Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Dear Family and Friends,
Vicki Dolinsky will be missed. I knew Vicki for more than 35 years. She and her husband, Nestor, where both remarkable people who influenced my life in many positive ways. They were both committed to family, friends and community. And while Nestor was quicker to engage and more forceful, Vicki was more persistent and thoughtful.
I have long believed that the people who most deserve our appreciation and respect are often those who serve silently, below the public radar. I told Vicki that she deserves to receive the Order of Canada or the Premier's Volunteer Service Award as much or more than many recipients. Vicki worked to get more seniors' housing in Flin Flon for many years and she actively supported improvements to Flin Flon's health care services. She was a successful business woman, an engaged community member, and a proud mother and grandmother.
Many people don't fully appreciate how Vicki conducted her life. Over the course of her life she helped immigrants learn to speak English and integrate into the community. She helped friends and family in times of crisis and tragedy. She fed people who were hungry, and offered comfort to those struggling. She routinely visited people in the hospital when they were sick or dying. And she fed many wandering politicians from Howard Pawley to Gary Doer. No one who enjoyed one of her blueberry pies could ever forget Vicki Dolinsky.
I was proud to call Vicki a friend. She lived her values. One of her heroes, Tommy Douglas, once said that as citizens we should wish for others what we wish for ourselves. Vicki was that kind of person and she spent a lifetime trying to make that vision a reality – at least in the part of the world she touched. Vicki was a remarkable woman. She made the world a better place. I will miss her, as will those whose lives she touched.
I send along my condolences to her family and friends.
Jerry Storie
