Hotelier, music promoter.
Born in Russia and having survived the Second World War, she immigrated to Canada in 1950 and settled in Winnipeg. In 1953, she married Horst Wilhelm Henning (1926-1998), and they went on to have three children. Leading an active and busy life, she first worked as an operating-room nurse, then as a real estate agent, eventually running her own agency. With her husband she went into residential and commercial development, building houses, apartment complexes, and hotels. Her next venture was motel and hotel operations and development, owning and operating hotels and motels in Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Brandon, and Castlegar, BC.
One of her many passions was country music, owning and operating a publishing and record company at Winnipeg. She assisted many local artists in establishing their careers, featuring live music and performers at a venue at the Downs Motor Hotel, and in Brandon at The 40 dance and night club. “I figured if I had to sit and listen to music, I wanted to listen to something I enjoy,” she told a reporter in 1986. Blue jeans were reportedly not allowed in her establishments, and it was not until the early 1980s—around the time the movie Urban Cowboy was released—that male patrons were permitted to wear hats. “You didn’t mess with Ma,” said veteran musician and broadcaster Ray St. Germain. “She was a kind woman and she was very fair, but she was all business.”
She was a director for the Canadian Country Music Association for many years and President in 1985. In 2008, she was awarded the Hank Smith Award of Excellence at the Canadian Country Music Awards at Winnipeg for her distinguished service to Canadian country music.
In 1990, she and Horst moved from Brandon to Campbell River, British Columbia and were soon involved in building and operating Oyster Bay Resorts, carried on by her family after her death. Another of her great passions was fishing, and she was often seen with her husband out on their boat.
She died at Campbell River on 1 June 2009 and was buried in Black Creek Cemetery. She was posthumously named to the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, receiving the Stan Klees Builder Award, in 2015.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 11 June 2009.
“Elizabeth Henning,” FindAGrave Index.
“‘Grand Lady’ championed country music,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 June 2009.
“Ma Henning named to Canadian Country Music Hall,” Brandon Sun, 9 July 2015.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 4 March 2025
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