Charity executive.
Born on 7 November 1952, younger of two sons of Rosario Adelard “Ross” Lussier (1907-2001) and Mary Alice Kinahan (1916-2004), in 1976 he received an MA degree in Psychology from the University of Manitoba. He held several management and analysis positions with the Province of Manitoba.
In 1994, he was hired as a Grants Officer at The Winnipeg Foundation, rising in a few years to become its first Director of Community Grants and holding the position until retirement in 2019. These two decades were a period of significant growth as The Foundation’s discretionary grant making capacity increased from several hundred thousand to millions of dollars annually. He built a strong grants team capable of adjudicating many applications in a way that successfully balanced financial support for the diverse projects submitted each year by hundreds of community agencies. Knowing that a Foundation grant could open the door to other funding opportunities, he was often remembered for his direction: “Find a way to say yes”.
He died suddenly on 23 November 2025.
Birth registrations [Marie Joseph Adelard Rosario Lussier, Alice Mary Kinahan], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [Rosario Adelard Lussier, Mary Alice Kinahan], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Internal-external locus of control and ethnic stereotyping” by Richard J. Lussier, Master of Arts thesis, University of Manitoba, 1976.
“Richard J. Lussier,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 February 1994, page 36.
Obituary [Rosario A. Lussier], Winnipeg Free Press, 24 June 2001.
Obituary [Mary Alice Lussier], Winnipeg Free Press, 20 January 2004.
Obituary, Ethical Death Care.
This page was prepared by Rick Frost and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 30 May 2026
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