Man shocked at passing of friend found dead on kayak trip in Manitoba
Dan Jorgensen, 59, found floating with life-jacket near Sturgeon Falls in Whiteshell Provincial Park
An Ontario kayaker found dead in a Manitoba lake last week is being remembered as a family-oriented outdoorsman who spent years serving the community of Kenora, Ont., as the city's police chief before he retired.
Dan Jorgensen, 59, of Keewatin, Ont., died Friday while paddling along Nutimik Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park.
"[It] was quite shocking," said Brian Forbes, a longtime friend who skydived with Jorgensen many times over the past 20 years. "He was a very avid, outdoorsy kind of guy … brilliant sense of humour."
Jorgensen left the Kenora area on his kayak on May 8. He was hoping to paddle the Winnipeg River west to Lake Winnipeg and finish in Gimli, Man., on May 19, a journey of more than 200 kilometres by kayak, Forbes said.
Jorgensen was checking in with Forbes and others every day through a Spot, a satellite-based device that sends GPS co-ordinates, brief messages and is capable of sending SOS messages in the event of an emergency.
Forbes received a Spot notification from Jorgensen on Friday afternoon, and that was the last he heard from him.
RCMP from Lac du Bonnet, Man., received reports of a kayaker in distress on Nutimik Lake Friday just after 8 p.m. CT. Conservation and RCMP officers went out in a boat and found Jorgensen dead in the water near the foot of Sturgeon Falls, an area with rapids that leads into Nutimik Lake. He was wearing a life-jacket, RCMP said.
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There aren't any signs of foul play, but RCMP continue to investigate the death.
'Honourable individual'
Kenora Mayor David Canfield said he'll miss Jorgensen, whom he had known for years.
I couldn't understand why he liked jumping out of perfectly good aircraft, but that was Dan- David Canfield
"Dan was probably one of the most honest and down to earth people I've known in my life," Canfield said.
Jorgensen started working on homelessness issues in Kenora near the end of his career as police chief and carried on the work in retirement.
"Just a tremendous volunteer … very honourable individual," Canfield said. "I couldn't understand why he liked jumping out of perfectly good aircraft, but that was Dan."
Skydiving from hot air balloon
Forbes said one of his favourite memories of Jorgensen was the time they skydived from a hot air balloon in California in 2010. Another relates to the 22 pushup challenge last year, a campaign that asked people to show their support for veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Participants across North America did 22 pushups each day for 22 days to raise awareness of the issue of suicide among veterans.
"Dan was the first person I ever knew that took on that challenge," Forbes said. "On one of the 22 days, we were at the drop zone and in free fall, Dan did 22 pushups ... in the air. He actually paused partway through to make it look like he was having trouble. For a skydiver it's very funny."
Jorgensen's original travel plan would've seen him arrive in Gimli on Friday on his 60th birthday. The plan was to go skydiving with Forbes.
While Jorgensen is no longer around, his children have invited Forbes along for a tandem jump in honour of their father.
