Obituaries

CHRISTOPHER SIMON LEBLOND

LIFE STORY

It is with deep sadness that the family announces the death of Chris, age 43, on January 16, 2026 at Riverview Health Centre after a courageous two and half year battle with cancer.

Chris is survived by his parents Ted and Nancy, his brothers Trevor (partner Melissa), Colin, Nick (spouse Allison, nephew Connor and niece Emma), and his girlfriend Nikki. He is also survived by numerous family members (aunts, uncles and cousins) in Winnipeg, BC, Ontario and the US, friends far and wide and work colleagues at Toromont (MB, Nunavut and Ontario).

Chris was born in North Vancouver, BC in 1982 with his early years being brought up in West Vancouver, BC and where he attended Chartwell Elementary school. He spent several wonderful summers and holiday events up at Cultus Lake with grandparents and extended family. Favourite activities were the Lindell Beach regatta, swimming and playing with his cousin Mike, getting up to lots of shenanigans.

He became a proud Manitoban in 1990 with the family move to Winnipeg where he grew up in River Heights and St. James. He attended Robert H Smith Elementary School where he met his life-long friends Matt, Billy and Chris. This was followed by River Heights Junior High and then Kelvin High School where he gradated in 2000 with a Kappa Sigma Certificate for honour standing, an award of excellence  in Geography, and a MB High Schools Athletic Association certificate and award for provincial badminton championships. Chris went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts (Geography) from the University of Manitoba in 2003. During his time at U of M, he became a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity where he had many long-standing friends and also met long-standing friends from the Alpha Phi sorority.

Summers were spent at the family cottage in Gimli where he loved to swim, fish, go to the local movie theatre and spend time with his close cousin Chris and family at Loni Beach. One of his first summer jobs was working at the Betel Home in Gimli. As an adult, he enjoyed visiting his Bracken cousins at Lake of the Woods, either at Touchdown or Fire Islands.

Chris worked for Brandt (John Deere) for nine years, here in Winnipeg and in BC where he lived in Langley from 2011-2013. He was hired by Toromont in the fall of 2014 where he worked in the Parts Department in Winnipeg. He was promoted in 2020 to Toromont’s Mining Support Division based in Concord, Ontario where he provided Parts Management to various gold mining sites – Meadowbank and Amaruq in Nunavut and lastly at Greenstone and Detour mines in Ontario. He made many work friends at these mine sites that supported him during his cancer journey.

Chris was an avid outdoorsman – he loved to hike, camp, snowshoe, ski, canoe, play golf and more recently, disc golf which became a passion during his cancer journey. He enjoyed attending Camp Stevens as a teenager with his good friend Matt including going on an adventuresome canoe trip; participated in Cubs and Scouts with his buddy Billy. He played golf (when time permitted) and especially loved the annual family golf day with hid Dad and brothers.  He enjoyed travel across Canada, trips to Mexico with friends, a Caribbean cruise with his family and lastly Hawaii with his brother Trevor.

In 2025 he met his wonderful girlfriend Nikki, and they enjoyed hiking and camping, golfing, visiting Buffalo Point and Elkhorn Resort, watching movies together and enjoying life’s quiet moments. He was an avid supporter of the Winnipeg Jets and Blue Bombers, attending many games with family and friends.

Chris was very close to his three brothers and enjoyed participating in many activities with them. He also loved keeping in touch with his west coast cousins, mine site colleagues and fraternity brothers and sorority sisters. One of his favourite things was hosting backyard parties and BBQ’s with friends at his home. He had several circles of friends that he socialized with, including the“tots” group (named after the voted ‘best breakfast potato’ – tater tots) which included Erin, Jo and Steve, Heather and CJ, Alex and others.  He also loved the mountains, and visited with his good friend Tina in Calgary on a few occasions for skiing or hiking.

Chris was a giving person and supported various causes both financially and as a volunteer. These included the United Way, Humane Society, and CancerCare Manitoba. In 2024/2025 he served as an Ambassador for the CancerCare Foundation of Manitoba where he attended,, volunteered, and participated in many of their activities in the fight to beat cancer. Late in 2025 he was accepted, as a Patient Partner, in the Co-mentorship for Patients, Investigators and Learners program (Co-PILOT) at the Paul Albrechtsen Research Institute at CancerCare MB where he met with students and was interviewed about his cancer journey.

A Celebration of Life will take place Sunday, May 3rd at 2pm at Breezy Bend Golf Club. Chris believed in giving back – to honour him, the family will be setting up a colorectal cancer memorial fund in the near future if people are interested in donating to this cause. His family will have details later this spring. His memory will live in our hearts forever.