Roy Whawell

Roy Stephen Whawell

September 14, 1940 – August 26, 2025

After a blessed life, filled with love, Roy has gone home to be with his Lord. 

Left behind to love and cherish his memory, are his wife of 54 years, Carol; his son, Scott; his daughter, Melissa Nietrzeba (Martin); and his grandchildren, Joshua Hampson, Samuel Hampson, and Elyse Mages (Jordan). He also leaves behind three great-grandchildren, Josiah, Solaris, and Arwen Mages; his brothers Jim (Nelly) and Richard.

Roy was born in Hythe, Kent, England, to Eileen (Kilroy) and George William Whawell. He was the middle son between James “Jim” and Richard.

When he was 15, he began his apprenticeship with Hythe Engineering. Once he had his machinist papers, Roy came to Canada and got a job with Pritchard Engineering. In 1964, after being in Winnipeg for two years, Roy decided to travel the world. First stop – New Zealand, where he worked for General Motors. Then on to Australia, and then South Africa, working in both countries to make enough money to continue with his travels.

In June, 1966, Roy came back to Canada. He began working for Ted Purvis at Selkirk Machine Works. He met Carol in December of ’68 at a Selkirk Steelers hockey game. They married in May of 1971 and had two children, Scott and Melissa. They settled on Carol’s grandparent’s homestead, where they built the home of their dreams, and lived there for 43 years until 2018 when Roy became too ill to help look after the park-like property they had built.

Over those beautiful 43 years, Roy and his family had many adventures. They loved to travel, visiting cities across Canada, as well as, England, France, Hawaii, and, went on many ski/snowboarding trips in Canada and the US.

Roy and Carol were an amazing team. In 1982, they bought and ran, Selkirk Machine Works, until they sold in 2000. In his retirement, they spent time babysitting grandchildren, gardening and landscaping their property, and, they took up ballroom dancing. As a couple, they also did some cruising in the Caribbean and Alaska, and visited the Orient, Isreal and Hawaii.

They took their most fortunate grandchildren on separate, special trips to Drumheller, Vancouver, Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, as well as many other states and provinces within the US and Canada.

Personally, Roy also had a love of cars, and had some notable models, including a ’68 Lotus Europa, a 1964 ½ Ford Mustang Fastback, a ‘71 and a ‘73 Mercedez Benz, as well as his dream car, a 1971 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, among others. He also loved our Winnipeg Blue Bombers, taking Scott to their home games for many seasons. 

Roy was a man of integrity, honesty, kindness, humour, ambition, and above all, love and dedication to his family, who will miss and cherish him forever.

The family would like to thank Selkirk’s home care team, who offered kindness and respect to Roy and helped Carol fulfil his wish to remain at home until his last breath.  

A Funeral Mass will be held at Notre Dame Catholic Church, 269 Jemima Street, Selkirk, MB, on Thursday, September 4th, at 11:00 a.m., with Fr. Gerald Langevin officiating.

All are welcome to come, pay their respects, and say their final goodbyes.

In leu of flowers, donations can be made to the Selkirk and District Community Foundation at 200 Eaton Avenue, Selkirk, MB or at www.sdcf.ca

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