Athlete, businessman, community activist.
Born on 30 May 1941, son of John Shanski and Olga “Sparky” Safianiuk (1909-1990), he attended West Kildonan Collegiate. He excelled at all sports in his youth, especially football and hockey, playing with the St. James Rods as it won two national championships. At the University of Manitoba, he was name Most Outstanding Athlete in football and hockey, playing with the 1964-1965 Bisons hockey team that won the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union Championship, for which the team was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. He played a season with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
He turned to coaching after his university athletic career, leading the Bisons football team to the Vanier Cup (1969-1970) for which it was inducted into the Manitoba Football Hall of Fame. Turning to business, he took over his father's company, Sprague Distributors, and grew it into the largest cedar wholesaler in western Canada.
Active in the community, he served on the board of St. Paul's College (1999-2009), and its chair (2001-2009), president of Musique Baroque Ensemble (12 years), and a member of the board for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Balmoral Hall, St. John's Ravenscourt School, Winnipeg Rotary Club, and Delta Upsilon fraternity. He was a Liberal candidate for the Fort Rouge constituency in the 1999 provincial general election.
He died at Winnipeg on 2 November 2022.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 19 November 2022.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 19 November 2022
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