Winston Tyrone Forde

It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of Winston Tyrone Forde, who passed away on December 27, 2025 at the Red Deer Regional Hospital, aged 79. Winston was born in Bridgetown, St. Michael, Barbados on September 25, 1946. As a young man, he worked for the Barbados Postal Service and also taught. In 1966 he immigrated to the United Kingdom to attend nursing college. During his time at St. Francis Hospital and College of Nursing (Haywards Heath, Sussex), he met Leah Sieukaran Dass and made many lifelong friends. On September 22, 1973, Winston and Leah were married, and they subsequently immigrated to Ponoka, Alberta, Canada in May of 1975 to continue their careers in nursing.

In between working and raising a family, Winston found time for volunteerism and travel. Family vacations in Canada often took the form of multi-day car trips into the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, and the Alberta Badlands. International destinations included Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom. Winston was a longtime member of Ponoka United Church and volunteered there as well. He also helped organize the Mayor's Community Breakfast on a number of occasions.

Winston's 29-year-long career at Alberta Hospital Ponoka culminated with his role as Director of Education/On-site Coordinator for the Psychiatric Nursing Program. Winston retired in 2004 and he and Leah purchased an RV shortly thereafter. They drove as far East as Prince Edward Island and North to the Arctic Circle, took cruises to Alaska, the Panama Canal, and Polynesia, and also revisited the United Kingdom and the West Indies. In more recent years, RVing and international travel became less common in favour of smaller trips to and from Saskatchewan and British Columbia to spend time with close friends and their children Tanya and Jason.

Winston will be dearly missed by his wife Leah; children Marita Griffith, Tanya Forde, and Jason Forde; granddaughter Sasha Griffith; siblings Margaret Knight, Rosalyn Forde, Harry Forde, Kenny Forde, Oakleigh Knight, Ransford Knight, and Graham Knight; nieces and nephews Debbie Forde, Greg Forde, Shondelle Forde, Caroline Forde, Emmerson Forde, Karen Knight Keizer, Kemel Knight, Shanico Knight, and Royal Knight; and many more relations of the Carter, Fowler, Marshall, and Batson families; as well as many friends.

Winston was predeceased by his grandmothers Albertha Marshall and Palma Forde; mother Agneita Knight-Forde; father Newton Bovell; and sisters June Niles and Wendy Forde.

Memorial Donations in Winston's memory are gratefully accepted to any charity of your choice.

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