Sylvain Joseph Joncas (Frenchie), at the age of 65, passed away on January 27, 2020 at Seven Oaks Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Sylvain was born on January 2, 1955 in Lake Saint-Jean, Quebec. He is survived by Claudette Joncas (sister) and Julie Joncas (niece). He was predeceased by his mother, his father and his brother. Although he always said that Lake Saint-Jean had blueberries so big that one blueberry would make a whole pie, he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba about 35 years ago. Sylvain described himself as a free spirit, even though others may have had other choice words to describe him. While he loved the biker life, beer and his dogs, he tolerated people, calling some his buddies, his friends, his bros and a very small group that he considered his family. Those fortunate to be part of the family group know that he would often show up at the door, looking for a beer or someone to drink a beer with, often bringing a toy or two for any young kids in the house. He would deny liking kids every time and generally would head for door if he thought he was getting too much attention about bringing something for kids. He never strayed from his desire to ride his bike and did not let something as minor as Manitoba weather stop him. He loved spending his days riding from place to place to have a beer with whoever happened to be around. His early evenings were to catch up on the news, in English and French, and reading fact and history books and magazines. That was followed with some relaxing time on a lawn chair outside and then early to bed. He had to go to bed early so he could start phoning and visiting people before they were even thinking of getting out of bed. He also enjoyed a good game of cribbage, especially if the final game was for the Championship of Kleefeld, which only happened if he felt he was going to win. Sylvain moved around a lot but always made his way back to spend time with people he cared about. He was a proud man with strong opinions that he had no problem expressing on just about everything. He felt he had everything he needed in life with his camper, his bike and his many dogs over the years. He was King of his camper, King of the road and his best friend was always his dog. He could talk about his dogs for hours! Just before going into the hospital for the last time, his bar of choice was The Sherbrook Inn where he had rented a room to call home. The past few months were hard on Sylvain as heart and liver issues took their toll on his body. On most days, Sylvain was glad to have people stop by to visit him as he struggled with the changes his body was going through.
Thank you to all the nurses and doctors that dealt with Sylvain in the various medical facilities.
We all know that he could be a handful!
A special thanks to everyone that helped him along during this difficult time with phone calls, visits
and all of you that had him in your thoughts and prayers.
Sylvain was a Catholic but also went to churches of other faiths. He was glad with his visit by the
Catholic priest at the St. Boniface Hospital and Ministers of other denominations throughout his stay.
Sylvain’s wishes were to be cremated and not to have a church or funeral service. He wanted people to
get together to have a couple of beers and go for a bike ride.
Due to the timing, the bike ride is not possible but having a couple of beers is.
Therefore, there will be a Celebration of Life on Wednesday February 5, 2020 between 1:00 – 4:00 pm at the last bar where he drank.
The Sherbrook Inn
685 Westminster Avenue
(Corner of Sherbrook and Westminster)
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Everyone is welcome.
Cremation has taken place.
Sylvain felt strongly about many things, but two things in particular:
He always felt he had other options than the less fortunate that had to use Food Banks.
He would stress and rant for days when hearing about any type of animal abuse, especially dogs.
If interested, donations can be made in memory of Sylvain at:
Grunthal Food Bank
30 Main Street
Grunthal, Manitoba
www.grunthalcaringhands.org
or
D’Arcy’s Animal Rescue Centre
730B Century Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
204-888-2266
www.darcyarc.ca