Obituary of Norman John Kusela

KUSELA: It is with great sadness that the family of Norman John Kusela announce his passing at the Brandon Regional Health Centre on Sunday, September 20, 2015 at the age of 70 years. Norman was born on March 2, 1945 to his mother Elizabeth Kusela (nee Hackenschmidt) (1921-2009) and father John Kusela (1917-1995). He spent his childhood with his brother, David Albert Kusela (1942-1995) going on adventures and playing in and around his father's homestead which is the area now known as the Corral Centre. Norman attended David Livingstone School, Vincent Massey and Composite High School (now Neelin). This is where he met his future wife, Andrea Lynn Kusela (nee Armstrong) and they were married July 6, 1968. Norman had two sons, Michael John Kusela (Jennifer) (nee Ferriss) and Martin Douglas Kusela, whom he took great pride in. He adored his two granddaughters Jolie and Aymie and was always there for comfort and a loving hug. Norman was a hard-working, reliable employee and a good friend to those he worked and shared time with. He worked at Pool Packers as well as Burns Meats for a very long time. After Burns Meats, Norman got a job managing the warehouse for Associated Beer Distributers (ABD). Many small town hotels can thank Norman for ensuring that their customers always had their favorite beer to drink on the weekends. After ABD closed its doors in Brandon, Norman worked with his wife at Christies Office Plus. This may have been his favorite job as he loved the people he worked with there. He was employed there for 15 years until his retirement in 2010. Norman loved 5-pin bowling and he spent many evenings and weekends perfecting his game. He was very proud of his collection of badges and trophies, and although he was not a man interested in fame, he did enjoy the comradery of the teams that he played on. "Scouter Norm" was also involved with Scouts at Redeemer Lutheran Church. It was here that he was able to pass on his skills he learned as a youth to a new generation of young men. Both of his sons and the other boys in the troop all received their Chief Scout Award under his teaching and patience. Norman made many friends in his lifetime and will be dearly missed by all. A Come & Go Tea will be held at the George Brockie Fellowship Centre, 332-8th Street, on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Donations in memory of Norman may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society, 415-1st Street, Brandon, MB, R7A 2W8 or to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, Unit 3-824-18th Street, Brandon, MB, R7A 5B7.