Janis (John) Lejins
1953 – 2012

It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of our beloved son and dear friend John Lejins at the age of 59 years in the afternoon on Thursday February 16, 2012. He is survived by his mother Hildegard, and many, many friends.

John was a kind, happy yet simple free spirit who sought very little in life for himself, but gave all he could of his time, support and love to his family and many friends. He will be missed by all who knew him.

John was born in Sheffield, England on January 30th, 1953. His father Zigurds Lejins, his mother Hildegard (Nee Kalnins), and grandmother Hilda Kalnins came to England from Latvia in flight from the Russian occupation. The family then moved to London, Ontario in 1956 with subsequent moves to Blind River, Ontario, the Northwest Territories, and finally settled permanently in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. As a young adult John moved to Winnipeg and attended the University of Manitoba in the early 1970’s when he made many lifelong friendships. He worked in the field of Social Services as a Youth Resident Counselor and for Revenue Canada on a seasonal basis.

John loved to travel and he assisted many Canadian snow birds transport their vehicles to southern locales or back to Winnipeg on a one way basis. Unfortunately, the misfortunes of motor vehicle accidents connected with the that past time led to a prolonged, two decade on-going and passionate, but unsuccessful battle with MPI concerning his lost ability to work. This negatively affected his life’s potential in certain areas, but he shone brightly in other areas such as kindness, giving and caring.

Throughout his life he always lived in very unique premises; from the mansion on Wellington Crescent, to apartment character homes, to boarding with widows and finally to his adequately comfortable Maple Leaf apartment on Corydon. He loved performing yard chores from cutting grass to raking leaves. This lifestyle provided him with the freedom to travel.

John continued to visit his parents in Prince Albert and shared their love and respect of animals. This led to the family house becoming a sanctuary for unwanted pets. His travel lust led him to explore unfamiliar rural back roads and the opportunity to experience small town Saskatchewan. Sadly, John‘s father preceded him in 2008. His trips home became more frequent in order to care for this aging mother and a house and yard full of pets. Their five year old shepherd dog Diego will miss their walks together.

John displayed a keen interest in writing travel destination articles especially for the avid bicycle rider tourist - a passion he shared. A great number of his travel articles were published both in Canada and the United States. John enjoyed attending the library to read newspapers as well as meeting new and interesting people at the University sauna in the morning. And John received great enjoyment from his association with the Winnipeg Scrabble Club, meeting for game days twice every week and attending scrabble tournaments throughout Western Canada. His favorite finishing position was naturally first place, but he often made good use of the number four position as well.

John took great joy the last several years listening to a wide variety of old radio show broadcasts such as The Shadow or the Lone Ranger over the internet especially late at night when he was unable to sleep. John was a proud individual often refusing to ask for or accept any assistance for himself, although he was always the first to offer his help to others.

In the fall of 2011, John was very suddenly and unexpectedly overtaken by an aggressive cancer that lead to his demise only several months later. A sincere thank you to his Doctors, Nurses, and Cancer Care Team at the Health Science Centre who tried to help John during this sad time. A special thank you to River Heights Employment Assistance Case Coordinator Chontaille, and Oncology Social Worker Orit for their efforts and compassion. John did appreciate you both.

Within hours of his passing a small but pretty little rainbow was observed in the western sky - perhaps he was making his way home to Prince Albert to visit his mother.

A simple Celebration of John's life will be held with the friends he loved on Thursday February 23rd at 5:00 PM at 516 Kenaston Blvd. (the Kenaston Village Recreation Centre).

Peace be with you brother.

Happy Trails John