Daniel James Old
December 16, 1942 - August 31, 2024
A fiercely intelligent human being who cared very deeply about the planet, Daniel J. Old died on the final day of August in the comfort of his home in Winnipeg's River Heights.
Dan, as most people knew him, was a father and a thinker, an inventor and a tinkerer, in addition to being a former geography professor. He was brilliant, creative, uncompromising and passionate about the need to do his part to protect the natural world and stave off the impacts of climate change upon the environment. He lived his life on his own terms in ways that could seem decidedly eccentric in the moment, but were often simply decades ahead of his time.
Dan was born in Brandon. His father Arnold Old, who most people called Hon, was a CP railway engineer who served in the Second World War. His mother Frances (Watkins) Old was a homemaker who loved to entertain.
Dan was passionate about football in high school, helping to found the player-led Brandon Krugers and tearing up the field as their halfback and team captain. He later served as head coach and team president.
He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree at Brandon University, where he met Doreen Frazer and fell in love. The young couple married in 1965. They soon moved to the Chicago area, where Dan studied geography at Northwestern University and their daughter, Marnie, was born. Dan achieved a Master of Science degree and completed studies toward a doctorate.
The family then moved back to Winnipeg in 1970, where their son Jason was born. Dan became a geography professor at the University of Manitoba.
But Dan's true passion lay in their house on Ash Street. After years of eco-conscious renovations, the original structure burned down in 1988. Freed from the constraints of the inefficient first foundation and frame, he rebuilt from the ground up with the determination it would have even less of an impact on the environment, incorporating forward-thinking innovations of his own that are becoming widespread today.
He designed the upper south-facing windows to resemble a vaulted greenhouse to convert sunlight into heat. He installed a natural lawn decades before that became an accepted practice, collecting seed pods from roadside ditches to re-establish indigenous plants. Dan enlisted youths in River Heights, including Jason's friends, to assist him in the construction effort, forming connections with the community even as some neighbours lacked enthusiasm for his unconventional project.
Dan never left his unique home, whose treed lot eventually obscured its façade from view. He passed away peacefully in his sleep with a box of cookies at his side, surrounded by his treasured trove of thousands of books.
Dan was predeceased by his parents and his sister Patti Jordens. He is survived by his brother Marty and his ex-wife Doreen. While the couple split in 1982, they became neighbours and Doreen helped look after Dan in his final years, with the help of her second husband, Don Phimister.
Dan leaves behind his daughter Marnie and her husband Ewan, who divide their time between Philadelphia and Fairhaven, New Brunswick; and his son Jason in Winnipeg, along with his wife Kara and their children, Owen and Sadie.
In lieu of flowers, plant something, preferably something native to this ecosystem.
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