Scotties to honour longtime Sask. curling umpire

Curling was always a part of the lives of Bryan Rindal and his wife, Deanna.

“I was a university student in Saskatoon. My mom and dad had moved to P.A., so we went up there to curl. I bought a ticket like everyone does and this girl comes by and she looks and she goes, ‘You’re Bryan Rindal?’ and I go, ‘Yes,’ and she goes, ‘I’m supposed to marry you,’ and then she walks off,” Bryan recalled.

“My mom had been the junior curling co-ordinator and she knew Deanna and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a guy that you should marry,’ and I knew nothing of it.”

Rindal says it’s a heartfelt gesture that the Scotties Tournament of Hearts will pay tribute to Deanna’s life on Monday at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw. She was named the 2020 recipient of the Joan Mead Builder award.

“The game just meant everything to us, so neither one of us ever did this for recognition,” he said. “We did it for the love of the sport, love of community (and) love of the curling family.”

Deanna died on on Nov. 21 after a two-year battle with periampullary adenocarcinoma, a cancer similar to pancreatic cancer. She was 56 years old.

Bryan said she was first diagnosed in 2017 and underwent surgery and bouts of chemotherapy.

“Scans were coming back clear and then all of a sudden she started feeling not so good. Then the scan came back not very good and then it was really downhill quick after that,” Bryan said.

“We got a good year out of it after we sort of had to fight through all the battles and stuff like that and she made the most of it.”

Deanna made her mark on Saskatchewan’s curling community in a variety of ways but her work as an umpire is what the Canadian women’s championship tournament will be honouring.

Deanna, who was the CurlSask chief umpire at the time of her death, umpired many national and international events, including the 2015 women’s world curling championship in Japan.

Deanna started umpiring in 1987 and was set to play a major role at this year’s Scotties before her health began to fail.

“They always said she was firm but fair, impartial and all those types of things. I think it was a very wise choice, a good choice that CurlSask made. It’s just unfortunate she just couldn’t end up fulfilling the role,” Bryan said.

“She always said, ‘If you’re doing your thing and playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played, you don’t have to see me, I don’t have to see you, life goes on, we’re all friends and everything is good.’ So from that standpoint, I think that’s how she gained and garnered the respect of the curlers.”

Deanna was also trying to help make some improvements to the CurlSask programs, especially on the officiating side.

“I’m looking out (on the ice) and I recognize every one of those guys; they’ve been there a while. There’s just a point in time where you can’t do it anymore, so we need younger people coming up through the ranks to be able to do that,” Bryan said.

He said he’s expecting it to be emotional inside the arena when the tribute to his wife begins.

“She was a woman of great faith. Her church was important to her and she instilled that in us so we knew that you had to be strong,” Bryan said. “We always said life is for the living. Don’t forget the people that were important in your life but you also can’t sit and wallow. You’ve got to carry on.”

He also recalled a line he spoke at her funeral while reading her eulogy.

“I said, ‘What do you like about your office? Picture your office and why people like coming to your office,’ and I always said it was her laugh and her smile and that’s who she was,” he said.

The tribute is to take place before the 6:30 p.m. draw.