IN MEMORIAM

DR.QURESHI ISHTIYAQ AHMED

1939-2020

It is with great sadness that his wife, Nasim, and his children, Irma, Ayesha, and Rabia, announce the passing of their husband and father Dr. Qureshi Ishtiyaq Ahmed which occurred at St. Paul’s Hospital, Saskatoon on Saturday, December 26, 2020. Special thanks to Dr. Rob Basi and everyone in the ICU for their incredible care and compassion. We also want to acknowledge the kindness and support of Dr. Ahmed Shoker for his help during this difficult time. Memorial donations may be made to the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation ICU in memory of Dr. Ahmed.

DR. AMJAD ALI

1950-2021

Celebration and thanksgiving for the life of Dr. Amjad Ali born on April 2,1950. Passed away on February 8, 2021. Dr. Amjad Ali will be lovingly remembered as the son of Bibi Halima Badal (mother-living) and Inshan Ali (father-deceased). He is survived by four children, Jehan Ali, Yasmin Ali, Alia Ali, and Amir Ali; three grandchildren; five sisters; and one brother. He will be dearly missed by his family, friends, and colleagues. The family of the late Dr. Amjad Ali wishes to extend our sincere appreciation to all those who were a source of comfort and help to us at this time. Barakallah fik

DR. LEANNE DAHLGREN-SCOTT

1972-2020

Leanne Dahlgren Scott, loving wife of Paul and devoted mother to Ronan age 14 and Elin age 9, passed away at her home in West Vancouver on Monday Dec 21, 2020.

Leanne was born August 2nd, 1972. She grew up in Saskatchewan and always stayed true to her humble, friendly, and honest prairie roots. After medical school and an Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at the University of Saskatchewan, she moved to BC in 2001 to complete her Maternal Fetal Medicine fellowship and a Masters of Health Sciences in Epidemiology at the University of British Columbia. She joined the Division of MFM at UBC and BC Women’s Hospital in 2004 where she pursued her passions in teaching, research, and quality assurance while delivering firstclass care to her high-risk patients.

Her Bouvier des Flandres dog Jasper was a source of great delight and endless funny stories to Leanne and greeted her with love and affection after a long day of work. She lived her life by her pillars of honesty, integrity, loyalty, and truth. Her love and pride for her children and husband were evident every day when she was at her work. Her humour, infectious laugh and sunny disposition will be sorely missed by all those fortunate enough to have had her pass through their lives. She loved living on the North Shore and coming home to her family across the bridge to be surrounded by the mountains and ocean. She will be dearly missed by all but never forgotten.

In lieu of flowers an Educational Trust Fund for her children and a Medical Student teaching Award will be established in her name. Due to Covid restrictions a private service is being held. Please contact Mckenzie Funeral Services by email at info@mckenziefuneralservices.com, if you would like further information regarding the Trust Fund.

DR. RAMACHANDRAN DEVARAJALU

1941-2021

DR. C. STUART HOUSTON

1927-2021

Dr. Stuart Houston achieved a degree of success in each of three distinct fields, that most people would have been happy to achieve in one.

Stuart was born in North Dakota where his parents, Dr. Sigga Christianson Houston and Dr. Clarence Joseph Houston practised briefly before relocating to Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Stuart’s interest in ornithology began as a boy in Yorkton, fostered by an amateur naturalist, Isabel Priestly and subsequently by his work for Ducks Unlimited.

Stuart completed his medical degree at the University of Manitoba and spent eight years in General Practice in Yorkton. Stuart then specialized in Radiology (now Medical Imaging) at the University of Saskatchewan with one year in Boston, pursuing a particular interest in pediatric radiology. He returned to a faculty position at the University of Saskatchewan where he stayed for his professional career. He served a term as chair of the department but particularly enjoyed his term as editor of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Radiologists. He served on the Council of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons and was the only professor in the College of Medicine to have been named honourary president of the Student Medical Society three times.

He maintained a lifelong commitment to ornithology, mainly expressed through banding birds. To 2014 he had banded 150,283 individual birds of 211 species, with 3,945 recoveries of 84 species (the highest number of species and 4 subspecies recovered of any Canadian bander). Over decades he cultivated an extraordinary network of people, mostly farmers, who notified him, for example, when they found an owl nest on their land. Equally remarkable was the army of both young and old who volunteered to climb trees to bird nests or chase down smelly young pelicans to band. He was also an active member of the Saskatoon and provincial Natural History societies and participated extensively in their activities. His work in ornithology included four books on Saskatchewan natural history and 311 articles in ornithology and natural history journals, and culminated in 2020 with the publication with Frank Roy and Alan Smith of the definitive book, Birds of Saskatchewan. He remained keenly involved in his most recent project, banding and wing-tagging turkey vultures, until his last year.

His third concurrent career was as a historian and his 13 other books all had historical subjects. Four described the observations of early Canadian explorer naturalists with the Franklin expedition, two were biographies of pioneer Saskatchewan doctors and three, starting with Steps on the Road to Medicare, described Saskatchewan’s early achievements in health care.

In large part he was able to do all this with the help of his wife, Mary Isabel neé Belcher. Stuart married Mary in Dilke, SK on 12/08/1951 and was devoted to and inseparable from her for the next 68 years. Mary kept the household running as well as making a major contribution to the banding efforts and contributing to the research for many of his publications. Looking back, however, we kids were blissfully unaware of his many commitments since he was always home for meals and available to drive us to hockey games or canoe trips.

He received many honours including D. Litt and D CnL degrees, Saskatchewan Order of Merit, Officer of the Order of Canada, and innumerable other awards, local, national and international, in all three spheres of his activities.

Stuart was predeceased by Mary in 2019. He is survived by children Stan (Venta Kabzems), Margaret (Richard Ehman), David (Kate Bell) and Donald (Marty Helgerson), nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Given COVID restrictions, a small family service was held 31/08/2021 at Emmanuel Anglican Church. A larger in person celebration is planned for next year. If you wish to be notified of the details when they become available, please e-mail shouston@ualberta.ca. Donations can be made to Nature Saskatchewan at info@naturesask.ca or Luther Care at foundation@luthercare.com

DR. ROGER GRAHAM KEITH M.D., FRCSC, FRCS, FACS

1940-2021

ADr. Roger Graham Keith M.D, FRCSC, FRCS, FACS, Professor Emeritus, in his 80th year, on December 15th, 2020, died peacefully with family at his side. Beloved husband and best friend of Nancy, loving father and father-in-law of Janet and Ed Mahony, Donna (deceased) and Jim Gresham, son Brian, and devoted grandfather of Emily and Andrew, all of British Columbia and Kayleigh of Alberta. Brother and brother-inlaw of Nancy and Terry Wilson, Uncle to Kenneth Chapton and his wife Betsy and Leah Secrest and her husband Rob, all of Denver (CO). Brother-in-law of Barb and Sandy Hampson of Regina, Ann and Dave Trick of Rideau Ferry (Ont), Jim and Kathy Lynch of Airdrie (Alta), Joy and Mike Vervoot, Ameliasburg (Ont), and Garry and Maggie Lynch of Port Hope (Ont). Great Uncle to many nieces and nephews in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, and Denver.

Special thanks to Dr. Veronica Marcoux for her expertise and gentle care throughout Roger’s illness and final days. Special thanks to the nurses and staff of 5th Medicine at St. Paul’s Hospital, Saskatoon. Special thanks to Dr. Paul Hayes for his friendship and updates when we were unable to visit during COVID. Special thanks to Shoshi, Kim, and Alex of Medigas for their support at home.

Roger was born in Calgary on August 14, 1940, son of Wilson and Evelyn Keith of Calgary (Alberta). After completing his medical degree at the University of Alberta and general surgery residency at the University of Toronto, Roger went to Toulouse (Professor Jean Escat), London (Sir Rodney Smith), Los Angeles (Dr. William Longmire) and Seattle (Dr. Thomas T. White) to gain the best training in liver and pancreatic surgery. He is known for his many contributions to the surgical expertise in hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery, including endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, which became Roger’s specialty. He led its development in Canada over the next 40 years. He produced numerous books, chapters in books, and articles over his career. In 1990 he moved west to become the professor and head of surgery at the University of Saskatchewan. He contributed to the rapid development of surgical education through leadership roles, as president of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons, Chairman of the Examinations Committee in General Surgery for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Roger served as Councillor, Program Committee Chair and President of the Central Surgical Association; was a Governor of the American College of Surgeons; an Executive Committee member of the International Federation of Societies for Endoscopic Surgery; an International Director of the James IV Association of Surgery; and served as a Committee member of numerous academic surgical societies including the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, American Surgical Association, and the American HPB Association. He was a member of the Surgeons Travel Club through which he and Nancy enjoyed many warm friendships. Roger was editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal of Surgery from 1992 to 1998.

Roger was active in sports throughout his life, playing both football and basketball at the University of Alberta, curling at the Thornhill Club in Toronto, and leading the hosting committee of the Toronto Silver Broom World Curling 1986. Roger and Nancy had a love for travel from safaris in Africa to mingling with the penguins in Antarctica and many

places in between, including annual spectators at the British Open and regular spectators at the Canadian Open in recent years. Roger was an active skier, hiker and canoeist with his family, and remained an active golfer throughout his time in Saskatoon as a member of the Riverside Country Club.

Roger had a wonderful sense of humour, loved to share a good story, loved a good competition, and he will be remembered as a loving husband, father, proud grandfather, brother/brother-in-law, respected colleague, caring friend, and dedicated doctor. He spent over 56 years of academic surgical care of patients in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. He was truly loved by his patients, and always took time for each and every one of them. He was much loved and will be sorely missed by all that knew him.

Roger and Nancy were regular contributors to charities. As an expression of sympathy, donations may be made to Interstitial Lung Disease Research at the Canadian Lung Association

(https://www.lung.ca/research/interstitial-lung-disease/), Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (https://cpff.ca/), or a charity of your choice.

The family are planning a Celebration of Life at a later date. To share memories and condolences, visit www.parkfuneral. ca “Obituaries-Guestbook”. Arrangements entrusted to Greg Lalach, Park Funeral Home 306.244.2103.

DR. MICHAEL BORIS KROCHAK

1931-2021

It is with great sorrow we announce the peaceful passing of Dr. Michael Krochak of Saskatoon on Thursday, March 11, 2021, just a few weeks shy of his 90th birthday. His fulfilling, impactful and beautiful life began on April 7, 1931, in Stornoway, Saskatchewan. He attended school in Otthon, Wroxton, and St. Joseph’s College in Yorkton. Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree (1953) and Doctor of Medicine (1957) from the University of Saskatchewan prior to completing his medical internship at the Regina Grey Nun’s Hospital. Dr. Krochak established his general family practice in Saskatoon in 1958, and dedicated nearly 60 years to his patients, and the art and science of medicine. He humbly cared for more than three generations and was adored, loved, and respected by so many patients and families whose lives he touched. Over the span of his medical career, Dr. Krochak was on staff at all three Saskatoon hospitals and most longterm care facilities in the city including St. Joseph’s Nursing Home, a home to so many people and staff near and dear to his heart.

Michael’s commitment to the profession steered him to serve in many leadership roles in medical organizations locally and beyond. He held senior positions with the Saskatoon Medical Association, the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Saskatchewan, College of Family Physicians of Canada, Saskatoon & District Medical Society, and the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America. He served as Chief of the Department of General Practice at St. Paul’s Hospital for nine years and shared his medical skills and expertise with generations of medical students at the University of Saskatchewan. Michael made it a practice to combine his love of travel with his commitment to medicine. Meetings and conferences with the many organizations he was involved in allowed him to see the world with his family and maintain many friendships while working for and on behalf of his profession.

Michael’s dedication and expertise were recognized by many prestigious awards and honors, including Saskatchewan’s 2001 Family Physician of the Year, St. Thomas More College Distinguished Alumnus Award, and the esteemed Nation Builder Award by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. He was humbled to have been named one of Canada’s Family Physicians of the Year in 2002, and when the Saskatchewan College of Family Physician’s in 2007 established the annual ‘Dr. Michael Krochak Award for Contributions to Family Medicine’ in his honor. Michael was a faithful member of Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Parish, and an active and engaged supporter of countless church and community groups. He also selflessly gave to his community and served as a trustee to the Saskatoon Separate School Board for more than seven years, the Board of Regents for St. Vladimir’s Minor Seminary, the executives of the Fides Club and Sheptytsky Institute, and as a 4th degree Knights of Columbus. Michael shared 61 years of marriage with the love of his life, Marie (nee Luzney), whom he married in 1959. He cherished family time and was blessed with two children and six grandchildren whom he supported wholeheartedly, never missing a graduation, tournament, birthday, or recital. He was a caring and present pillar of strength and inspiration to his family, who always cherished his wisdom, love and kindness, and valued the time spent with and lessons learned from him. He found joy in gardening, fixing everything in the house and yard, boating and fishing at the family cottage at Blackstrap Lake, travelling with friends and family,

reading spy novels, catching up with old friends, baking and cooking, and watching reruns of old-time TV shows. Michael treated everyone he met with the utmost respect and as an equal, and brightened the room with his kind soul, smart wit, and wisdom. His life was one well-lived and his legacy will survive through those privileged enough to have known him.

Michael was predeceased by his parents Wasyl and Anna; brother Nick and his wife Mary; sister Stephanie Edward and her husband Harold; brother Joe; sister Elsie Tataryn and her husband Andrew; brother-in-law Joseph Luzney; brother-in-law Msgr. Rudolph Luzney; brother-in-law Wally Moldenhauer; and grand-daughter Sarah Marciniuk. He is survived by his loving wife Marie, daughter Carla (Darcy) Marciniuk and their children Tanya and Jeffrey (Samantha), son Michael (Brenda) and their children Natasha, Alexander, Andrew and Nicholas, sisters-in-law Nancy Krochak, Anne Moldenhauer and Michaeline Luzney and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

DR. E. JERRY RUDNISKY

1944-2021

In the early minutes of January 14, 2021, E. Jerry Rudnisky passed away, after a difficult three-month struggle with cancer. His wife was at his side.

Jerry was devoted to his family; his wife, Judith Dutton; his son, Steven and his daughter, Vanessa; his son, Christopher and his wife, Michelle Breault and their children, Poppy and Charles; and his aunt, Pat Senych. He very quickly adopted all of Judith’s family into his family circle and was a warm and joyful addition to all the Dutton family occasions. Jerry was predeceased by his parents, Annie and Joseph.

He was a dedicated ophthalmologist, practising until late November of 2020, never retiring. His office was always welcoming, efficient, and friendly. He will be sadly missed by his staff and his patients. Recently retired from the Eye Institute of Alberta at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, he will be fondly remembered by his colleagues and students there.

Jerry was a patron of all forms of art and sport. He and Judith met through a mutual love of opera. He contributed to the Stratford Festival, and attended yearly, but Jerry also attended the rodeo, university and professional sports, museums, folk, rock, and country concerts.

He loved his summer cottage at Itaska Beach on Pigeon Lake and served on the Itaska Beach Council for several years.

DR. KOMALURU RADHAKRISHNA VISVANATHAN

1929 – 2021

Dr. K. R. (Vishy) Visvanathan passed away in Calgary on September 16.

Born September 3, 1929 in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India, he was the second of eight children. He graduated from medical school in Madras in 1954. He immigrated to the United Kingdom to pursue further surgical training. Vishy was proud to have attained Fellowship in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, both in 1966.

Vishy and Margaret met in Burnley, Lancashire in 1955. He told the story of seeing a young nurse in the operating room and being smitten by “a pair of beautiful blue eyes above a surgical mask.” They were married on November 20, 1959. His medical training took them to several cities in England and Scotland. Their three sons were born in England. After immigrating to Canada in 1967, he established a medical practice in Estevan, Saskatchewan. Soon after that, he achieved his Fellowship in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He had a busy general practice and surgical practice until retirement in 1994.

He was proud to be a Canadian citizen and often said “Canada has been very good to me.” His dedication to his patients made him much loved and respected in the community. Many patients became close friends. A much-sought-after invitation for those friends was to attend one of Vishy’s basement slideshows. In a time before the internet, digital cameras, and commonplace international travel, a narrated travelogue of adventures in India was fascinating and exotic. While he enjoyed sharing the culture of his homeland, he wholeheartedly embraced the customs of his adopted home. He and a group of close friends enjoyed an annual fly-in fishing trip at Wollaston Lake in northern Saskatchewan. He purchased a motorhome and took his family on many trips exploring North America.

Vishy lived the Rotary motto “Service Above Self.” He served as President of Estevan Rotary Club and DDGM of the Masonic Lodge. He was particularly proud to serve as President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan in 1980.

Vishy and Margaret moved to Calgary in 1995. This allowed him to further pursue his interests in photography, gardening, golf, and Indian classical music. While in Estevan, his photography hobby led him to build his own darkroom, where he developed and printed his own pictures. During retirement, he became interested in digital photography.

Ever curious and eager to learn new things, he embraced the new technology and edited his photographs digitally.

Vishy and Margaret enjoyed travel, including bus tours and cruises to many continents. He was proud to introduce his family, including grandchildren, to his homeland with several family trips to India. The Canadian branch of the Visvanathan family enjoyed getting to know many uncles, aunts and cousins on these trips.

Very important to both of them was the community they joined at the Calgary Crowfoot YMCA. Far beyond the fitness activities they enjoyed, their gregarious nature led to lasting friendships with many at the Y.

In retirement, Vishy and Margaret spent many happy winters in Citrus Gardens, Mesa, Arizona. As was their custom wherever they were, they formed a circle of close friends in the snowbird community.

His face lit up whenever he was with or spoke about his grandchildren. Vishy kept close track of each one’s pursuits and progress. He embraced their partners whole-heartedly into our family.

This kind and generous man will be remembered for his ready smile, warm heart, wisdom and love for his family.

He is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Margaret, sons, Kishore (Janice), Raman, and Nandha (Shari); and grandchildren, Derek (Athanasia), Ashley, Nisha (Mitchell), Hannah, Brittney, Kyle (Felicity), Dean (Terava), Neil, and Noah. He is also survived by brothers, Ramanujan, Anandha and Babu; sister Shyamala; and their families. He was predeceased by his parents K.V. Radhakrishna and Mahalakshmi; brothers Pandurangan and Sarathy; and sister Prema.

A private family service will be held. Condolences, memories and photos can also be shared and viewed here.

Special thanks to the wonderful staff on Ward 43, Peter Lougheed Centre, and particular gratitude to Dr. Stephen Field. If friends so desire, in lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Doctors without Borders (donate.msf. ca).

In living memory of Vishy Visvanathan, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area.