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Irene Dubé and her late husband were known for their massive monetary donations to the city’s hospitals, but she also knit hundreds of afghans and blankets by hand, and prayed over each of them for patients and strangers she’d never meet.
Those blankets went to beds at the Irene & Leslie Dube Centre for Mental Health in Saskatoon, and later the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital.
“She had boxes full,” said Steve Shannon, CEO of the Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation, who knew the Dubés for nearly two decades.
He still has his own, a Christmas give from Irene.
“I always cherish that afghan,” he said.
Irene, who along with her late husband Leslie Dubé gave millions for health care, mental health care, medical imaging and children’s care across the province, died at home on Tuesday. She was 89.
The couple gave roughly $10 million to a University of Saskatchewan medical library, along with millions more for the Dube Centre and the children’s hospital.
Shannon said the Dubés saw philanthropy as a calling.
“They saw giving … as their calling to do God’s work here on Earth,” he said. “That’s why they wanted their name up on everything — to remind you and I that we could make a difference too.”
He said they believed “sharing was good for the soul.”
“If everyone took away everything that they have supported over the years, and paused for a moment — that was their impact,” Shannon said. “None of these things would have been realized if it wasn’t for their gifts.”
Mental health was close to Irene’s heart. Shannon said Irene lived with mental-health struggles herself and spoke openly about them at a time when almost no one did.
“A small, frail little lady — kind, warm and not afraid to speak her mind,” Shannon said.
According to an obituary posted by the Saskatoon Funeral Home, Irene was born on July 25, 1936, in Wynyard, Sask., the ninth of 10 children for Sigrun and Baldvin Sigurdson.
Les started a produce importing business in 1967 and Irene worked as the bookkeeper, the obit says.
It says Irene took on larger roles as their enterprise grew and, “was Les’ partner in building the businesses.”
“Mom was a worker and tough as nails. There was nothing she would not roll up her sleeves and do herself, which brought the admiration of those she worked with,” her obituary reads.
Leslie and Irene were both named to the Order of Canada in 2017 in recognition of their philanthropy in health, education and their community. They also received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2008 and received honorary degrees from the University of Saskatchewan in 2007.