Tannis Richardson, one of Winnipeg\u2019s most prominent philanthropists and\u00a0organizers,\u00a0has passed\u00a0away at the age of 99.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a statement released by James Richardson & Sons, Limited on Tuesday, the organization described Richardson as a community supporter, highlighting her work in health care, charities, and the city\u2019s fine arts community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Richardson was born in Winnipeg in 1926, the daughter of Dr. Paul H.T. Thorlakson, the founder of the Winnipeg Clinic and a former chair\u00a0of what became\u00a0the Health Sciences Centre. She attended Gordon Bell High School\u00a0and the University of Manitoba, during which time she served as a Voluntary Aid Nurse during the Second World War. She\u00a0married\u00a0George T. Richardson in 1948, and both remained active within the Health Sciences Centre community in a variety of roles, including serving on its Board of Directors and extensive work with its foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tannis Richardson speaking in support of the WSO’s Sistema program in 2017. (PNN)<\/p>\n
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After losing her daughter Pamela to juvenile diabetes in\u00a01980, Richardson devoted much of her time to\u00a0supporting research into the disease, including the establishment of the local \u201cA Starry\u00a0Starry\u00a0Night\u201d fundraiser\u00a0in support of Breakthrough T1D (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes\u00a0Research\u00a0Foundation).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Richardson\u00a0was invested into the Order of Canada in 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A champion for the fine arts\u00a0<\/p>\n
Richardson was instrumental in Winnipeg\u2019s arts and culture community, providing support to dozens of organizations,\u00a0exhibitions,\u00a0and concerts.\u00a0She played a key role in the development of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and supported the development of its Inuit art collection in\u00a0Qaumajuq. Richardson was also a keen supporter of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra\u00a0and its Sistema programming,\u00a0as well as the Manitoba Museum, the Winnipeg Library Foundation,\u00a0Assiniboine Park,\u00a0Manitoba Opera, the Women\u2019s Musical Club of Winnipeg, and Rainbow Stage, among many others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are profoundly saddened at the passing of Tannis Richardson, a remarkable philanthropist, community leader, and champion of the arts,\u201d the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra shared on social media. \u201cWe are immeasurably grateful for her dedicated support of the WSO for more than seven decades. Her commitment to arts, culture, and community will leave\u00a0a lasting legacy\u00a0in our city.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Richardson is survived by\u00a0four children, nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tannis Richardson, one of Winnipeg\u2019s most prominent philanthropists and\u00a0organizers,\u00a0has passed\u00a0away at the age of 99.\u00a0 In a statement…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":{"0":"post-603957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winnipeg","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-winnipeg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}