2023 Order of Merit
Albert Paziuk
Albert Paziuk was elected to the board of Ethelbert Credit Union in 1977 and, in the ensuing 46 years, has grown to become a committed and innovative leader, both in his community and the credit unions he has served.
Elected President in 1989, Albert led the Ethelbert board through the 2013 amalgamation with Roblin and Dauphin Plains credit unions, which created Catalyst Credit Union. Five years later, as a Catalyst director, he again played an integral role as Catalyst and Vanguard came together to form Fusion Credit Union. He was elected to Fusion’s inaugural board, where he served until retiring in 2023.
Throughout his credit union tenure, Albert has been an enthusiastic learner, particularly in the areas of governance, policy, board oversight, privacy, accounting, board assessments and cyber security. He received his Credit Union Director Achievement (CUDA) designation in 2016 and became an Accredited Credit Union Director in 2017 — upgrading his education along the way through numerous courses and attending dozens of seminars, Directors Forums, national CCUA conferences and the Credit Union World Conference. As a director, he has chaired or sat on his credit unions’ Policy, Nominating and Governance, Human Resources and Compensation, and Building committees.
Albert’s deep commitment to cooperative values is reflected in the energy he has devoted to his community, both on the boards of organizations and as a hands-on volunteer. He was a member of the Ethelbert Curling Club for more than 30 years, with stints as president, vice-president, draw master and icemaker. He has been a driver for Ethelbert Volunteer Ambulance, fought fires with the Ethelbert Volunteer Fire Department and groomed trails for the Intermountain and Dauphin & District snowmobile clubs. In 1995, he was appointed by the province for a one-year term on the board of Ethelbert Sunnyside Lodge, a facility that provides accessible apartments to ensure seniors can continue to live safely in their rural home community.
A graduate of Ethelbert Collegiate, Albert attended Brandon University and Assiniboine Community College before returning to Ethelbert to take over the family farm. He and his wife Doreen have two sons and four grandchildren. For fun, he enjoys snowmobiling, curling, quadding, golfing, hunting and fishing.
Albert requested that the $1,000 bursary attached to his Order of Merit award go to a student graduating from Ethelbert School with high scholastic performance, who is continuing their education at the post-secondary level. The award was presented to Morgan Barschewsky of Pine River at convocation last June.
Dave Abel arrived in Transcona in 1973 and immediately became active in the community. A strong proponent of cooperative and credit union principles, he joined Casera (formerly Transcona) Credit Union in 1981 and was elected to their board of directors in 1985. He was named president in 1995 and served in that capacity for nearly 20 years.
Among his many achievements at Casera, Dave is particularly proud of launching the innovative Titan Credit Union, a key component in the Life/Work Transitions 40S course at Transcona Collegiate from 1997 to 2021.
From 2003 to 2014, Dave served on the board of Credit Union Central of Manitoba as District 4 director. His contributions to CUCM included work on the Audit, Level Four Credit and Human Resource Advisory committees. He was regional delegate to the Co-operators and represented the Manitoba and Alberta credit union systems on their board from 2013 to 2016, and also chaired the Directors Forum planning committee for a time.
Dave put his governance and financial expertise to good use in the community as well, as a director — and often treasurer — for the Manitoba Electrical Museum and Education Centre, St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, St. George’s Anglican Church, Treherne Kinsman Club and the Manitoba Society of Training & Development.
He was a founding member of 10th Transcona Scout Group, serving as a Cub and Scout leader for 25 years. He coached girls’ soccer, was assistant equipment manager for the Transcona Nationals football club and supervised municipal elections as senior official for East St. Paul. Dave’s dedication to cooperative principles is well demonstrated by his work as one of the 14 founding members who established the Park City Meadows Housing Co-op in 2001.
Dave’s devotion to his home community has not gone unnoticed: in 2017, he was given a rare honour, when the City of Winnipeg officially dedicated Dave Abel Park on Harold Street in Transcona.
Dave and his wife, Norma, have two children. As well as cherishing time with family, winters spent in California have become a big part of their life together. True to form, in 2020, Dave became treasurer of the Ranch Club Palm Estates Homeowner’s Association in Palm Springs.
Dave has asked that the $1,000 bursary attached to his Order of Merit award go to a student graduating from Minnedosa Collegiate (his alma mater) who is pursuing post-secondary study in Nursing, Business or Agriculture. The award was presented to Jada Brust.
Dave Abel
Reg Penner
Reg Penner was posthumously honoured with the Manitoba Credit Unions Order of Merit shortly after his untimely passing in March 2023.
He served on the board of Steinbach Credit Union for 21 years, seven of them as chair and as a significant contributor to the Large Credit Union Coalition’s innovative work. He is remembered as a mentor to every director on SCU’s board, spending extra time to ensure new directors would be successful. He did this quietly and privately, without fanfare; his only reward was seeing someone rise to their potential.
Reg exemplified credit union values, both around the board table in and in his personal life — a life of cooperation and commitment to community. His work with the board and tireless volunteer efforts drove excellence and results, not only for Steinbach Credit Union but also in the wider community. Those who knew Reg best describe him as a dedicated, community minded, strategic, forward-thinking philanthropist who served with humility.
In addition to SCU, Reg devoted many hours to Partners Worldwide, a faith-driven network of businesspeople working to end poverty for good. As a member of the Business Affiliate volunteer team, he travelled to Ghana in 2022 to provide expertise and support to the Alphamaga team through their annual planning process. He was also asked to be the keynote speaker for an organization called Power to Change on his last trip to Mexico. Their organizational vision was inspiring to Reg as they encouraged Canadian businessmen to engage with community leaders in developing countries. Reg considered it a privilege and a responsibility to share his business and leadership insights with people in a way that was inextricably linked to his faith in God.
Closer to home, Reg was chair of the Steinbach Fly-In Golf Course board from 1983 to 1993, where he helped stabilize the club’s financial position as it introduced a new state-of-the-art irrigation system, built the first club house on Park Road and evolved to become the popular destination it is today.
Together with his wife Ingrid, Reg was also a generous and keen supporter of Steinbach Community Outreach. As head of the building committee, he helped raise more than $1.4 million for The Bridge, a 24-unit affordable housing building that will be owned and operated by the organization when it opens in late 2023. He also welcomed homeless individuals and families to a property he owned, as a safe place to temporarily set up camp while Steinbach Community Outreach helped them make the transition from the streets to permanent housing.
In 2020, following his retirement from Penner Farm Service — the business he led for more than 40 years — Reg was able to spend more time in his role as chair of the Steinbach Mennonite Church board and as a leader in his church family.
Reg is survived by his loving wife of 44 years, Ingrid (Dyck), his daughter Kara and husband Tim Fehr and his granddaughters, Kailyn and Hannah.
Reg’s family requested that the $1,000 bursary attached to his Order of Merit award go to a student graduating from Steinbach Christian School who is continuing their education at the post-secondary level. The bursary was awarded to Trace Hiebert of St. Pierre.