Living, loving and laughing

Vibrant, spirited, joyful. The adjectives used to describe Yvonne (Cherry) Chase are the same words used to characterize the richness of her Caribbean culture and the way she lived her life in her adopted Canadian home.

The wife and stepmother was a dedicated nurse and a central figure of Winnipeg’s multicultural Folklorama festival.

Her parents, sister and many others called her Cherry, a term of endearment expressing the affection, warmth and cheerfulness she embodied.

According to her sister Andrea Grant, Chase packed in an extraordinary amount of living, loving, serving and shaping the lives of others.

“To me, Cherry was more than a sister. As the older sibling, and often my parents’ right-hand person, she carried the weight of responsibility with a character forged by duty, discipline and love,” Grant said.

“She was my mirror, reflecting on me a world of possibilities. She was witnessing me at my worst and my best and loving me anyway.

“She was tougher than mom and dad, and far more effective,” Grant continued. “At the time, I thought she was just being hard on me. Looking back, I know she was preparing me for the real world — and for that, I am deeply grateful.”

Grant said that her sister’s deep involvement with Folklorama had a lasting impact in many lives, including her own.

“I danced and sang alongside her and others in the Caribbean Folk Choir. She wanted to make sure I knew the richness and beauty of the Caribbean heritage,” Grant said.

While Grant did not always appreciate her big sister’s tough love in the moment, the values she instilled in her shaped who she is today.

“We did not always see eye to eye, particularly when traditional values met Canadian norms, where respect could be mistaken for silence, and something as simple as standing with hands on hips carried unintended meaning.

“She played a pivotal role in forming my attitude, aspirations and moral compass — values I hope I have passed on to my own children.”

Born in Jamaica, Chase (née Ballentyne) emigrated to Canada with her parents in the early 1960s. Her mother and father were educators who taught in several First Nations communities in northern Manitoba. In 1964, the family moved to Alberta and then to Manitoba, where she attended Brandon University and earned her registered psychiatric nursing designation. She pursued her calling as a nurse at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

Though Canada became her home, Chase never let go of her Jamaican roots. She lcherished the culture and values that shaped her, and she made it her mission to share that passion with others. The devoted member of Westminster United Church was involved in Winnipeg’s Folklorama festival from its start in 1970. With the Caribbean Pavilion, Chase served as musical director, choreographer and costume designer for the Caribbean Folk Choir.

Wife to Keith for 27 years and stepmother to Deborah, Hugh and Henderson, she touched countless lives with her kindness, laughter and joie de vivre.

Chase died on Oct. 16, 2025, at 81.

“Yvonne was a big part of Folklorama,” said longtime family friend Blue Hodges.

“In the kitchen helping to cook… she did it all. Yvonne was one of a kind. She touched a lot of hearts. She would always have something positive to say to people, something uplifting. At Folklorama she was always looking for the younger ones,” Hodges said. “She’d say, ‘Do not leave the young people out, they are the people of tomorrow.’”

Chase became renowned for reciting the works of Jamaican poet and folklorist Louise Bennett, accurately reproducing her Jamaican patois (dialect). While re-enacting Bennett’s performance of Noh Likkle Twang, a humorous poem about a Jamaican returning from a trip abroad without taking on an accent, Chase would first perform in the dialect and then repeat it in English, encouraging audience participation much to everyone’s delight.

“Everybody would stand up around her. She was amazing,” said Hodges, who would often tell her friend that she wished she had her energy and strength.

“You’d call her to do something — she never said no,” said Hodges. “Yvonne never complained. She was at the hospital but she never wanted anyone to feel sorry for her. She’d say, ‘Let’s not complain. Nobody’s gonna listen. Let’s keep moving.’

“She was somebody who inspired me. I looked up to her. She was always so positive. She touched your heart. There was no negativity,” Hodges said about her friend who had become an important part of her family.

When Hodges visited Barbados and didn’t know anyone there, she remembers her friend saving the day. Chase and her husband maintained a home there and showed Hodges and her friends hospitality with little prior notice, picking them up at the airport and welcoming them to a traditional feast upon arrival.

“She had the table spread and all the main dishes that we love from the island. Who does that? Without Yvonne we would have never seen Barbados. She and Keith took us to see the island. She made sure we were taken care of.”

Hodges remembers her friend bringing over treats at Christmastime, sitting at the head table and making everyone laugh with her jokes. Chase was greatly missed this past holiday season.

“We said a prayer for her. She’s missed in the association, at our tables and in our lives,” Hodges said.

Stepson Hugh Greenidge met his stepmother shortly before she married his father and remembers her gift of laughter.

“She was a very pleasant person with a jovial, good sense of humour,” Greenidge said from Barbados.

“She had me in stitches, as the saying goes. When they moved from a private home to the Parkway Retirement Community, they were there for six months and she’d become well-known for her outgoing nature. She liked to sit and talk and share stories.

“For my father, she was the go-to person,” he added. “She could be relied upon to make sure that everything was in order for him. She literally took care of everything.”

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca