In Loving Memory of
Clifford 
Hanks
age 97
He is survived by his nephews and nieces: June Steiner (Brian), Glen Hanks (Sharon), Lorne Hanks (Luda), Terry Hanks (Anna) and Diane Fix (Daryl) as well as their families. He is predeceased by his parents Ethan Andrew and Elsie Emeline Hanks (Phair), brother John Andrew Mervin Hanks (wife Leafa Annie Hanks), and great-niece Karen Leafa Steiner.

Died
June 17, 2025
Prairie View Lodge
Pilot Mound, Manitoba

Public Graveside Service
Monday, June 23, 2025
Valley Memorial Cemetery
La Riviere, Manitoba
1:30 p.m.

Reception to follow at the Pilot Mound Fellowship Club.

Donations in memory of Clifford may be made to 
Prairie View Lodge Foundation 
#26 424 Broadway Ave. W Pilot Mound, MB R0G 1P0.

Cliff Hanks, or Uncle Cliff, was first and foremost a farmer. He started his life on the family
farm in Londesboro, Manitoba, five miles east of Pilot Mound. He went to school at
Londesboro School until Grade 8. He said he’d have to get there early to chop wood for the
stove to heat the building before the teacher arrived. For most of his life he farmed, first
with his father, Andy Hanks, then his brother, Mervin Hanks, and finally with his nephews,
Glen and Terry Hanks.
Mervin used to say “You don’t work with Cliff, you work around him.” Cliff knew what he
liked doing and he did it tirelessly. He mostly liked cultivating and swathing, and when he
wasn’t doing those tasks or helping others, he’d be in Merv’s yard, maintaining and
improving the implements or anything else that needed doing. He was a gifted welder and
mechanic.
Cliff always drove a pick-up truck, and his trucks always featured a big diesel tank in the
back for the tractor, and a big hitch on the front. The hitch was for Cliff’s famous train. Cliff
liked to keep his own schedule when he worked in the field, which meant driving a tractor to
the field, pulling a cultivator, as well as, often, a tank of anhydrous ammonia fertilizer, and
at the back end, his pick-up. He would tell tales of occasional encounters with RCMP
Members who would occasionally caution him or, possibly, marvel at the spectacle of the
train. The countryside may never see the like of Cliff’s train again, and perhaps that’s for
the best.
Cliff never married. He mostly lived with his parents, and after his father passed away in
1966, with his mother, Elsie. He and Elsie looked after each other at the house Andy and
his sons built in Pilot Mound, which was always a gathering place for friends and relations
and visitors from near and far. After Elsie moved to the lodge and passed away in 1999, he
looked after himself.
Cliff was predeceased by his father Ethan Andrew Hanks, his mother Elsie Emeline Hanks

(Phair), his brother John Andrew Mervin Hanks (and wife Leafa Annie Hanks), and his great-
niece Karen Leafa Steiner. He is survived by his nephews and nieces: June Steiner (Brian),

Glen Hanks (Sharon), Lorne Hanks (Luda), Terry Hanks (Anna) and Diane Fix (Daryl). He is
also survived by his great-nephew Dan Mykeyev (Jennifer), as well as his children Rylan and
Lochlann; great-nephew Mason Hanks; and his great-niece Karen Pe’er (Kozlowski), as well
as her children Guy and Ayla.