Denare Beach mayor passes away after almost 30 years in office

Lentowicz was born on a farm near Hazel Ridge, Manitoba and joined in the RCMP in 1960 – a career choice that took him across the Northwest Territories, and then across Saskatchewan.

“He basically fell in love with the North and the Northerners and he was eventually posted back to Saskatchewan in the early ’70s and that’s when I met him,” said his widow, Jan, who is from Sandy Bay.

She moved with him to every post, starting in Hay River, NWT, following the Distance Early Warning (DEW) Line and then going to Iqaluit, Nunavut where he had an experience that became one of his favourite memories.

A young Prince Charles visited the community, which was still Frobisher Bay then, and it was the job of the local RCMP to help host and provide security.

“He had a very close connection to Prince Charles, and it was his favorite story to tell everyone,” recounted his daughter Kari. “He was on service when Prince Charles visited and he ended up showing Prince Charles how to drive a snow machine.”

A highlight of Lentowizc’s life was teaching then Prince Charles how to operate a snow machine in Iqaluit. (Image Credit: submitted/Kari Lentowizc)

Lentowicz had arranged for some of the community members to build an igloo as well.

“I guess Prince Charles just took off on his (security) service and went to find this igloo on the snow machine.”

Back in Saskatchewan, the Lentowicz family lived in North Battleford, Buffalo Narrows and Cumberland House before Carl was sent to his retirement posting as Staff Sergeant of the Creighton detachment.

“It was winter and the middle of the school year, so we had to take two kids out of school in Cumberland House and move them to Creighton, but we have never regretted that move. This is a great place to raise a family and settle,” Jan said.

Both of their sons live in Alberta, but Kari has remained in Saskatchewan.

After moving to Denare Beach Carl found his next calling in municipal politics. He became a councillor for one term, then ran for mayor in 1997 and won. He was still serving as mayor last summer when the community met a major challenge in the form of the Wolf Fire that destroyed a large part of the community.

“One thing about Carl, he liked to keep busy. Retirement wasn’t for him. He’d been in for almost 33 years,” Jan explained.

He also “liked to be in the know”, said Kari, which served him well as an RCMP officer and as mayor.

“He was in office when the Treaty Land Entitlement went through in Denare Beach and the reserve was established here and that went really well,” said Jan.

“I think it was because of his relationship with First Nation’s people, which he fostered and learned the intricacies of during his life in the north,” said Jan.

Lentowizc is described as being fiscally responsible as mayor, something appreciated by other councillors since it left the community in the best position it could be in when disaster struck this past June.

Village administrator Meredith Norman and Councillor Karen Thompson said that whether people liked it or not, Lentowizc was consistently the same person during meetings or when with the public.

“He was very regimented. He was steadfast in his beliefs,” said Norman. Meetings were run as a tight ship, and while he could take being yelled at or disputed over his stances, the one thing he would not tolerate was questions about integrity.

“He was who he was, and that was the long and short of it,” said Thompson.

Lentowizc remained in the Village until the very last moments before the Wolf Fire consumed 218 homes.

“He already wasn’t well and then he had to contend with this, but he did. He did go to council meetings right until August,” said Kari. “We had gatherings to kind of shine and lift the spirits of community members and they were full of hope. He was full of hope. He was very proud of the administration.”

During his final months, Carl was still holding the province accountable for any failures in wildfire management and making sure that the local council found a way to acknowledge the first responders who remained behind. That is one thing that Kari has on a list of things to do in her father’s honour going forward.

“Carl was a respected Mayor. A great community member and a real asset to the north with all the committees he was involved with. He will be missed by many,” said Coun. Dale Holmgren.

Coun. Bruce Ritchie said that Carl’s presence has left the community a legacy that will be cherished.

“He sat on all those boards and attended all those meetings because he wanted to. He believed in representation. He believed that we should have a voice. And for so many years, Carl was that voice, not just for our community but for Northern Saskatchewan as a whole,” said Ritchie.

Lentowizc fought Acute Myeloid Leukemia, an aggressive blood and bone cancer but beat it after two rounds of chemotherapy and went into remission. However, the cancer left him with low platelets. Kari said he was then diagnosed with heart issues and a mass in his brain, which could not be operated on because of his low platelets. Doctors placed him on palliative care and he went back home. He passed away on Feb. 22 in Flin Flon, MB.

After he passed away, his family found a 17-page write up of his life that he had completed relatively recently.

“He definitely was preparing…and you know, he also said he felt fortunate because he never really saw a doctor until he was 85. He didn’t know what pain was,” Kari said.

Lentowizc’s funeral service is planned for Saturday at the DenarePlex in Denare Beach.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Denare Beach mayor passes away after almost 30 years in office

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