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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
JOHNSTON, Allan George - On May 15, 2026, Allan passed away peacefully at Fred Douglas Lodge at the age of 99.
Allan was predeceased by Esther, his loving wife of 73 years, his youngest son, Wayne, his parents, George and Mary, brothers, Andy and Jim and sister Jean. He is survived by his son, Ken (Janice), granddaughters, Melissa and Cheryl (Vincenzo) and grandsons, Barry, Brian (Stacie) and Alan (Nancy) as well as six great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
Allan grew up on Lipton Street in the West End of Winnipeg. One of his long-time friends was Don Ramage, who he knew even before going to school. Allan gave his eulogy in 2019.
Allan enlisted with the Navy during the Second World War in 1944 at the age of 17. He was on the high seas on a large ship and as he was quite young, they placed him in the kitchen to work.
After the war, Allan did some clothes modelling at The Bay and also got his brother Andy doing the same thing. One of his first jobs was working in the office at Air Canada. From there he moved on to sell Black Cat cigarettes. When we asked him why he left he said he did not believe cigarette smoking was good for people. His main occupation was as a travelling salesman, selling tires for Dunlop Tire of Canada in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Thunder Bay.
He was a proud member of the Masons for 67 years as well as a long time Shriner. He was with the Khartum Komedians and was a clown known as Jumbo. He took his two sons to virtually every Shrine Circus which was always so much fun.
Being an A personality he could not sit still for long and was always out and about visiting friends. He would often say it’s important in life to keep making new friends and be of service. One of his favourite things was to bring his friends a box of Morden’s chocolates. He joked that he was one of Morden’s best customers.
He loved to help others and was always ready to lend a hand to family members working on projects around their houses. He often helped a few neighbours by shoveling snow. Over the years, he volunteered at St. Benedicts Monastery with ground maintenance as well as at Middlechurch Personal Care Home visiting some of the residents. Allan’s other way to help the community was being a Cancer Care driver with the Masons. He would use his own car and pick up people at their homes to take them to appointments at Cancer Care.
Some of Allan’s happiest times were spent at his and Mom’s nice mobile home at Morden’s Meadows. Here they had many good friends like Ken Wong. Allan was always eager to help others in the little community. His own property stood out as being extremely well cared for including the precise way he trimmed the trees in his yard.
We never saw Allan work out once in his life, yet he was very strong from just doing various physical jobs. In his 90’s he still had a noticeably strong pair of biceps.
Allan was fortunate to be able to live independently in his own home and look after all his own affairs until he was almost 97. This all changed after he had a serious car accident in January of 2024. With the help of his family, he moved to River Ridge II assisted living for a year where the staff went above and beyond the call of duty and we would like to thank Chassity McIntyre.
He then moved to Fred Douglas Lodge where he was proud to be at the front of Elm Unit acting as the “Greeter” to all that came in. We would like to thank all the wonderful caring staff at Fred Douglas Lodge. He was fortunate to be able to live there in his last years.
There were so many kind people in his life like Bill Quinn and his wife who would send him lovely special occasion cards which always made his day. His old boss, Ian Savidge, would send very nice letters to Allan on a regular basis.
Cremation has taken place and according to his wishes there will be no formal service.
We will miss you, Dad (The Winnipeg Free Press 23 May 2026)
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