WALTER YARISH
WALTER YARISH
June 26, 1942 – July 28, 2025
With deep love and sadness, we announce the passing of Walter Yarish, who passed away suddenly in Edmonton, Alberta at the age of 83. Walter was truly the salt of the earth - honest, hardworking, and reliable, and his life reflected integrity, resilience, curiosity, and kindness — values he carried from his childhood on a Manitoba prairie farm.Born on the family farm near Oakburn, Manitoba, in 1942 — the youngest of nine children — Walter was raised in a household shaped by the strength of immigrant roots. His parents, Ukrainian Catholic settlers, instilled in him the virtues of hard work, respect, and practicality.Walter's curiosity and intellect led him far beyond the boundaries of the family farm. He valued education, science, history, and was a lifelong reader. He studied at the University of Manitoba, obtaining his Bachelor and Master of Science. Walter met his wife Diane in 1966 and moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1970, where they created a life rooted in love, family, and meaningful friendships. Here, he began his long, rewarding career as an agrologist with the Alberta government. Walter was passionate about nature, gardening and curling as well as a dedicated community volunteer, contributing to various committees and boards.He is survived by his beloved wife, Diane, of 57 wonderful years, his children Leanne, Krista (Scott), grandchildren Hunter, Hayden, and Seaver — who he credited with keeping him young - and his sisters, Elise, Roxy — and many extended family members and friends across Canada. He was predeceased by his siblings Mary, Bill, Rose, Joe, Phyllis, and Nick, and his nephew Ron.In keeping with Walter's wishes and nature, a Celebration of Life will be held to honour his life and legacy in September 8, 2:00 pm at Hainstock's Funeral Home, 9810 34th Ave, Edmonton, AB T6E6L1.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alberta Cancer Foundation or the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 02, 2025
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Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
WALTER YARISH
Adjust Text Size: A+ A- WALTER YARISH June 26, 1942 – July 28, 2025 With deep love and sadness, we announce the passing of Walter Yarish, who passed away suddenly in Edmonton, Alberta at the age of 83. Walter was truly the salt of the earth - honest, hardworking, and reliable, and his life reflected integrity, resilience, curiosity, and kindness — values he carried from his childhood on a Manitoba prairie on the family farm near Oakburn, Manitoba, in 1942 — the youngest of nine children — Walter was raised in a household shaped by the strength of immigrant roots. His parents, Ukrainian Catholic settlers, instilled in him the virtues of hard work, respect, and curiosity and intellect led him far beyond the boundaries of the family farm. He valued education, science, history, and was a lifelong reader. He studied at the University of Manitoba, obtaining his Bachelor and Master of Science. Walter met his wife Diane in 1966 and moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1970, where they created a life rooted in love, family, and meaningful friendships. Here, he began his long, rewarding career as an agrologist with the Alberta government. Walter was passionate about nature, gardening and curling as well as a dedicated community volunteer, contributing to various committees and is survived by his beloved wife, Diane, of 57 wonderful years, his children Leanne, Krista (Scott), grandchildren Hunter, Hayden, and Seaver — who he credited with keeping him young - and his sisters, Elise, Roxy — and many extended family members and friends across Canada. He was predeceased by his siblings Mary, Bill, Rose, Joe, Phyllis, and Nick, and his nephew keeping with Walter's wishes and nature, a Celebration of Life will be held to honour his life and legacy in September 8, 2:00 pm at Hainstock's Funeral Home, 9810 34th Ave, Edmonton, AB T6E6L1. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alberta Cancer Foundation or the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 02, 2025
Winnipeg Free Press
25-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Not making the grades
University of Manitoba instructors are warning there's a high level of unpreparedness among first-year students despite more of them entering with grade averages of 95 per cent or higher. A new report shows 40 per cent of local high school students who met U of M standard admission requirements in the fall had report card scores that scored perfection or within five points of it. These high achievers have represented the largest group of applicants annually since 2020. Two in five successful applicants were part of this group last year. Forty per cent of local high school students who met U of M standard admission requirements in the fall had high-school grades averaging 95 per cent or higher. Forty per cent of local high school students who met U of M standard admission requirements in the fall had high-school grades averaging 95 per cent or higher. Statistician Jenna Tichon said the dramatic shift took her by surprise as she was scanning historical entrance data put out by her university's office of institutional analysis. The percentage of Manitoba high school students achieving 95 per cent and up more than doubled from 2014 to 2024. It was the third most common entrance average group a decade ago. In 2020, following COVID-19-related disruptions and exam cancellations, it overtook the 90 to 94 per cent range as the largest group of its kind. 'Ninety-five per cent should be a really exceptional average,' said Tichon, who both teaches statistics at the university and serves as an executive on its faculty association. The union vice-president said she and her colleagues, who represent about 1,170 academic staff, are closely monitoring this trend to see if it persists. Entrance averages matter because they are used to stream students and, in an ideal scenario, indicate preparedness for post-secondary education, she noted. Faculty members have flagged concerns about grade inflation — the steady creep of average marks that does not reflect a corresponding increase in academic knowledge or skills — in recent years. Among them, senior mathematics instructor Darja Barr and Natalie Riediger, an associate professor who researches nutrition and health equity. Riediger said the level of her students' academic preparedness has dropped significantly since she started teaching at U of M in 2016. 'In the last few years, I've given out a lot more Cs, Ds and Fs,' the associate professor said. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Entitlement and parent pressure also influence final report cards, said John Wiens, a dean emeritus at Manitoba's largest faculty of education. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The fallout has affected workloads, given the time associated with putting someone on academic probation, accommodating exam deferrals and policing related misconduct, she said. Barr obtained her PhD in education in 2019 for exposing the unreliable nature of high school pre-calculus marks in predicting a Manitoba student's success in university calculus. She analyzed U of M datasets from 2001 to 2015 — a project sparked by her curiosity as to why so many students were in disbelief over failing her midterm when they had done well in high school. Her thesis concluded 'the disconnect' between secondary and post-secondary marks had grown over time, and better communication between the kindergarten-to-Grade 12 and university sectors was necessary to fix it. 'The trend suggested it was going to get worse and worse,' Barr recalled. She said that since then, she has been advocating for university instructors outside faculties of education to have more input on provincial curriculum and assessment development. 'I don't think teachers are knowingly inflating grades,' Barr said. 'I just think that the policies, the assessment strategies, the content in K to 12, it's like I'm watching what's trendy in clothing.' There was once a drive to cover the entirety of every curriculum, but high schools have shifted to prioritize compassion and student well-being in the wake of the pandemic, said John Wiens, a dean emeritus at Manitoba's largest faculty of education. 'The major change is that we are paying more attention to kids' mental health,' Wiens said, reflecting on the last decade and possible explanations for rising marks. Entitlement — 'if a student doesn't like their mark, they'll appeal it to the end of the earth' — and parent pressure also influence final report cards, the career educator said. As far as he is concerned, a high school teacher's personal observations about a student are more accurate than marks when it comes to predicting success in post-secondary education. 'We put too little stock in non-numerical judgments,' Wiens said. The Manitoba Association for Progressive Assessment was established at the start of the year to connect teachers interested in forms of 'ungrading,' such as 'outcomes-based assessment,' which involves doing away with high-stakes tests and regularly evaluating students against specific and clearly-defined learning goals. Asked about curriculum and assessment development processes, a spokesperson for Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said her office works closely with schools, school divisions and post-secondary institutions. 'The department regularly consults with post-secondary faculty, academic and subject matter experts to ensure students have the skills and knowledge they need to meet challenges throughout their academic career,' they wrote in a statement. No representative from the U of M's office of institutional analysis was available for comment Thursday. Its latest report on entrance grades includes a disclosure about the COVID-19 pandemic's toll on the university in 2020, 2021 and 2022. 'Comparisons involving COVID-affected years should be made with caution,' it states. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
12-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Congregation Shaarey Zedek welcomes new senior rabbi
After decades of living and working in the U.S., Israel, Japan and Europe, Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose has come back home. Rose, who was raised in Winnipeg's North End, took up his new responsibilities as senior rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek on July 1. 'Winnipeg's a wonderful place to grow up,' said Rose, who was born in the U.S. in 1966 and moved to the city in 1967 from New York with his parents, Rabbi Neal Rose and his wife, Carol, so his father could take a position in Judaic Studies and religion at the University of Manitoba. Supplied Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose and Paulie Zimnavoda Rose Rose, 59, has fond memories of family life on Matheson Avenue with his four siblings — a sister and three brothers, including Rabbi Kliel Rose of Winnipeg's Congregation Etz Chayim. This included his time studying at the former Talmud Torah Hebrew school at the intersection of Charles Street and Flora Avenue. He graduated from the University of Winnipeg in 1984 and then headed to California to study at American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He was ordained by the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and went on to serve in various roles before becoming senior rabbi for 18 years at Congregation B'nai Amoona in St. Louis. In 2023, he left there to become president and CEO of the Mandel Jewish Community Centre in Cleveland, Ohio — a place much like Winnipeg's Asper Jewish Community Campus, although much bigger to serve the large Jewish community of 85,000 in that city. Rose, who has four children with his wife, Paulie Zimnavoda Rose, enjoyed his time at the centre. But he found his heart was really in congregational life and leadership. 'I wanted to go back to teaching in a synagogue,' he said. 'I realized I was more of a pastor, teacher and preacher, not an administrator. I missed those things.' For Rose, serving at a synagogue means an opportunity to pass on the tenets of Judaism to members of Shaarey Zedek. 'Judaism is a 4,000-year-old tradition that still has something to say to the world today,' he said, noting he wants to help the synagogue continue to be a place 'where people can come to learn and develop deep roots in Judaism and in the Jewish community.' In particular, Rose wants to help people see that Judaism 'is about more than laws, it is about love of self, love of others, of the community, of the world … it's about wanting to live into the image of the divine.' 'I want to invite people into the deep mystery of God, to see Judaism as a tradition that has something to say about how to live with a partner, with children, with parents, neighbours, others and the world.' Rose's own approach to Judaism grows out of the Conservative tradition to which he and Shaarey Zedek belong — an approach that seeks to conserve and honour traditional Jewish practices and beliefs while incorporating modern perspectives to the scriptures. 'We have respect for tradition but we are open to innovation,' said Rose, noting that Conservative Judaism is a middle way between the Orthodox tradition — which emphasizes stricter adherence to Jewish law and traditional practices — and the Reform tradition, which seeks to more actively adapt Judaism to modern life. This means 'not losing the past for the sake of the future, but also not losing the future for the sake of the past,' Rose said, adding that 'some beliefs in the past worked well in the past, but they may not work so well now.' One example of this is that Rose, like Shaarey Zedek, is welcoming and affirming of LGBTTQ+ people. 'We want to be present and welcoming of all,' he said. Rose also wants to be engaged in interfaith work in the city. 'I look forward to working together with other faith leaders,' he said, adding 'I want to have deep roots in my community and also learn from other communities. There is beauty in all traditions that should be shared.' This will include looking for things different faith traditions hold in common so they can 'work together for the good of the whole community,' he said, adding he also wants to build trust between the groups 'so we can have difficult conversations and still have respect and love for each other.' Such conversations are important at a time of growing polarization and division, along with rising antisemitism and Islamophobia, he said. Supplied After spending most of his career in the U.S., Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose returned to the town where he was raised to become senior rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek. 'We need religious leaders to step forward boldly, to set an example,' he said, adding he thinks this will be easier in Winnipeg than other places since 'we can draw on reservoirs of trust built up over the years.' He credits his parents for his broad interfaith outlook. 'They taught us the importance of serving not just the Jewish community, but the whole community,' said, adding they took the family to visit churches, mosques and sweat lodges. 'I learned about the world in my parent's home,' he said. 'They exposed us to other religions and traditions.' Rose also credits his parents for passing on a love for Judaism — so much so that all four sons became rabbis. 'It was a clean sweep,' said Rose, adding that his sister married a rabbi. And yet, his parents never pushed their sons to serve in that way. 'They just lived as their authentic selves, not just through words but by living out their faith,' he said. For Kliel, having his older brother in Winnipeg is exciting and a blessing. 'It's been over 30 years since I lived in the same place with a sibling,' he said. 'It will be great for my children to have their uncle and aunt here.' His brother's coming to Winnipeg will 'be great for Shaarey Zedek and also for the whole Jewish community,' he said. 'They found a great rabbi to lead them.' Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. In an e-mail to the congregation announcing Rose's appointment, congregation president Fanny Levy said Rose was a leader who 'embodies the values, vision and spirit that reflect the heart of our community.' Along with that, Rose's 'commitment to Jewish learning' deeply resonates with the congregation and his approach and values 'align most closely with the direction we aspire to take as a community.' Levy went on to praise Rose's 'deep respect for tradition, paired with a creative approach to leadership that encourages innovation and inclusivity.' Of Rose, Rena Secter Elbaze, the congregation's executive director, said that he is 'very personable, super charismatic, all about teaching,' someone who can 'lead us into the future. We are so fortunate to have him.' faith@ The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba. If you appreciate that coverage, help us do more! Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow us to deepen our reporting about faith in the province. Thanks! BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER John LonghurstFaith reporter John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
