Lynn Carol McManus was born on 23 April, 1947, to parents Raymond and Nancy and was raised on a farm near Milestone Sk. where she grew up enjoying both figure skating and piano lessons. After high school, Lynn took a lab tech course but soon realized it was not for her and went into nurses' training at the Regina Grey Nuns Hospital, graduating in 1971. Working in Regina and Calgary she eventually continued her education path in Edmonton and went back to school from 1978-1980, graduating as an Occupational Health Nurse.
Over the following years she continued to practice nursing in Calgary and then Vancouver. Lynn returned to Saskatchewan in 2002 to be near her father after he suffered injuries in a car accident. After her parents passed, Lynn was left the family farm, although she’d be the first to tell you she was no farmer.
Lynn was blessed with good health most of her life, enjoyed the symphony, the theatre and attending Rider games. She was dedicated to her profession and helping others until a freak accident in an airport left her with a broken leg and the need to be hospitalized for a full recovery. While still in recovery she accidentally fell again, breaking her wrist and requiring further care in Regina’s Hospitals, as well as reconstructive wrist surgery with plates and screws. Lynn spent an entire month at Regina’s Pasqua Hospital where she was grateful for everyone - nurses, doctors, cleaners, nutritional and therapy staff who were all instrumental in her recovery. Although she spent a lifetime of helping others heal, it wasn’t until she herself needed medical care within the system that she gained a whole new appreciation for the care given in our local hospitals.
Lynn started making donations to the Hospitals of Regina Foundation as a way of giving back to her community, with a fresh understanding of how every penny could be put to the best use within the local medical system. She enjoyed a wonderful relationship with several staff at the Foundation and met with them many times as a friend and an interested community partner. She particularly enjoyed lunches with our CEO and our Vice President, always eager to learn about the new priorities the Foundation was working on.
Lynn was personally invested in understanding the direction the hospitals were headed. This is because she wanted to have a real impact through her gifts. She met regularly with senior Foundation staff, as well as hospital staff in leadership positions to understand the priority needs of our hospitals.
Lynn was very generous to the Foundation during her lifetime, attending many events supporting the Foundation and donating more than $47,000 in support of campaigns supporting Trauma, Respiratory, the Eye Centre, Surgery and ER/EMS services.
Lynn had also begun planning a gift through her estate, intending to make one last transformational gift to the Foundation that would become her legacy to her community and her hospitals. She often discussed her plans during her regular lunches with Foundation staff, always insisting that this final gift would be her testament to how grateful she was for the care she and her loved ones had received in Regina’s hospitals and her “investment” in the health care of people in southern Saskatchewan.
For years, Lynn enjoyed her health and life, and greatly enjoyed traveling during her eventual retirement. When she passed away in June of 2018, her caring for life and community became apparent to all when she bequeathed the majority of her estate (farm land and investments) to the Hospitals of Regina Foundation. Her estate gift totalled an astonishing $2.4 million and will be invested in medical priorities in our hospitals for years to come. Lynn is a shining example of a life well lived and a legacy well left. Her caring and generosity will never be forgotten.