CHRISTOPHER CURRIE LAZENBY Chris died suddenly on August 15, 2018 at his home in Winnipeg, leaving emptiness in the lives of the people who loved him. He had a heart condition from the time of his birth, on October 8, 1976. It caused him no trouble in his early childhood, when he played baseball and hockey at Varsity View Community Club, near his home in Charleswood, but he had to drop football when he was 11. Determined not to stay on the sidelines, he took up rugby with the Sturgeon Creek Rowdies in his 20's. But his flawed heart valve became infected in his early 30's, requiring open heart surgery and a long and difficult recovery in the St. Boniface intensive care unit. Showing his characteristic grit, he played one more rugby season after his sternum healed. It was his brain and not his failing heart that defined him. At the time of his death he was working at 24-7 In Touch developing software to read emails and give a suggested response for the human recipient. That kind of work brought him great satisfaction and enthusiasm. He liked working with smart people at challenging tasks. He went to school in Charleswood, Brandon, and Regina. He finished high school at Nelson McIntyre Collegiate in Winnipeg, where he won a Chown Scholarship and went on to the University of Manitoba. It was at Nelson Mac that he met Matthew Craig and Andrea Hutton. Matt and Andrea married and were Chris's lifelong and wonderful friends. Their sons, Drew and Zane had an uncle in Chris. Chris' body has been cremated and his ashes will be divided between the cemetery in Reston, the home town of his mother, Darlene Lazenby, and the Currie farm near Miniota, the home town of his father, Maurice (Buzz) Currie. Chris and his brother Mark loved camping on the old homestead in the Assiniboine Valley when they were small boys. He is mourned by Buzz and Darlene, brother (and best friend) Mark and his wife Lea, brother Stephen and his girlfriend Lucy, sister Laura, stepmom Karen MacDonald, his aunt Glenyce and Uncle Arnold and their sons, Doug (Sara) and Dean (Shirley). Mark and Lea's son Henry joined the family six months ago and it was Chris' dilemma whether to lavish more affection on his new nephew or on sister Laura. No matter, he had plenty of love to give; that failing heart was big and strong in the way that counts. Friends are invited to join us Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Norwood Hotel, 112 Marion Street, where we'll remember his life. We'll try to do it as he would have liked. Flowers are respectfully declined, but in lieu, a donation could be made to the Sturgeon Creek Rowdies Rugby Football Club - Bit.ly/Chris-Currie-Lazenby. INTEGRITY Cremation & Funeral Planning 204 295 5408 - IntegrityDeathCare.com

As published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 21, 2018