Donald Peter Zueff

Surrounded by family and friends in the last days of his life, Donald Peter Zueff transitioned peacefully to the next realm in the family home the afternoon of Friday, October 18, 2024. 

Our family would like to extent a special thanks to Don’s dearest friend, Chad Bargenda, who played a big role in helping dad in his final days; the many musicians who attended the home, filling dad’s final days with love and music. We also want to thank Dr. Nick Vanrensburg for his personal care and attention to our father and family these past 25 years, as well as the Palliative Care Team, nurse Laura, with Dr Puff, for helping to ease dad’s final days. 

Don is survived by his three children, Stefan (Dianna), Eric (Shannon), and Heather (Craig); his seven grandchildren Alexander (Madison), Sofia, Michael, Antolie, Alissa, Abigayle and Austen; and his two great-grandchildren, Lily and Alianna. He is predeceased by his wife, Sigrid, his parents, Bill and Lena, and his two brothers, Michael and Walter. 

The following is not your usual obituary. It is an amazing tale of dad’s life, as shared by his children, and countless family and friends. We regret having to cut out many wonderful stories shared with us about dad, and we apologize if we missed speaking with anyone who would have wanted to contribute. Please share your stories in the comments section. 

Born to William (Bill) and Lena (Sofia) Zueff at the Gimli hospital, Don’s early years were spent growing up on the family farm in Fraserwood, Manitoba. Life on the farm was not ordinary or easy. Our father told us many stories but notably of the long winters when Bill had to be in Winnipeg, away from the family, to work and supplement the income required to survive while establishing the land. At one point his mother was hospitalized in Gimli after she broke her leg. This was the time Don learned to love to eat potatoes as that was all his father could cook for the entire 6 months she was away in care.

All the local farmers worked together, going from farm to farm, to bring in the harvest, always ending at the Zueff farm for the Harvest Dance as Gigi was the local bootlegger. At age 4, Don came to possess a toy violin, joining the musicians at the dance. His brother Wally, 13 years his senior, recognized Don’s love and natural talent immediately. At age 5, Wally gave his younger brother a gift that shaped his entire life and the wonderful circle of friends and family he ever received… Wally convinced their staunchly stern immigrant father from the USSR to get Donnie a proper violin and support his growth as a musician. 

No one remembers exactly when the second violin was purchased, but Wally was influential with that purchase as well. Sometime in the early 60’s, when an full-sized violin was needed, Wally argued with his father that the $750 violin was necessary for Don to continue with his music. That is $7830 today. Back in the 60’s this was quite a feat. Gigi finally accepted Don’s love of music when he learned how to play his favorite song from home, Dark Eyes.

Don never forgot the love his brother Wally showed him as they grew up. This act of brotherly kindness clearly started Don down the lifelong musical path that has touched countless other souls and inspired the next generation of Zueff musicians.

The family moved into the north end of Winnipeg when Don was 6 years old. He spent his youth exploring the North End on bicycle with cousin Beverly, generally driving Baba crazy begging to go buy food at the grocery store and using the change to buy candy, and continued to study music. Cousin Bev shared that Don had a paper route with the Winnipeg Tribune that she would help with. Don let her do the door-to-door collections as people tipped her better. 

As Ukrainian/Russian was only spoken at home, Don failed to learn English in grade one. Instead, he taught his classmates to speak Ukrainian/Russian. Consequently, the family decided to only speak English in front of Don, which lead to him forgetting his first language. 

From Dave Marnoch:

I remember telling Don early on in our friendship that we both grew up on Luxton Avenue so how did we not know each other? Well we moved from Luxton to Kenora in 1958 and came back to the same neighborhood in 1963. Don moved to Scotia and Luxton from the farm in 1958 so we just missed each other as kids. My best friend on Luxton was Ricky Wiens. Don said that he was his good friend too. The Wiens family moved away when dad Frank founded the St. John's Cathedral Boys School in Diniver north of Selkirk but we kept connections with them as has Don until now. 

So Don was a bit of a fish out of water back then. He was very thin as a child and it wasn't always easy. However he was so proficient at violin that the music teacher at St. Johns High School, who had been at Luxton School and knew Don from elementary grades insisted that he come to St. Johns for Jr High rather than Luxton which went to Grade Nine. This music teacher, Muriel Milgrim wanted Don in Grade 7 to play with the illustrious Senior High Orchestra so much, that she paid his bus fare to make it happen. But Don didn't know anyone at St, Johns - was taking the bus there usually - and must have been very busy with school homework and hours and hours on the violin. He achieved his Royal Conservatory standing by age 16 and was qualified to audition for any orchestra. 

I know he did become friends with some guys who were also friends of mine - classmates of his who respected his musical abilities. Two of them I knew as neighbours, Greg Black and Bob Fuhr. By the time they got to High School several of them including Henry Kriendler and likely Ben and Rubin Kantarovich would skip school and go to Bob's house to listen to records. Don was hardly aware of popular music at the time.

 "Miss" Milgrim was a big influence on many of us. Wpg. Sch. Div. # 1 was flush with musical instruments and programs due in no small part to the work of Mary Karadsh as a school trustee. Muriel Milgrim ran a Jr High Choir and Band, a Senior High Choir, Band and Orchestra and St. Johns was famous for its Gilbert and Sullivan and other light opera/operetta productions yearly, which featured many accomplished singers and players. The productions featured lead singers like Ed Smith, Burton Cummings, Belva Spiel, Lindsay Cronk, Jim Marnoch to name just a few, along with a big chorus on stage and the orchestra in the pit. The best instrumentalists were also in The Greater Winnipeg Schools Orchestra, also conducted by Miss Migrim and to which Don belonged since Jr. High. Mis Milgrim created a pilot Grade 8 Band Class homeroom with one daily period of band. She taught Burton Cummings how to play the flute. She would let Bob Fuhr as a Grade 9 kid play her piano in her classroom for a solid hour alone at lunchtime. We would sit in the hall and listen to him work his stuff out on that piano and develop his large, large talent. This was '65-'68, the height of the hippie era. St. John's High School was unique, The old building with its beautiful Theatre and Library was still in use. Many of us had stuff to get out of our systems. 

Sometime before '68 Don left home and lived with the hippies at 180 River Av. There he met Bob Purves who taught him how to play music without reading from the page. This was a defining moment for Don and he told me once that if he ever made a big score in music Bobby Star would get some of it because his musical freedom came from his hours with him - the ability to follow chords and create lead or harmony parts out of the chord structure.

I've been struggling to recall exactly when I met Don but it could have been through the Minty family - Dave Minty, Mr and Mrs and all the brothers and sisters - who lived down Scotia Street. Don and Dave's sister Colleen were great friends as teenagers and stayed that way. They wrote and recorded songs together until recently even though she lived in Saskatchewan. 

These are just some memories I have of Don and some people who were significant to him early on. He moved back home to Scotia Street and claimed the attic as his own domain. It was full of Russian zithers and stringed instruments - and a samovar. This was where the Chicken Flatt String Band was hatched with Don, Jim Marnoch and me, and John Paul Charowski. 

A favorite image I have from these times is from the last year at St. John's, Miss Migrim leaving the podium to accept a bouquet, handing the baton to Don who as first desk and concertmaster, conducted the orchestra in God Save the Queen, looking every bit the eccentric hippie conductor.

 Don you and Sigrid have lived a remarkably full life packed with adventures and accomplishments and there will be no end to the stories that we will hear and tell each other. The times I spent with you add up to the best times in my life.

Colleen Minty, another school friend, shared that Don was actually friends with her brother before her and one day, while waiting for her brother at their house, he heard her playing the piano. Don said something to the effect of “oh you like music”, that started their collaboration that survived Don’s entire life and beyond as Colleen (also Don’s son Eric’s godmother) continues to work on some of Don’s uncompleted music. 

Colleen still remembers the day when Don sat with her on the front steps of her house on Scotia St, saying he had to tell her something but that he didn’t know how. So, he just told me he had a girlfriend but that he still liked me and wanted to stay friends. She told him that they would stay friends for sure and to his surprise Sig and her became best friends. 

Don always said that his childhood friends Jim, Dave and Colleen were like his brothers and sister. All three are still intertwined deeply in our life today as true family. Jim eventually married Marylin (Sigrid’s cousin and best friend) and they later became Stefan’s (Don’s first son) godparents. Colleen became Eric’s godmother.

In his teen years, Bill and Lena were worried Don was turning into a hippy, so they shipped him off to live with Uncle Ralph & Aunty Ann in Kamloops, BC. All the family kids who were causing trouble were sent to Kamloops as Uncle Ralph, a prison guard, was a stern disciplinarian.

Cousin Val thought Don was 15 years old at that time he came to live with them. Out there he worked towards his grade ten violin in Vernon, BC and played with the Okanagan Symphony. Cousin Bev remembered how when she went to visit him over the summer he was so dedicated to his music studies that he would not skip lessons to hang out with the family. She also said that he stood up to his parents and said, “I am who I am, you can’t change that.”

It was during this time in BC that he got into an argument with one of his teachers about whether Gershwin was a worthy composer to admire. This disagreement was part of the spark that forever changed his musical style. The other was meeting Bob Purvis as Uncle Dave shared. 

 Don met the love of his life Sigrid in the 1960’s while playing in the Incandescent Saffron Jug Band with Bob Purvis. Sigrid accompanied her cousin Marilyn, who sang in the band, to every practice and gig. He would always tell the story of how early on in their relationship they spent their dates at a local diner playing pin ball. Sigrid fit right into Don’s hippie lifestyle. A talented artist herself, she was at home touring around with Don as he started his professional music career with the Chicken Flat String Band (still his favorite band until the day he died). 

In 1970, Don toured with Rick (Noof) Neufeld as a duo, playing local schools for the Manitoba Centennial. Noof shared that Don was the first to join his new band, Prairie Dog, in 1972. Prairie Dog made two albums, the first with members of 'The Guess Who' and then a live album in Brandon in 1975. In the summer of 1976, Prairie Dog played for the athletes at the Montréal Olympics. Prairie Dog also did several tv shows, including a national summer series on CBC called 'The Road Show'. Prairie Dog disbanded in 1978, but Don and Noof continued to perform together often, playing their final gig together in August 2024, at the Harvest Sun Music Fest in Kelwood, Manitoba.

Although Don continued to collaborate with Colleen and various musicians, he eventually chose to step away from being a professional musician when baby number three, Heather, was on way. He became a power engineer for the Canadian National Railway. 

Don and Sigrid raised their three children on a small homestead in La Coulee, just east of Ste. Anne, Manitoba, a small French farming community. 

They chose this location in order to gift their future children a second language, having both lost their first language (Sigrid never actually got to learn what should have been her first language as cousin Harold only spoke Icelandic when the men returned from the war, and his father only spoke English. Her family decided not to teach the future children Icelandic because of this). Don and Sigrid choose French as the second language because of the large francophone community in Canada; they thought it was the best option for future careers. Several friends at the time questioned their decision, as this was before French became an official language in Canada, but it was a good decision as both Eric and Heather use their French-language skills in their professional lives.

During the transition from professional musician to engineer, Don recalled a time when his music agent informed him that Kenny Rodgers was looking at one of the songs Don had written. It was down to two different songs, one being Don’s. Back in 1978 there was no internet, no cell phones, just snail-mail and a home party phone line shared between neighbors. After some time, Don got word that Kenny Rogers had selected “the other song” and had released Don’s song that was on hold. As Don was about to hang up with his agent he asked, “what song did Kenny go with?” The agent said “not sure, something about a gambler”. 

Although music was still a big part of Don’s life when his family was young, Don was 100% a family man, the best father any kids could ever ask for. He worked hard to support the family, allowing Sigrid to be the full-time caregiver until the kids were grown. He became a Scout Leader and St John Ambulance mentor when the youth programs needed volunteers. He even managed to sneakily help the Girl Guide unit Heather was in a few times, despite not officially being allowed to volunteer with the organization; going to such lengths as renting a campsite a site or two over so he wasn’t staying on site with the girls.

He worked side jobs to supplement the family income over the years: small engine repair, piano tuning, giving music lessons, all to provide his kids with the opportunity to have the greatest, most adventure filled childhood, with our own opportunities to learn to love the outdoors, and make our own lifelong friends. 

In 1997, Heather convinced Don and Sigrid to open their home to a live-in exchange student, using the logic that they could help someone else experience a year abroad since it wasn’t in the budget to send Heather away. Juliane Müller quickly became like a daughter to Don and Sigrid, a connection that was maintained until their last days. 

After his children were grown and out of the house, Don returned to musical world when he was asked to join the D-Rangers in the 2002, launching a second music career, not only with the D’Rangers, but several other musicians. There are several recordings that took place during this period that, to be honest, we don’t know if we know about all of them.

He also started Beausejour Music (lessons and basic supplies hard to acquire in a small farming community), which has had a lasting impact on the Canadian Music scene and inspiring several local up and coming musicians. Banned & Outlawed musicians, Jon and Daniel Hnatishins, shared how from the ages of 3 and 4, they learned to share their passion for music by taking lessons with Don, first on the fiddle, then the guitar and drums. They enjoyed hearing stories about Don growing up with the likes of Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, and of his experiences touring both in his first professional career with Prairie Dog, and his second with the D’Rangers. They were honored to have their news article shared with all the young musicians taking lessons at the store and were honored to have shared the stage with Don in 2017, at a gig in Zhoda, Manitoba.

Jay Aymar shared he met Don in 2012 through mutual friends. They realized they were kindred musical spirits the first time they played together and never looked back. Don’s playing perfectly complimented Jay’s songs. Jay credits Don as being the catalyst for writing his book and for recording a live cd.

On March 28, 2018, Don released his only solo album Widgetville at Times Changed, in Winnipeg. Most songs were written by Don, but there are a few that were co-written with childhood friend Colleen. The artwork was provided by long-time friend, artist/musician James Culleton, who has “hundreds and hundreds” of drawings and paintings of Don, as he was the first, and longest, model James used in his classes.

Don’s passion to further the Arts often had him receiving payment for his services through bartering. It’s a good thing Mom passed first, as she would have killed Dad finding out he accepted A&W burgers, something Jay had never experienced before Don, and beet borscht from James, in place of cash. This was no doubt a practice he learned from his father, who bartered his bootlegged vodka for goods and services on the farm and in Winnipeg. 

March 2, 2024 brought the most significantly impactful event of Don’s life when his partner in crime and wife of 53 years, Sigrid, passed away on a family adventure with her granddaughter Sofia and son Stefan. This was devastating to the whole family, but none more than Don. Don was in the middle of fighting liver cancer when Sigrid passed and often spoke of how much he missed her. There is no amount of thanks sufficient for Dianna, his daughter-in-law, notable from this point forward for the efforts she made to help Don feel comfortable living at home until he made the transition to be with his love. In the last week of his life, daughter Heather was by his side, as well his loyal cat Dina.

Don, Dad, always spoke of his final wishes. He wanted to cross at home, surrounded by friends and family. We were blessed to be able to give him this. 

Don passed peacefully in his bed at home, as he desired at 2:55 pm, on Friday October 18, 2024, in the presence of his family and longtime friend Al Simmons who was there playing the harmonica for him in his final moments. He is with Mom now.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Ukrainian Labor Temple, 591 Pritchard Ave, Winnipeg, MB, R2W 2K4, on Saturday, November 23, 2024, starting at 1:30 pm. Please contact Jaxon from the D-Rangers (204) 599-7612 if you would like to be added to the set list for the celebration of life. 

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Giving Tree or the Tune In free group music lessons provided by the West End Cultural Centre.

www.soberingfuneralchapel.com