Remembering My Brother - Love Ian
Good afternoon and thank you for coming to here today to celebrate the life of Malcolm Graham Anderson. I am up here today to speak as his brother and friend.
Mal had an interesting beginning to life. He was born in Sheffield England. Our father was a corporal in the RCAF and posted in England during World War II. The war had ended, so shortly after Mal was born our father was shipped home. Mal, our sister Erica and our mom were left to fend for themselves and prepare for the journey to Canada. Mal’s entry to Canada is one for the history books. He travelled from London on Letitia, a cruise ship that had been converted to a troop carrier, and arrived at the now famous Pier 21 in Halifax in late August 1946. Our mom, Malcolm and Erica then found themselves on a train to Montreal and then on to Winnipeg where Mal would make his mark.
One of the things I loved about my brother is he had attitude. Our folks didn’t always appreciate his attitude but I did.
I was his little brother and trusted him implicitly. One day when I was 4 years old Mal asked me if I’d like to fly like Superman and witches. I was enthusiastic and implored him to teach me this secret. Mal fashioned me a superman cape and gave me a broom to put between my legs. He assured me that this would give me the power to fly. Even at 4 years of age I was dubious, but as you all probably know Mal can be quite convincing. So there I was at the top of the basement stairs with a cape on my shoulders and a broom between my legs, and Mal at the bottom telling me just jump and you will fly. I flew right to the bottom of the stairs. I’ve trusted him ever since after all how can you not trust someone who taught you how to fly!!
Mal demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit by the age of 12, and I’m not talking lemonade stands. It was Easter time and we lived near Portage Ave where Mal often walked by a florist shop. The shop had a promotion selling Easter Chicks. This sounds like a strange sales promotion but it intrigued Malcolm. He came home with a fluffy little chick telling our mother that he would raise this chick and it would provide the family with a supply of eggs and eventually a fine chicken dinner. Well my mother the British war bride, looked at her determined 12 year old son and thought what the heck. She and Malcolm set up an area in the back porch and together they started to raise this chicken. Two things went wrong with Mal’s great plan. 1. The chick turned into a noisy rooster (no eggs) and 2. Mal named the rooster and it became part of the family. You don’t eat family. So allegedly our mom, took the rooster and convince a farmer to give it a home. At least that’s what she told us.
When I was fourteen I remember Mal introducing me to a friend of his, Patricia Manson. I remember this moment at our house on Montrose because Mal was so excited for me to meet this friend. He asked me what I thought of her and kept talking about her all the time. As a matter of fact he kept talking about her for the next 51 years. His love and devotion to Pat was an inspiration for me.
Mal and I visited a lot during his last months. Mal knew he didn’t have long to live and tasked me with saying a few things today. He wanted everyone to know he was very proud of his work life accomplishments, which are too lengthy to cover here today in any detail. He was Deputy Minister of Finance, Energy and Mines, and Crown Investments with the province of Manitoba. He became CEO of Credit Union Central in 1986 and I believe it was Mal’s innovation and leadership that has resulted in the incredible growth of credit unions in Manitoba. He told me shortly after joining Credit Union Central that the job would be easy. He said he only had to obtain access to issue a major credit card, and to convince all the Credit Unions to offer ATM banking internationally as opposed to just locally. I doubt the job was easy but Mal got it done.
Mal’s primary talent was in finance but it turns out the job he loved the most was being head of the University Medical Group. He said this work had greater meaning than any of his previous positions because he got to help doctors help people.
But the most important message Malcolm wanted me to give today is that nothing is more important than family. He could never have accomplished all that he did without the love and support of his family, Pat his wife, his children Dayna and Darryl, his grandchildren Isabelle, Nolan and Nathan and of great importance, Kevin. Of course there are nieces, nephews, in-laws, and Mal’s Mom, Dad, brother and sister who he loved dearly. But the people I named were his core, his reason for being. So he wanted me to finish by saying this. He loved his family so much that in the end nothing else mattered.
