ManitobaDozens of loved ones gathered at a North Kildonan church on Saturday morning to celebrate the life of a missing Winnipeg senior remembered as a kind-hearted family man, a dedicated teacher and lifelong learner.Earl Moberg, 81, was last seen leaving his home in Winnipeg’s River East area on Dec. 12, 2023 CBC News · Posted: Aug 09, 2025 5:24 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoBritt Moberg, whose father, Earl, went missing in December 2023, said a celebration of life service held at a Winnipeg church on Saturday has helped bring some closure to her family. (Gavin Axelrod/CBC)Dozens of loved ones gathered at a North Kildonan church on Saturday morning to celebrate the life of a missing Winnipeg senior remembered as a kind-hearted family man, a dedicated teacher and lifelong learner. Earl Moberg was last seen leaving his home in Winnipeg’s River East area on Dec. 12, 2023. Moberg, who was 81 at the time and had dementia, has still not been found and is believed to be dead. After months of searching and a push to change the emergency alert system for missing vulnerable adults, Moberg’s loved ones gathered to celebrate his life and share treasured memories.”There is a unique grief in losing a loved one that we have not yet found,” Rowandale Baptist Church pastor Jonathan Kroeker said. Brenda Moberg said Earl, her husband, was her “knight in shining armour,” and was known for his kind heart and gentle soul. This year would have been the couple’s 50th anniversary. Brenda Moberg said Earl, her husband, was her ‘knight in shining armour.’ This year would have been the couple’s 50th anniversary. (Submitted by Brenda Moberg)His daughter, Britt Moberg, said his family was “glad that his kindness, and his personality, that was able to stay with him even in his advanced dementia.”She said during Saturday’s service her father would have been happy to see so many loved ones and community members gathered.”It was really good to be able to finally come together with our family and the community to mourn my dad. I think it’s something that will really help us moving forward with our grief and help provide some closure,” Britt, who delivered a eulogy for her father, told CBC after the service. “It was really healing to have this time today.”Born in Winnipeg to Scandinavian parents in 1942, Earl Moberg was deeply proud of his Swedish heritage and had been learning to speak Swedish, his family said.He was also passionate about Manitoba, they said, and spent decades as a teacher in Indigenous communities across the province’s north.He was a loving father and grandfather to four children and four grandchildren. “To us, he’s our father, our husband, he’s our loved one. There’s just so much more to him beyond the missing person in North Kildonan,” said Britt Moberg. Family relaunches Silver Alert petitionThe Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, which was providing home-based care to Moberg when he went missing, deemed the disappearance as a critical incident — defined by the province as a case where someone using health-care services suffers “serious and unintended harm.”The day he disappeared, Winnipeg police issued a Silver Alert — a public notice issued for a missing adult who is considered vulnerable.His family has been advocating for changes to that emergency alert system ever since. Britt Moberg, left, says her father would have been happy to see how many loved ones and community members attended a celebration of life ceremony in Winnipeg on Saturday. (Submitted by Britt Moberg)In January, loved ones submitted a petition to the federal government, calling for a national strategy to issue cellphone notifications in Silver Alert cases, much like Amber Alerts currently issued for missing children.That petition, sponsored by Raquel Dancho, the Conservative member of Parliament for the Kildonan-St. Paul riding, amassed more than 4,600 signatures from supporters across Canada before Parliament dissolved ahead of the 2025 federal election. The family has now relaunched the petition, ahead of Parliament’s return next month.As of Saturday, the new petition had more than 2,800 signatures. Brenda Moberg said the hope is to collect about 6,000, and asked anyone who signed the earlier petition to sign the new one before Oct. 2. According to Public Safety Canada, most people with dementia wander at some point as their condition progresses. If not found within 12 hours, there is a 50 per cent chance a person with Alzheimer’s will be found injured or dead, the agency says. “We strongly believe that a national Silver Alert program needs to be part of Canada’s dementia strategy,” said Britt Moberg, adding such a program may have helped keep her father safe. “I want to continue to be a voice for my dad as long as I can.” With files from Gavin Axelrod
Ceremony brings closure for family of missing Winnipeg senior almost 2 years after disappearance
