Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
Residents in Neepawa this week are mourning the loss of a man who helped put the community on the map, thanks to his longtime love affair with lilies.
Barrie Strohman, one of the founders of Neepawa's Lily Festival, died of cancer Friday morning just hours before this year's festival got underway.
The 79-year-old spent the bulk of his life as a contractor, running his own construction business. But as the Winnipeg Free Press reported on Monday, Strohman's love for lilies had germinated long before that.
"He said it started as a kid," Strohman's longtime friend Ivan Traill said. "One day he found a tiger lily and brought it home, and said it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen."
This part-time hobby eventually turned into full-time work when Strohman retired. After starting up the Lily Nook with his son in 1995, Strohman developed thousands of his own unique strains of the flower, most of which are still developing. The business itself is renowned for having the largest collection of named lily varieties in North America.
His hybrid varieties have been sold as far away as Europe and Brazil, and as a result he has earned national and international recognition.
Thanks in part to his efforts, Neepawa can rightfully claim the title of the lily capital of the world. The community festival has now become a lasting and blooming legacy of Manitoba's own Lily King.
We believe the organizers will continue to tend it well.
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition July 28, 2010 A6
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Residents in Neepawa this week are mourning the loss of a man who helped put the community on the map, thanks to his longtime love affair with lilies.
Barrie Strohman, one of the founders of Neepawa's Lily Festival, died of cancer Friday morning just hours before this year's festival got underway.
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Residents in Neepawa this week are mourning the loss of a man who helped put the community on the map, thanks to his longtime love affair with lilies.
Barrie Strohman, one of the founders of Neepawa's Lily Festival, died of cancer Friday morning just hours before this year's festival got underway.
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