Obituary of Phyllis Harwood
Phyllis Deane Harwood
October 12, 1925 – August 18, 2024
Some things in life are inevitable yet seem so unexpected when they happen. And so, it was with Phyllis (Phyll) Harwood.
On Sunday, August 18, 2024, just a few weeks shy of her 99th birthday, Phyllis (“Phyll”) Deane Harwood (nee Finch) died peacefully at the Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg comforted by her three children Jeff, Randy, and Nancy (Kelleher) at her side, following an accidental fall at her cottage at Clear Lake.
Phyll, born on October 12, 1925, in Carman, Manitoba, was the eldest of four, including her brother Ron and sisters, Shirley (Stuart Craig) and Betty (Allan Magnacca). During her childhood, the family moved to the towns of Solsgirth and Wawanesa before settling in Brandon, which remained Phyll’s lifelong home, aside from two years spent in Montreal while her husband Bill completed his degree in dentistry.
Phyll met the love of her life, literally “the boy next door”, William (Bill) Harwood when both lived on 4th Street. Married on June 26, 1948, their time together became a love story lasting over 65 years, filled with family, close friends and the many wonderful memories made along the way. Upon their return from Montreal in 1950, Phyll was an active member in St. Paul’s United Church and other volunteer groups throughout her life. Later, one of her favourite pastimes became her morning shifts at the Brandon General Hospital’s “Nearly New” shop where she volunteered for over 25 years with her “Wednesday Girls”.
While Phyll never considered herself a trailblazer, she was so in many ways thanks to her resilience and a lifelong desire for independence which she guarded fiercely. Phyll developed a passion for business at an early age. Before she even started school, she recorded the commodity prices for her father who then worked as a grain elevator manager. Later, while working at the Royal Bank as a teller, Phyll was told by her manager she could not apply for the manager trainee program because she was a woman, quit on the spot and moved on to a better opportunity with what was then Great West Coal. While Bill completed his dentistry degree in Montreal, Phyll having been plucked by her supervisor from the typing pool, found herself working for the Comptroller of SunLife as his executive assistant! Upon returning to Brandon, it was only a matter of time before real estate captured Phyll’s attention. When the kids were old enough, she started at the Real Estate Board, before getting her license and becoming one of the few women in the business then. Despite those challenges, Phyll concluded many memorable deals thanks to her engaging personality and the care she showed to her clients, many of whom became lifetime friends. Phyll loved her work and especially enjoyed working with the late Norm Mennie and “the Gang” at Harwood Realty. When Dad retired in the early nineties, Phyll reluctantly followed sometime later.
While she valued her professional life, the family remained the most important part of Phyll and Bill’s lives. With the arrival of their two beloved grandchildren, Molly and Alice, Phyll and Bill or “Nana and Baa” as they became known loved being grandparents, spending as much time as possible with each of them; the result being a very closely-knit family of children, and grandchildren. Phyll could not have been prouder, and maybe surprised to be a great-grandmother when Alice and Justin’s son, Levi, was born. He was the apple of her eye, bringing her much joy and laughter. Phyll also lived to see the arrival of her great-granddaughter, Lainey, who arrived a few weeks ago. Thanks to “Baa”, a cabinet full of photo albums and slides stands as a testament to incredible Christmases, decades of summers at the lake, and the fun the proud grandparents had dressing themselves and the house up for Halloween and Christmas well into their eighties.
Retirement for Phyll and Bill reignited their passion for travel and played to their mutual sense of adventure. During the next few years, their travels took them to Egypt, Iran, Oman, and South Africa before discovering their favourite travel destination…Australia. Over the next several years, winters were spent on the Gold Coast where long-standing friendships were forged. In her early nineties and following Bill’s passing, Phyll spunkily announced she wanted to return to Australia to see her old friends. With family members in tow, incredibly Phyll spent two more winters in her beloved beach town of Coolangatta.
But nothing beat their summers at their cottage at Clear Lake. This was Phyll and Bill’s spiritual home, where family and friends gathered and so many wonderful memories remain. Phyll lived for her time at “the Lake” and usually started planning to go before the ice was off the water! Fittingly, this was her final departure point. As a dear family friend put it, Bill brought the boat up to the dock, Phyll hopped in, and together they trolled gently into the glow of a timeless Clear Lake sunset. Two lives well lived and well-loved by those still waving goodbye from the earthly shoreline.
Phyll leaves behind her three children, Jeff, Randy, and Nancy (John Kelleher); two granddaughters, Molly Kelleher (Adrian Mckerchar), and Alice Kelleher (Justin Miller), two great-grandchildren (Levi and Lainey), her brother-in-law, Allan Magnacca, her niece and “second daughter” Elizabeth Zucchiatti, and five nephews.
She was predeceased by her parents, Percy and Hazel “Deane” Finch, her three siblings (Ron Finch, Shirley Craig, Betty Magnacca), and her beloved husband (William “Bill”).
A service will be held to remember Phyll at the Brockie Donovan Chapel, 332 8th Street, Brandon, MB on Saturday, August 24, 2024 at noon, followed by a come-and-go reception at the Victoria Inn, 3550 Victoria Ave., from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to the Brandon Regional Health Centre “Auxiliary Fund”, 150 McTavish Ave., Brandon, MB, R7A 2B3.
The family wishes to express their deepest appreciation to Dr. Castro and his team at the Neepawa Health Centre and to Dr. Pelletier and her team at the Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg for providing Phyll with such wonderful care.
