SuperWalk for Parkinson's Disease

As I was walking this morning in St. Vital park, during the Superwalk for Parkinson's Disease, I was thinking about Leo Kristjanson. Leo died earlier this year, but he left quite a legacy behind. I remember visiting him in Gimli when he was working on renovating the old school. It was a beautiful building, built if I remember correctly in about 1908. Rather than see it bulldozed, he led an effort to renovate it in order to make it a historic building with a museum. Even while he had Parkinson's, Leo was there day after day, doing carpentry and all sorts of other things necessary for the renovations. Leo talked about communitarianism - people coming forward and building communities. He not only spoke about it, Leo particpated - big time.

One of my favorite stories about Leo Kristjanson was from when he was the President of the University of Saskatchewan. A new cancer centre was to be built. Leo appreciated the value of beautiful surroundings for people who are sick or dying. He made sure that the beds for patients at the cancer centre were on the side facing the Saskatchewan River, so patients had a wonderful view of the outdoors, the river and the river bank. Staff offices were located on the side away from the river. Beautiful scenery was vital for patients, and not so important for staff. It was characteristic of Leo to think about people in this way when planning the facility.