Obituaries

BETTY JUNE ZUBECK
nee Betty June Pearn

Peacefully, after a long battle with intestinal cancer, it is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Betty June Zubeck on May 20, 2025, at the Poseidon Care Center in Winnipeg. Betty was 91 years old and would have turned 92 on June 13.

Betty spent her last 3 years living at the apartment block at 429 Westwood Drive in Winnipeg.

Betty was the beloved common-law wife of the late Leonard James “Jim” Smiley of East Selkirk.

Betty has one son, Gary Zubeck of Winnipeg and is also survived by her younger sister Irene Orr of London Ontario, who was very close to Betty. Betty’s faithful daughter-in-law is Caroline Doucette. Betty’s step-daughter is Kreesta Doucette, her husband John Taylor. Her step grandchildren include Callum and Aven Taylor Doucette. Her nieces and nephews include Thomas Orr, Karen Chapman, Peter Orr and Andrew Orr, all of Ontario.

Her predeceased family includes her parents Ella and Wilfred Pearn of Southhold Ontario and her older sister Donna Weaver of Victoria BC. And her brother-in-law Lorne Orr of London, Ontario.

One of three sisters growing up on a small mixed farm in Southern Ontario, Betty left school early to work in London Ontario where she met her first husband Steve Zubeck from Port Moody BC. Betty was a young bride and mother, and with Steve they moved frequently until settling in Winnipeg where the drier climate was better suited for her lifelong struggle with asthma.

Betty and Steve opened a small restaurant together on Pembina Highway in Winnipeg called Steve’s Grill where Betty was the hostess / waitress and Steve the cook. After a few years they moved to Charleswood where Betty worked at the Pancake House at Polo Park. Steve worked through several different jobs including swimming pool installation, selling furnaces and building houses which they sold.

Their marriage broke up after some 25 years. Betty met Jim Smiley who was a customer at the Pancake House and they were together until his passing 2021.

In Winnipeg Betty and Jim bought houses for resale in the St James area. They also purchased land in Traverse Bay Manitoba, initially as a summer vacation spot for their trailer. They loved the area so much that they bought property, built a year-round home and moved there permanently. Jim commuted back and forth to Winnipeg where he worked as a truck salesman at Wilton Ford while Betty worked as a cook and hostess at the local Birchwood Hotel.

Betty loved to keep her home beautifully decorated. Although not formerly trained, she had the eye of an interior decorator for elegant and tasteful décore. She liked to work in her gardens, which were also beautifully kept.

Together they were very active in social activities in the local Traverse Bay community. Betty was a devoted volunteer worker at the Senior’s Scene at Victoria Beach for many, many years. She loved line dancing with her friends at the club and attended church regularly. Betty and Jim had many close friends at Traverse Bay, including these special ones – Richard and Merilee Green, Carol and Bill, Larry and Linda Holden, Agatha Wren, Cecil and Diane, Julie and Gill, John Unruh.

Her caring friends at the Westwood apartments included: Linda Cameron, Hilda, Margaret, and “The Two Susans”.

Betty has a gravesite beside Jim Smiley at the Victoria Beach cemetery, which is where her cremated remains will be interred.

Never forgotten
Forever missed
Forever in our hearts