo, he made sure they could see all of the animals up close, even if he had to use his big set of keys and coax them out of their pens.

After his time at the zoo, he continued working as a foreman for Parks and Recreation where he was responsible for the beautiful gardens at Kildonan Park as well as the Forks grounds and Bonnycastle Park when it had a stunning rose garden. You could see the pride he took in his work.

Don’s hobbies and interests helped define who he was. He enjoyed building. He once prefabbed an entire cabin in his back yard in the city and moved it in pieces to a lot at Delta Beach where many family members and friends arrived to assemble the entire cabin in a weekend. He was known as the guy to see to purchase sheds, outhouses, fishing shacks and custom requests. People just drove by his and Shirley’s yard at Newton where buildings lined the property ready for purchase. Don also enjoyed riding his motorcycle and he and Shirley spent many hours cruising highways with his brother Gerry and wife Del along with having fun playing cards on most weekends.

He also loved a good party and was usually the first on the dance floor at the old tyme country dances and was often the last to leave. Don and Shirley very much enjoyed travelling with their regular dance crowd to wherever the weekly dance was.

He will be lovingly remembered by his daughters Jane and Dawn (Dave), grandson Curtis, granddaughter Anne (Carrigan), stepdaughter Shelley (Dan), granddaughters Faith, Shae-Lynn and Brooklyn (Laurence), stepson Scott (Robyn), grandson Evan, his brother Gerry and many other cousins, nephews and nieces.

We find comfort in knowing that Dad’s legacy lives on through the lessons he taught us, the love he shared and the memories we will cherish forever.

A funeral mass will be held on Friday, March 27, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church, followed by lunch. A private interment will take place at Hillside Cemetery. The service will be livestreamed, to register and view click on link below.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Sunset Palliative Care or Portage Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).

A tree will be planted in memory and cared for by McKenzies Portage Funeral Chapel. www.mckenziesportagefuneralchapel.com