MAVIS CLAIRE WHICKER

We are sorry to share the passing of Mavis Whicker, after a year long battle with Leukemia, on Thursday, January 22nd, 2026.

Mavis was predeceased by her beloved parents, Winifred and Ron, step-mother Betty, sister Edna, and grandson Alexander.

She is survived by Allan George Whicker, her beloved husband of 61 years. Also mourning her loss are her two daughters, Pam (Ken), Jennifer (Kurt) and four grandchildren Ewan, Kieran, Chelsea and Schaefer.

Mavis Whicker grew up in St. James, attending Linwood School, and St. James Collegiate. Mavis and Allan met at Town ‘n’ Country Restaurant, where Mavis looked after accounts receivable, and Allan was working on their account for RS Ball Accounting. They were married at St. James Church in 1964. In 1968, they joined St. Aidan's church and never left, with many memories of Scouts, Christmas pageants, pancake suppers, singing in the choir, and more.

Mavis was an avid supporter of the Winnipeg arts community. It was common, when one of us was meeting people involved in the arts, to have someone exclaim “I see your parents EVERYWHERE!” Allan and Mavis were always together at many special arts events, and enjoyed speaking with absolutely everyone.

Her energy was relentless. She and dad were out, almost every evening, at plays, art openings, social events, concerts and more. They were notorious for staying to the end of anything they attended; for the “talk back” at plays, or the receptions afterwards. She was in the church choir for years, and volunteered for Meals on Wheels for decades, even when it became quite arduous for them to do so. She also loved to dance; starting as a child, and was taking tap lessons with Pam into her late 70s.

Mavis was adventurous. She did not grow up camping, but she loved adding camping experiences to her life with Allan and her children. Her mother-in-law told a story, where mom was so thrilled seeing mountains for the first time that she kept running ahead, and running back to everyone else wondering what was taking them so long.

She would bring new foods home for us to try, from different small stores that would share food from their cultures. We would go to cultural gatherings, to see new perspectives, all because she was genuinely interested in our multicultural city.

She was everyone’s biggest fan. She attended so very many things that Pam and Jennifer participated in as children, whether it was singing, soccer, baseball, early morning horse riding lessons, piano recitals, choir concerts and more. Not only was it guaranteed that we would see her and Allan out in the audience, but she usually had gathered many more family and friends to attend as well, who would take up a whole row. It was like having an entourage everywhere we went. That incredible amount of support contributed to the confidence of their - now grown - children. This continued with her grandchildren: attending their graduations, concerts, musicals, plays and improv, dance recitals, gymnastic competitions, film showings, fashion shows, and any other interest or passion they explored. She was so very proud of and in love with her grandchildren.

Mavis’s mission in life was to document all her experiences by taking photos. Grandchildren learned at a very early age to accept photos being taken. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to. SMILE! Every family event, friend event, social event - documented. At a Fringe show where the performer comes out after - go and stand with that stranger and smile! We all grumped through this but now we have a floor-to-ceiling shelf full of photo albums, and hard drives full of pictures and videos to enjoy. Our last Christmas present to her was a digital photo frame. She spent the rest of our family visits adoringly watching the scrolling photos, enjoying the memories.

Mavis welcomed others as if they were family: friends from the beach, The Fringe, from high school and church became our extended family. Notable was when she and dad met a family on a plane who were moving away from war in their country, and she welcomed them to our home, and for Christmas. They barely spoke English at the time. We wondered how we’d communicate at dinner. Mom was not concerned. She just ploughed ahead with their new friends. They in turn invited us to their celebrations, sharing their culture with us, which is so touching. Their pictures remain on our walls, and they are still good friends, now living across North America, but we all remember sharing time together. She was always curious about what everyone was doing, including our friends, and their children, and she had genuine concern for anyone who was ill and asked about them often.

Time at the cottage (or “The Compound” as many called it, because our two cottages next door to each other were like our own personal summer camp for our families) was so important to her. She would write down on a calendar when everyone was coming or going, so she could keep track of when we could all have huge celebratory meals together. It must have been interesting to watch from the road, but we were always having trays of food brought over from the second cottage so we could all eat together on the porch. Grandchildren loved that mints, pudding and “pink drink” were always available, and the many toys Nana had for them. So many fun days on the beach, with endless snacks that Mavis would bring down for her family, and the families around us who also enjoyed whatever she had brought. Treks to Sandy Bay and Elk Island were common throughout the years, as well as dog shows, children’s masquerades, flea markets and so much more from the club at the beach.

Family was everything to Mavis. She and Allan would have days with just the grandchildren that they all looked forward to, where she made special meals throughout the day, (they all remember the little cheesy crescent hotdogs) and had so many toys and dress up clothes for them to play with. She was often the event planner for all of us. They have many special memories at local events that she would share with them, like Kids’ Fringe, Boo at the Zoo, family days at the Art Gallery, and MTYP shows. At the events she would often pull out suckers or little chocolates (or mints) from her purse to share. She would drop everything for any member of the family who needed help, or a ride, or to have her precious grandchildren come over. She is a huge reason that we are all so close, and the cousins are more like siblings, and are great friends. Her influence will always be with us, and we will all continue to feel her presence around us everywhere we go, as she so deeply loved being involved in the life around her, and intensely loved sharing it with all of us.

The funeral will take place at 2:00 pm on Saturday, February 14th, at St. Aidan’s Anglican Church in Winnipeg, 274 Campbell Street. For those unable to attend, a livestream of the service can be found here: 

https://www.staidanswinnipeg.ca/worship-online.html

Mavis’ favourite colour was purple, so consider wearing purple or red, if desired. She generally loved very bright colours! She could not let an event go by where she and my dad weren’t appropriately attired with the correct colour, clothing, and accessories for the event. They would both have been wearing red for sure on Valentine’s day with cute earrings. Always earrings!

We would like to thank Dr. Paulson, nurses Sherese and Dawn, and the team of staff at Cancer Care for all their help this past year, as well as all the kindness at their new home at Misericordia Terrace. So many friends and family have reached out, and we all appreciate your support. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to CancerCare Manitoba.

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ETHICAL DEATH CARE

Cremation & Life Celebrations

1833 Portage Avenue - Winnipeg

204-421-5501 - www.ethicaldeathcare.com

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