Stretch of downtown Winnipeg street renamed after 'hometown hero' Chad Posthumus

CBC News

· Posted: May 16, 2025 1:32 PM EDT | Last Updated: 19 minutes ago

A thoroughfare successful downtown Winnipeg has been fixed an honorary sanction successful representation of Chad Posthumus, the Sea Bears hoops team's precocious captain, who is being remembered arsenic a beacon of airy connected and disconnected the court. 

Donald Street, from Portage to Graham avenues, was officially fixed the commemorative sanction Chad Posthumus Way astatine a ceremonial connected Friday.

Mayor Scott Gillingham presented the motion with the honorary sanction to Posthumus's family, including his parents and siblings, earlier crews hung it connected a airy rod extracurricular the Canada Life Centre. 

"Chad was successful galore ways a larger-than-life individual," Jessie Posthumus, Chad's brother, told reporters.

"To spot his sanction going up successful specified a salient spot of honour … conscionable keeping his bequest going is truthful important to me."

The Canada Life Centre is the arena wherever the Sea Bears play home games and wherever Posthumus "thrilled crowds, made a batch of fans and had an interaction connected a batch of people," Gillingham said.  

"The determination conscionable seemed to beryllium precise fitting," the politician said. "We wanted to find a determination that truly represented Chad.

"He was the look of the Sea Bears, a hometown hero, an anchor for the team." 

Posthumus was the archetypal subordinate to motion with the Sea Bears aft Winnipeg got a Canadian Elite Basketball League squad successful 2023.

He underwent country successful November aft suffering a encephalon aneurysm during a grooming session. Complications near him successful captious information successful the intensive attraction unit. He died little than 2 weeks later.

Posthumus was 33 years old, the aforesaid fig helium wore connected his jersey arsenic squad captain. 

"Chad was a existent leader, connected and disconnected the court," Winnipeg Sea Bears President Jason Smith said astatine the unveiling ceremony, held connected the aforesaid time the squad is launching its 2025 season. 

"Whether it was moving our younker camps successful underserved communities oregon helping repaint the Mayfair [Recreation Centre basketball] tribunal connected a sweltering blistery time …  Chad showed up fully, humbly, and ever with each of his heart."

Smith said Posthumus would enslaved with his teammates astatine the commencement of grooming camp, making the play consciousness "officially underway" with infectious vigor and optimism that turned him into a beacon of positivity for everyone astir him. 

"To suffer idiosyncratic similar Chad, truthful young, truthful afloat of life, is simply a calamity that words tin ne'er afloat capture," Smith said. 

The honorary sanction serves arsenic a reminder that Posthumus's bequest didn't extremity with his past game, Smith said. He hopes Posthumus tin proceed to beryllium an inspiration for children successful "the metropolis helium loved and was truthful arrogant to beryllium from." 

Since Posthumus's death, determination person been respective different tributes successful his memory, including scholarships from Basketball Manitoba successful his name, the renaming of the Winnipeg Minor Basketball skills contention into the Posthumus Family Hoopfest, and donations raised with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

"In Chad's clip connected this earth, helium managed to interaction the lives of truthful galore people, and due to the fact that of this, galore successful the assemblage person wanted to springiness back," Jessie Posthumus said.