Businessman, athlete, municipal official.
Born at Miroslav, Czechoslovakia on 15 December 1920, son of Max and Amelia Löwenberger, he is alleged to have competed for Czechoslovakia in swimming events at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, he fled to Denmark. After serving in the Danish Resistance, he joined the British Army, serving as a tank driver in the 9th Armoured Regiment of Field Marshall Montgomery’s 8th Army. His proficiency in seven languages was called upon in the service of American General Matthew Ridgeway’s 101st Army. In 1941, his parents and sister Edith perished in the Holocaust.
In November 1950, he moved from Denmark to Winnipeg with his wife Nora Lansky (?-1990) and daughter Ditte Lansky. His son Michael Lansky was born after their arrival. He later remarried Nora’s sister, Helen Margaret “Peggy” Lansky (1935-1994).
In 1956, he purchased a car dealership at Carman. He served as President of the Carman and Community Chamber of Commerce and the Pembina Valley Development Corporation. In 1968, he was elected to the first of two terms on the Carman municipal council, and served a term as Mayor (1984-1985). He provided local speed swimming instruction, and is remembered for aiding in the establishment of school bus fleet transportation in rural Manitoba, as well his role as President of Valley Cable Vision Limited, one of the first rural cable television systems. He was a member of Royal Canadian Legion (Carman Branch) and Carman Masonic Lodge, becoming Worthy Master (1969) and assisted in the relocation of the Masonic Temple building.
Following his business retirement in 1989, he moved to Winnipeg and worked with Canadian International Development Agency in Casablanca, Morocco and numerous northern Manitoba native communities.
He died at Winnipeg on 7 September 2004 and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
“19 pass swimming test,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 July 1965, page 8.
“Rotten MTS fish,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 August 1978, page 8.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 9 September 2004, page 24.
Obituary [Nora Lansky], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 April 1990, page 52.
Obituary [Helen Margaret Lansky], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 June 1994, page C10.
We thank Aleš Bednařík for providing additional information iused here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 18 October 2023
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