Obituary of CLIFFORD WILLIAM MAUNDER

CLIFFORD WILLIAM MAUNDER Cliff Maunder passed away on Saturday, September 12, 2015 thankfully asleep during the two games of a double-header which his beloved New York Yankees were losing to the Toronto Blue Jays. Cliff had been an avid Yankees fan since the days of Mickey Mantle. He was passionate about his favourite team, and many other favourite teams and figures in the world of sports. He died with a picture of Gordie Howe in his hospital room. Cliff’s life was filled with more than his fair share of difficulties, but he had never complained, even during the last month of his life when an advanced case of pulmonary fibrosis made it impossible for him to breath without an oxygen mask. All those who knew him said he was a gentle soul who drew comfort from his store of favourite activities and close friends. When Cliff was five years old, he was diagnosed with a mild intellectual disability. He grew up through the Fifties closest to his younger brother Mike and their circle of friends in the Winnipeg suburb of Norwood. In those days of unsupervised play, the neighbourhood gang would swoop like a flock of birds from game to game until inevitably called home by mothers opening back doors and calling out for suppertime. Cliff’s father was Jack Maunder who, as prairie public relations officer for the CPR, had many social obligations, including the ever-popular Grey Cup trains from West to East. It was perhaps from this strong sense of hospitality that Cliff inherited his sociable nature – for 60 years afterwards inviting friends to his own Grey Cup and Oscar parties. Jack was an instrumental figure in creating the Association for Retarded Children in the Fifties (which would grow to become the Association for Community Living). He died young from a heart attack when Cliff was 12. A few years later, according to school policies of that day, the school system notified the family that Cliff could no longer attend school. But then, according to workplace policies of that day—when corporations took care of their own—the CPR soon phoned, asking if Cliff would be able to work as a telegraph boy. He carried out that job until telegraph boys became redundant in the ‘70s, but the CPR redesigned his work so he could work as a copy machine operator until the late ‘80s. Cliff continued to live at home with his mother, but when Mabel married Carl Pitura, Cliff gained one of his strongest friends. Carl believed that Cliff could live independently and assisted him in moving into his own apartment when he was 30. For the rest of his life, Cliff lived on his own – never a very neat homemaker but deeply prizing his independence. Life became more difficult for Cliff when changes at the CPR resulted in the end of his job in the late ‘80s. Without financial security, Cliff began entering more and more into the disability system. In order to receive disability assistance, Cliff had to go for an interview with a psychiatrist, accompanied by brother Mike and Mabel. The psychiatrist was amazed that Cliff had been able to operate independently for 40 years and assured the family that he was entitled to much more assistance. It was at this time that a care worker, Bob McCrae, became part of Cliff’s life. For the next 20 years, Bob was a constant, helping Cliff with everything, including one period in the 1990’s when Cliff took part in a jogging program in order to lose weight. Bob, and other workers at MBS Residential Services, helped Cliff continue to live independently in his own apartment. Bob was much more than a care worker. He was a true friend, staying beside Cliff’s bed on the day he died. Bob was instrumental in helping Cliff organize his monthly cribbage nights with a group of four or five friends. It was a game at which Cliff excelled. Cliff also enjoyed the twice-a-year gatherings called the Baby Boomer Café in which people with disabilities and their siblings, all part of the baby boomer generation, gathered for a pot-luck and a sing-song. Cliff enjoyed other activities: camping with his brother Mike; annual visits to his brother Les at his cottage in the Ottawa area; and weekly drinks at the Woodbine Hotel –“always in moderation” he would echo from his mother’s advice years earlier. He smoked all his life, and this undoubtedly contributed to the massive damage to his lungs which went undetected by the medical system for the last five years of his life. During those five years he gradually lost energy for his favourite activities. He didn’t have the strength to attend the Baby Boomer Café held at Birds Hill Park in early August and was admitted to Grace Hospital a few days later. But over the following weeks, the Café came to Cliff with many friends from the Café visiting, including Bob Hanley who conducted several sing-songs at Cliff’s bedside. Instead of the annual trip to Les’s cottage, his brother came to spend three weeks at Cliff’s bedside. Mike visited regularly. A week before the end, Cliff and Mike were playing cribbage when Cliff dealt Mike the cribbage player’s dream hand – three fives and a King, with the fourth five cut. “Thanks for the gift, Cliff,” Mike told him. “You can go in peace now.” A memorial service for Cliff will be held at 2 pm Saturday, December 5, at Kildonan Community Church, 2373 Main Street. The service is being held in conjunction with the Baby Boomer Café later that day. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Grace Hospital Foundation Fund.