Jeff Hegarty

To our life of the party, farewell Dad…84 years young.  How lucky we all were to have you in our lives.  We love you so and will miss you forever.  Jeff will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 61 years, Norma; children, Trevor (Jeannine) and Stacey; granddaughter Zoe; siblings Des (Arlene) and Yvonne (Joe); brothers in law Cliff (Isabel) and Jim (Dorothy); sisters in law Jean and Marian; as well as other family members and friends.     

Jeff was known for his infectious laugh, his teasing nature, his silly sense of humour, his love of blueberry pancakes, and his little family.   He was a social butterfly, loved to talk, tell jokes, eat…especially desserts, and show off his infamous dance moves. He made every moment unforgettable.  If there was a party, people could be found near Jeff, he brought the fun.  Married for 61 years to his partner Norma, who he met in Selkirk, boy did he love her.  If Norma was good, he was good.  If she wasn’t, he wasn’t.  She said he was her rock, he said she was his heart.  Their lives were filled with sunny skies, stormy seas, buckets of tears and barrels of laughter.   He adored his two kids, Trevor and Stacey.  He played with us when we were little and scared the heck out of us when we were bad!  He became our good friend as we all aged.  Dad always told us, and anyone who would listen, how proud he was of us both. He believed in the power of family and dedicated his life to creating a loving and supportive home. His stories, advice, and warm hugs will be remembered and cherished by all who knew him.

Jeff has one grandchild…his precious granddaughter Zoe.  He cried when he first saw her, looked great in her makeup, and beamed when she’d give it as good as she got it.  She called him ‘Jeffrey’, because he was always a cheeky bugger with her.  They were always sitting close on the sofa, gossiping about something.  His daughter in law Jeannine was also a huge part of his life.  She knew the way to his heart was through his stomach and boy did she spoil him.  He always thought Trevor scored by marrying her!

Jeff grew up in Vancouver with his parents Pat and Del, his sister Yvonne, and his brother Des.  They didn’t have much back then, so he learnt early on to work hard and take care of himself.  At 5 years old, on his own, he was taking a Vancouver city bus to school! He was a talented soccer player...when he was going the right way down the field, and a pretty good football player back in his day.  His parents put him in the seminary for grade 9/10 and he was ‘advised’ later that perhaps it was not his vocation…talking to a girl on a pay phone was his third strike! He ended up at St. Pat’s highschool, his grades were hopeless, but he graduated thanks to a tough catholic school nun who told him “Hegarty, I’ve never had a failure yet and you’re not about to be my first!”

After 25 years in the RCMP, he ‘retired’ by going back to work in HR at Unisys, Boeing, and Standard Aero (which he loved the most).  He finally decided to just enjoy life after a very short run trying long haul trucking (the stories here!) and then freezing his butt off pumping gas at their local Coop.  Jeff and Norma spent most of their retirement in Lac du Bonnet, and Lockport, were snowbirds in Texas for~ 15yrs, and travelled the world any time they had the chance.

Dad was a mush ball in his senior years and was obsessed with the music he wanted played at his funeral.  One of which is Danny Boy...his dad’s favorite, and the saddest song ever.  We all said, "OK, we’ll do it, but it’s going to be the Muppets version!" He loved that. 

A memorial service will be held on Friday, August 15th at 11:00 a.m. at Gilbart Funeral Home in Selkirk, Mb.

It’s so difficult for us to say goodbye but we know you were tired, and we must let you go.  Go rest high on that mountain Jeff/Dad/Papere.  In lieu of flowers and at Jeff’s request, he would simply like you to raise a glass in his memory and repeat his favourite toast - “here’s looking up your ass’ets!”

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