Harry Lehotsky
My friend Harry Lehotsky has just passed away in the last day. Harry was well known in the Winnipeg area for his undying advocacy for the inner-city of Winnipeg. Harry was one of those people who you never forget! His insight on social justice and the inner-city was very compelling and I was fortunate to have spent a few years learning from him. Harry used to say that he hated all those Christian songs that talked about seeing God in nature and having "mountaintop" experiences. Harry told me that his "mountaintop experience" with
God was found in the alley ways and the inner city streets. That is where he saw God. That is where he experienced majesty and grace. Harry believed in God's lifechanging and transforming power. He believed that power could transform his neighborhood and that is what he stood for. He will be missed and he is loved. To read more see this article!
Well done, faithful servant'
Pastor took on West End's ills, dedicated his life to curing them
Sun Nov 12 2006
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Surrounded by family, Lehotsky died early Saturday of the terminal pancreatic cancer he had been battling since he was diagnosed in May. He was 49.
Lehotsky, a pastor and a founding member of New Life Ministries at 514 Maryland St., champion of Winnipeg's poor and advocate for inner-city renewal, was remembered Saturday by friends, politicians, community leaders and people he had helped.
Trudy Turner, executive director of the West End BIZ, said "the community has lost an icon.
"He has done more for this community than any other single person has. The fact he was so outspoken and so willing to be Harry, regardless of the fallout of it, it really gained him so much respect in the community.
"Whether you agreed or disagreed with him, you always knew where he stood."
 | Funeral on Wednesday
THE funeral for Rev. Harry Lehotsky will be held Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 10:30 a.m., at Calvary Temple on Hargrave Street. If people want to make donations in Lehotsky's name to New Life Ministries, they can contact Rev. Larry Gregan at 775-9147. |
"But Harry had a very vital part of the whole picture," Gregan said.
"The ministry Harry started reflects a lot of Harry's thinking and action. He really was about renewal of life. The word 'ministries' was put there on purpose."
Lehotsky, in an interview after his diagnosis, said he wasn't afraid of dying.
"I get to meet the person I've been working for all these years. I hope he's (God) going to say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' "
Gregan said after Lehotsky made his diagnosis public, he was amazed to see individuals and organizations not only come forward to help complete what he started, but to put his initiatives on a solid footing to continue long after he was gone.
In the last few months, the provincial government announced the creation of the Rev. Harry Lehotsky Award for Community Activism, a group of businessmen held a fundraising dinner to help pay off the street ministry's debts, and a large mural depicting Lehotsky and his work was finished by the West End BIZ.
Mayor Sam Katz, who a few months ago announced the city had created a $5,000 scholarship to honour Lehotsky, called him "a great man.
 PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Harry Lehotsky |
The city's scholarship will be given annually to one or more students between the ages of 18 and 30 who show a commitment to the West End through volunteer work or community leadership.
In a written statement Saturday afternoon, Premier Gary Doer said Lehotsky "forced all of us to be honest in our discussions of how to address the many issues facing society and our communities."
Lehotsky was a fresh graduate from the North American Baptist Seminary 24 years ago when a group of Baptist ministers urged him to come to Winnipeg's inner city and become a founding member of New Life Ministries.
He not only ministered in the inner city, he also lived there with his family.
Joan Hay, an aboriginal leader in the Spence neighbourhood and co-ordinator of House of Opportunities, a faith-based agency, said she met Lehotsky through his work with Lazarus Housing. Hay said she also worked with Lehotsky on the Clean Sweep advisory committee.
"It takes a community effort to rebuild our community and he was one of the leaders," she said.
"He was always looking for opportunities to improve our neighbourhood. He was an important part of helping our community, but the good work he did will continue to move on."
Winnipeg police Det.-Sgt. Harry Black first met Lehotsky several years ago when the officer began community policing in the West End.
 WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS archives Tory candidates Lehotsky and Mary Richard hold news conference in 1999. |
"We worked closely together and he helped tell me where the crack houses were in the area. It's just too bad... He was such a young man."
Lehotsky is survived by his wife, Virginia, and three sons.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
 John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press About 75 worshippers gathered Saturday night at the Ellice Theatre to honour Rev. Harry Lehotsky. |
 Marc Gallant / Winnipeg Free Press archives Lehotsky, in front of Maryland Street homes, campaigned for more and better housing for the inner city�s poor. |
HARRY LEHOTKSY: INNER-CITY ANGEL
Rev. Harry Lehotsky, a founder of New Life Ministries at 514 Maryland St., passed away Saturday.
* Lehotsky was raised in New York City, where with his parents he attended the church of Walter Rauschenbusch, known as the Father of the Social Concern movement in America, in that city's Hell's Kitchen area. As a teenager, Lehotsky rejected his family's values. After winding up in hospital after a drug overdose, he devoted his life to God.
* Lehotsky went to North American Baptist College, now Taylor University College, and later the North American Baptist Seminary. He graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 1982.
* Shortly after graduation, Lehotsky was leading a workshop on urban ministry at the North American Baptist conference in Niagara Falls when several pastors from Winnipeg encouraged him to start a church in their city's West End.
* In Nov. 1983, Lehotsky and his wife Virginia began holding Bible studies in a home on Ellice Avenue. In Feb. 1985, a decision was made to hold worship services there.
* In Oct. 1986, the group moved into 514 Maryland St., and became New Life Ministries, a North American Baptist Conference church.
* Lazarus Housing was founded in 1997. The non-profit company bought and renovated derelict homes, former drug houses and gang hangouts. It renovated more than 100 units of housing.
* Nehemiah Housing was begun in 1998. The non-profit property-management company rented out suites with rent control in renovated buildings to the working poor and people on social assistance.
* Connect 2 was created as a free, private voice-mail box service to help West End residents without phones get jobs.
* West End CIA is a grassroots community council credited with shutting down drug houses, stopping prostitution, and reporting on gang crimes in the area.
* Ellice Cafe and Theatre opened last year to help provide volunteer and employment training.
Reaching out and speaking out
Rev. Harry Lehotsky's expressions of faith were strong, as were his political opinions:
'This is an offence to common decency. Why are we talking about licensing prostitution? It's almost like prostitution will become a career-day option in schools'
-- On the City of Winnipeg studying in 2001 the prospect of licensing escort services and massage parlours
'We've got little clumps of kids causing a lot of damage. They walk around here with baseball bats and they're stealing purses or bikes, and they get more and more heady each time they get away with this stuff. It just keeps going and no one knows how to stop it'
-- On why the Youth Criminal Justice Act was not adequately curbing youth crime
'Basically, I don't feel that the city and province have made enough progress in regards to housing revitalization in the inner city until we're renovating more than we're demolishing'
-- On why he decided to found Lazarus Housing, which focuses on rehabilitating core-area homes for low-income earners
'Some of these kids are living in a household of drunks, but because one person is 12 years old, they're deemed old enough to look after any young ones. We've got to crack down on those situations'
-- On why a citywide curfew for youth might be a good idea
'I'm no different from anybody else. We all got our stuff'
-- On his suicide attempt 15 years ago
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posted by Michael Tkachuk @ 7:50 PM
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