Blair Seale

Obituary

Blair Seale, age 62, of Mitchell, MB, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, following a lengthy illness. He was predeceased by his father, Garry Seale. He is survived by his mother Verna, loving wife Catherine, children, Thomas (Allie), Caroline (Riko), Patrick (Heather), Elizabeth (Joshua), & grandchildren, Ariella, Josephine, William, Albert, Vivian & Olivia. He is also survived by his brother Geoff (Heather) and sister Verlaine (Steve) and 4 nephews: Andrew, Chase, Kade & Kirahy.

Born March 30, 1964, in Calgary, AB, he was the oldest of three children. Living near the mountains, he developed a love for camping, hiking and skiing, in particular. He also loved visiting the farm in Saskatchewan, especially during the summer when he would be able to drive the machinery and help with other tasks. Another passion of his was airplanes. Following in his father’s aeronautical engineering footsteps, he began his post-secondary training at the Southern Institute of Technology, and then completed his studies in aerospace & aeronautical engineering at the University of Michigan in 1986. He was then hired at Boeing in Winnipeg, where he worked until 2002.

In 1988, he and Catherine were married in Edmonton, and Thomas, Caroline, Patrick & Elizabeth were born between 1995-2002. After leaving Boeing in 2002, he began at Loewen Windows. The commute everyday left little time for his children, so in 2004 the family moved to Mitchell. Another job change came in 2016, when he joined HyLife as Director of Engineering.

He was always interested in people and helping them develop and succeed, whether it was his own children, people at work or church. He was also very generous in the giving of his time and skills, where he was immensely practical as well as incredibly organized. Devotion to church life was extremely important to him, whether as a Sunday school teacher and superintendent, elder, treasurer, or maintenance man. Even more important to him was the ability to worship the Lord he loved each Sunday morning, which he was able to continue doing until a month before he passed away.

He bore his terminal diagnosis for 19 months with courage, dignity and a continued faith & trust in His Lord & Saviour. God blessed our family with one full year of health, even amidst surgery, radiation & chemo treatments. During these 19 months, we were able to see the safe arrival of three more grandchildren, giving us six, who were the light of his life! He was very proud of his children, and their spouses, who he counted as four more of his own children. Those who knew him have commented on his character, integrity, kind & calming presence as well as his well thought out advice & encouragement. A quote from J.R. Miller, Christian author from the late 19th century sums up how Blair’s life will be remembered. “The only thing that walks back from the tomb with the mourners and refuses to be buried is the character of a man. This is true. What a man is, survives him. It can never be buried.” His faithful & upright character will live on!

The funeral service will be held on Monday, June 29, 2026, at 11:00 a.m., at Birchwood Funeral Chapel, Steinbach, MB., with viewing one hour prior to the service.

The family would like to extend their appreciation to the staff of St. Pierre Hospital for their kind and compassionate care during his brief stay in palliative care. We would also like to thank Dr. B. Penner and Dr. E. Keeper, as well as the rehab staff at Bethesda Hospital, Cancer Care Steinbach and Neurosurgery & Oncology staff at HSC.