+34
Will Tishinski, 92, has become the largest cumulative donor in the Victoria Hospital Foundation's history with a gift of more than $531,000 honouring his late wife Mavis. The couple met at the Winnipeg hospital in 1956 and were married for 67 and a half years.
A 92-year-old Manitoba man has become the largest cumulative donor in the Victoria Hospital Foundation's history, with his latest gift of more than $531,000 made in memory of his late wife.
Donation Funds Mavis Tishinski Surgical Suite
Will Tishinski and his family unveiled a plaque Friday at Victoria Hospital honouring Mavis Tishinski, a nurse who spent three decades working at the hospital in south Winnipeg. The gift will fund upgrades to a minimally invasive surgical suite, now renamed the Mavis Tishinski Surgical Suite. The foundation said Mavis was among the first nurses trained in laparoscopic surgery at the hospital. Jessica Miller, CEO of the Victoria Hospital Foundation, called the donation transformational.
She said the couple's cumulative giving now tops $1 million. Miller said gifts of this size are rare. She said the couple's previous donations supported the Tranquility Trail, an outdoor space for mental health patients that opened in 2023, and a sensory lounge for patients living with dementia. The foundation said it hopes to renovate more surgical suites in the coming years, calling it one of its primary fundraising priorities going forward.
Miller said the Tishinski gift made that work possible. She added, This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the potential is, and we wouldn't have been able to do it without the Tishinski gift. The gift traces back to a chance encounter in 1956, when Tishinski was a fourth-year engineering student at the University of Manitoba. He was admitted to Victoria Hospital and met a student nurse on his ward.
Tishinski Recalls Hospital Meeting In 1956
Tishinski described that time as difficult. He said, It was kind of a dark moment in my life, because I had to write my final exams within six weeks, and I had a job that I didn't know I was going to be able to fulfill. Things were pretty bleak when I first got into the hospital. That changed when he met a young woman on his ward.
He said, There was this incredibly pretty student nurse, and of course it was Mavis. That's how it all started, and that's how I met her, and so a good thing happened in the end. Tishinski said he and Mavis both grew up in rural communities before moving to Winnipeg, where they met. He grew up in Roblin, Man.
Couple Shared Loneliness After Moving To City
, and she grew up in Gainsborough, Sask. He said, We were both very lonely. You're a country boy and you come into the city, everything is so new, and it applied to her, and it applied to me. He added, We kind of had the same loneliness, if I can use that term, and it was a good match because of that, because we satisfied the yearning for each other, and she was a wonderful person.
The couple married and remained together for 67 and a half years, until Mavis died in April at the age of 88. Tishinski said, She was a wonderful person. So, it was very easy to fall in love with her. He spent more than three decades working with Manitoba Hydro and retired from the position of vice-president.
He said, Mavis was a very kind, caring, compassionate person, and she was, I would term as, a perfect nurse. But more than that, she was a perfect wife, and that's where my life had changed. Tishinski said, I've always said that she was the best thing that ever happened to me. A photo of Mavis and Will Tishinski on the grounds of Victoria Hospital in Winnipeg in 2023 was shared by the foundation.
Please follow us on Google to support us
CTVNews 
CTVToronto:92-year-old becomes hospital foundation’s biggest donor, honouring late wife of 67 yearsThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Victoria Hospital Foundation Will Tishinski Mavis Tishinski Surgical Suite Donation Winnipeg Hospital
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
University of Manitoba ex-dean faces fraud charge, extradition process ongoingA former University of Manitoba law dean was arrested in France on a Canada-wide fraud warrant, raising questions about the extradition process due to potential French citizenship.
Read more »
Many Canadians support Carney’s airport privatization plan, poll findsA quarter of survey respondents aren’t sure, with support highest in Quebec and lowest in Saskatchewan and Manitoba
Read more »
Two men switched at birth in Manitoba each compensated $250,000 by provinceEdward Ambrose and Richard Beauvais were awarded payments in 2025, more than a year after Premier Wab Kinew apologized for the mistake
Read more »
17 tornadoes confirmed in Manitoba in 2026, one shy of provincial recordTwo more tornadoes have been confirmed in Manitoba this summer.
Read more »