We regret to advise of the death of Sergeant Matthew “Mike” Mercredi, CD (Ret’d) in La Ronge, SK on 17 March 2010.
Mike was born in Fort Fitzgerald (now called Fort Smith) in the Northwest Territories in 1934. He left home at age 15 and joined the Canadian Army in Edmonton as a Sapper. After completing basic Sapper training at the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering in Chilliwack, BC he was posted to the 58th Independent Field Squadron in Germany in 1951. His athletic prowess was recognised early and he was employed within the unit as a Physical Training Instructor. Mike acquitted himself well as a boxer winning multiple Brigade and Command level championships between 1951 and 1960 including being the Canadian Army Heavyweight Champion for 1956 and 1957.
Mike served a tour in Egypt with the United Nations Emergency Force. In the mid 1960s he remustered to the Physical Education and Recreation trade and served as an instructor at their school in Camp Borden, ON. After 23 years service Mike retired from the Army in Winnipeg with the rank of Sergeant.
At age 40 he started university training that would lead to his later employment and passion negotiating on behalf of native communities, helping to provide jobs and to help his people improve their lives. Mike lived and worked the latter part of his life in La Ronge.
See also: Mike Mercredi’s Own Story