Manitoba

Public celebration of life announced for Sea Bears' Chad Posthumus

The family of Chad Posthumus has announced a public celebration of life to honour the professional basketball player, captain of his hometown Winnipeg Sea Bears, who died last week.

Event will take place Dec. 6 at Springs Church on Lagimodiere Boulevard

A basketball player in a teal jersey holds a ball and crouches in preparation for a shot.
Chad Posthumus died on Nov. 20, less than two weeks after suffering a brain aneurysm on Nov. 9. (Winnipeg Sea Bears/seabears.ca)

The family of Chad Posthumus has announced a public celebration of life to honour the professional basketball player, captain of his hometown Winnipeg Sea Bears, who died last week.

The event will take place Dec. 6 at Springs Church, 595 Lagimodiere Blvd., starting at 3:30 p.m., says a post on the Sea Bears' Instagram page.

Posthumus died on Nov. 20, less than two weeks after suffering a brain aneurysm on Nov. 9.

He underwent surgery, but there were complications that left him in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

The Posthumus family, in a statement released by the Sea Bears the day after Chad's death, said he died from "a catastrophic stroke as the result of surgical complications."

He was 33.

The six-foot-11 forward was born and raised in Winnipeg and played high school basketball for the River East Collegiate Kodiaks.

He was the first signing in Sea Bears franchise history, after the team joined the Canadian Elite Basketball League in 2023, and most recently served as team captain.

Prior to the Sea Bears, Posthumus played with the Canadian national basketball team and the CEBL's Saskatchewan Rattlers, helping lead that team to the first-ever championship in the league's inaugural 2019 season.

He signed on with the CEBL's Ottawa BlackJacks in 2021 and spent two seasons there, becoming the first player in CEBL history to post a "20-20" after recording 23 points and 20 rebounds.

In lieu of flowers, the Posthumus family has asked people to consider a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or "future community initiatives to be established in Chad's honour."