Colleen Gerwing

COLLEEN GERWING grew up on the family farm near Lake Lenore, Saskatchewan, a creative and adventurous child with a wonderful imagination. She was Annie Oakley; she was an NHL hockey player; she trained crows and told scary stories.

Her first job at Waskesiu began a life-long love of Prince Albert National Park. She studied recreation technology at Kelsey Institute of Technology in Saskatoon and worked in Rosetown and Hafford and then at the Saskatoon Boys and Girls Club for some years. In 1977, she attended the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming. She worked as a guide at Algonquin Park, and in the 1970s, she had a small company called Wilderness Trips for Women.

Canoeing, cross-country skiing, horseback riding, winter camping: Colleen loved being out in the natural world, often by herself. She began her work with Parks Canada at Fort Walsh near Cypress Hills and at Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, but mostly worked at her favourite place, Prince Albert National Park. Grey Owl, the naturalist, was one of her heroes for all his flaws, and she became friends with his wife, Anahareo, and their daughter, Dawn. In winter, Colleen studied French in Quebec or German in Germany and Cree in Saskatoon. She was a wonderful painter and favoured painting paddles and rocks as well as canvases.

Although Colleen survived her first bout with cancer, it came roaring back and took her quickly. She died peacefully at home on April 20, 2021, at the age of 58.