BEVERLEY (BEV) JOAN RIDD

Beverley (Bev) Joan Ridd (née Tozer) passed away peacefully on February 24, surrounded by love, family and music. Bev is predeceased by her husband of 50 years, Carl Ridd, her parents Bill and Mamie Tozer, her sister Marilynn Garnier, her foster siblings Con Gould and Edna Mae White. Bev is survived by her children Laurel (David Taubner), Brian (Dawn) and Karen, her grandchildren Sean, Meagan, Andrew, Mark, Emma, Daniel and Ben, her great-grandchildren Blue and Jeremy. Throughout her life, Bev enjoyed close, supportive friendships with many beloved friends and families including Dianne & Keith Cooper, Maureen McIntosh, Dorothy & Ralph Donnelly.

Over the last several years of her life, Bev navigated the challenges of dementia, always with unwavering grace. Still, she retained her kindness, her caring, her sense of humour, her love for children, her connectedness to people (especially her family) and – quite wonderfully - her love of music. In Feb 2023, Bev transitioned to the Bethania Care Home at Pembina Place. She continued to enjoy visits, music, outings, a circle of friends at the home (Mom was ever the socializer) and good food (especially chocolate). The family is very grateful for the loving care that Bev received from all the staff during her three years at the Bethania Care Home at Pembina Place and special thanks to Erin Savage (Xtra Mile Home Care) for her years of support. We are also grateful for the friendship and support offered, before her move to Pembina Place, by the WRHA Home Care staff, and by her friends at Fred Douglas Place.

Bev was born on January 3, 1931, in Winnipeg. The seeds of a life of music, church-going and service to others were planted early. Bev’s family attended two services every Sunday at St. Jude’s Anglican church where her father directed the church choir. Bev was born in The Depression, and their home was marked as one where “hobos” could come for help. Bev’s job as a child was to make them food, and give them directions to the YMCA, where her father worked, and where they would be given shelter and support. It is perhaps no wonder that in Bev’s later years she devoted so much time, energy and love to the work and people of the Oak Table, providing hospitality to people who are unsheltered. Not only was she a forty-year volunteer there, but she was also chair of the board and chair of fundraising for many years. Bev always credited her long history of volunteer work to the model set by her parents. Among other places, Beverley volunteered in inner-city schools, and for the YWCA, the NDP (hers was always the first NDP sign up on their block in River Heights), and in many capacities for the United Church (including supporting the marriage and ordination of 2SLGBTQIA+ people). Bev also served on the University of Winnipeg Board of Regents and chaired the Committee on the Status of Women.

Bev’s love of music (and her independent spirit!) was nurtured by her family: every week, starting at the age of five, she would take two streetcars by herself to her weekly piano lesson. Another example of Mom’s precocious independence was the aquatics demonstration that she was involved in at the age of six. She stood on a man’s shoulders in order to perform a dive into the water and was miffed that for her (very mature) efforts she was given a “baby’s toy” – a yellow stuffed dog – instead of the medal she had been expecting. Swimming lessons and trips to the family cottage at Whytewold on Lake Winnipeg fostered a lifelong love of the water (at ninety-two she was still swimming in Lake of the Woods). Bev was frequently her grandmother's sidekick as they painted the cottage walls – no wonder that throughout her life Bev was the “handyman” of the family. To get to the cottage the family would travel in Bev's grandfather's Model T - but there were so many people, and so little space that she and her younger sister Marilynn would just sit on wooden boxes on the floor in the backseat!

Bev’s lifelong love of reading and literature (she participated eagerly in many, many book clubs) was perhaps impacted by an early trauma. When Bev was nine she was hospitalized for weeks and in isolation for a case of Scarlet Fever (which eventually turned out to be a misdiagnosis). In those days, parents were not only not allowed to stay overnight at the hospital – they were not even allowed in-person visits. Nevertheless, Bev’s mother made the trek to the hospital each week; she would bring the 'funny papers' and drop them off, then stand on the lawn and wave up at Beverley's window. Desperate for something to do, Bev would not just read the funnies, but also every word on the other pages of the newspaper too! Bev must also have learned something about loneliness and isolation from this experience; she was always a dedicated visitor to friends and relatives in care homes and hospitals, and for many years provided dedicated support to a shut-in neighbour. The family is beholden to her for this modelling: we continue to emulate her as much as we can.

At age thirteen, Bev’s family moved to Sioux Lookout where they lived on the banks of the beautiful Pelican Lake, and where Bev honed her canoeing skills. Bev and her sister loved this location – they would come home from school for lunch and have a quick dip in the lake! Bev had her first jobs in Sioux Lookout. She was a swimming instructor, then set bowling pins in the alley at the railway YMCA where her father worked. After that she set type for the local newspaper and volunteered on the overnight shift at the local hospital, a stint which led to her later profession as a nurse. Bev and Marilynn loved singing in the Sioux Lookout Girls choir. It was directed by their father and accompanied on piano by their mother. One of their sources of pride was that this little choir came into Winnipeg for the Music Festival and shocked all the big-city choirs (she was especially proud of beating powerhouse Kelvin) to win the Earl Grey Trophy.

At the age of seventeen, Bev moved by herself from Sioux Lookout to Winnipeg to finish high school at the University of Winnipeg Collegiate, where she graduated with the highest marks in her class. She went on to study paediatric nursing at the Children’s Hospital. After graduating with the General Proficiency Award (yes, she had a brilliant mind!) she became a Nursing Instructor and the head nurse in the office of renowned paediatrician Dr. Harry Medovy. Bev made great friends amongst her nursing class colleagues; their annual reunions were a source of delight for her.

It was also in Sioux Lookout where Bev met Carl Ridd, the young man who would become her husband and lifelong partner. Carl was a University student (and a star basketball player who apparently looked very good in his uniform!) with a summer job working on the railway for CN. Mutual family friends suggested he look up Bill Tozer at the Sioux Lookout YMCA. Shortly after that, Bill with (stunningly beautiful) daughter Beverley in tow went to Carl's worksite in order to invite Carl to dine with the family. Consequently, Beverley and Carl met while Carl was literally standing in a ditch. Carl was immediately and understandably smitten; he remained deeply in love with this amazing woman all his life. Carl's work as a United Church minister and then University professor took them to Emerson Manitoba, New Jersey, and then back home to Winnipeg. They weathered many challenges in their fifty-year marriage: Bev was always the rock who held everything together.

While she spent many years in a supportive role – for instance as minister’s wife while they lived in Emerson, Manitoba and Paterson, New Jersey, and as stay-at-home mom for many years – she always found time for volunteer work; in church choirs, planning church events, and with children. Once she deemed that her children were old enough, Bev went back into the paid workforce, first as the Coordinator of the River Heights Family Education Centre, and then with the United Way of Winnipeg as the Coordinator of the Referral Agent Programme. In 1984, inspired by anti-nuclear physican Helen Caldicott, Bev co-founded Project Peacemakers to help faith groups engage with issues of peace and justice. Beverley's commitment to a world of peace with justice was recognized with the Canada YM/YWCA Peace Medal, and a lifetime award from Project Peacemakers.

Bev was an avid lifelong learner: in her fifties she took up cross-country skiing and started her BA (she graduated from the U of Winnipeg with the Gold Medal in English). She also took up yoga and conscientiously did her exercises before bed for many years. A strong feminist, Bev was also a staunch 2SLGBTQIA+ ally, and someone who always cared for those on the margins of society. She was a dedicated choir member at Augustine United Church, from 1983 – 2023, until the progression of her dementia made it too difficult to sustain. The family is so grateful to all the members of that wonderful choir who gave so much love and support to Bev – particularly Keith and Helen Black for the choir leadership and Laurie and Bev Simpson for all the rides to and from practices and services.

Carl's passing in 2003, not long after he and Bev celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, meant a huge change in Bev's life; they had done so much together. This change resulted in a move to Fred Douglas Place (FDP). Living at FDP was quite a blessing for Beverley. She appreciated the people, commenting especially on how good people are to each other. Beverley also loved FDP's location, its proximity to Augustine United Church, the University of Winnipeg, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and many theatre and music venues. She was skilled and fearless at walking through the streets, tunnels, and overpasses of downtown Winnipeg to reach these favourite places. While at FDP Bev took up knitting again and joined the FDP Knitters. Bev had barely knitted since Grade Three when she and her classmates made socks for the soldiers overseas (it does make one feel for those soldiers, wearing wool socks knitted by eight-year-olds!) but loved learning to knit again and the supportive company of the knitting group.

Bev had many joys in life. She loved time spent at the family cottage at Clearwater Bay where she dedicated herself to identifying all the birds and wildflowers that she could see. She was a committed feeder of hummingbirds, and sweeper of decks. She thoroughly enjoyed the family tradition of washing the post-dinner dishes together while singing rounds. Bev was also a staunch NDP member, a generous donor, and worked on many campaigns. She loved watching basketball games and was an ardent (and loud) fan of the Winnipeg Wesmen. Motivated by frustration at sexism in sport she and a group of other women organized the first “Lady Wesmen Classic” in 1982 to balance the men-only Classic that had been running since 1966. And Bev loved people: she was always alert to someone who might look sad or lonely, even in her time in the Care Home. Her love for her children and grandchildren, her support of their sports, music and theatrical events, her babysitting and her baking (especially blueberry pies), cooking and hospitality were legendary. Grandchildren particularly fondly remember making candy and cookies with her at Christmas. Mom was also a great supporter of the arts, in all forms. For many years she was on the board of Aurora Musicale, she loved the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO), the Winnipeg Music Festival, The Syrinx Flute Festival and all sorts of classical music. She also delighted in “new music” and had a particularly abiding love of choral music. Bev loved theatre, especially the Prairie Theatre Exchange and the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, once attending twenty-six Fringe shows in one year!

We, her family, are grateful for the long life that Mom lived, for her committed service to the world, for role modelling, for the grace that she lived in her declining years. We are particularly grateful that she did not suffer pain but was content. We are grieving her passing: we are also celebrating a “life well lived’ and relieved that her long journey has so peacefully come to an end.

Bev was a generous donor to many organizations. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages you to make a donation to one of her favourites: 

OSU Children’s Library 

The Oak Table 

Augustine United Church 

The WSO 

The United Way 

Peace Brigades International 

Doctors without Borders 

Amnesty International,

The Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba

Rossbrook House 

Or reach out to someone who is lonely or needs support. Mom was so good at doing that. We have been blessed.

We would like to end with her own words about her life: 

"I have had a very good life and been pretty darn lucky. I've had so many good people around me, and the chance to do so many things that I love to do!”

There will be a Celebration of Life for Beverley held at Augustine United Church (444 River Avenue, Winnipeg MB) at 1:00 pm on Saturday April 11, 2026. There will be a livestream available (details to follow).

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ETHICAL DEATH CARE

Cremation & Life Celebrations

1833 Portage Avenue - Winnipeg

204-421-5501 - www.ethicaldeathcare.com

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