Pudloo Mingeriak passes away

SEAN MCKIBBON
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT— The vice president of Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Pudloo Mingeriak, died at the Baffin Regional hospital last week from a cancer that friends say he had been battling for some time.

The 45-year-old Mingeriak passed away July 14, having fallen unconscious two weeks before. His cancer had been in remission until May according to QIA executive director Peter Ma.

“One hardly knows what to say on the death of someone in the prime of life,” Ma wrote in a press release the day after.

“He was an all around good citizen,” said Goo Arlooktoo, citing Mingeriak’s membership on a variety of boards and committees including the Co-op and Hunters and Trappers Association in Mingeriak’s home town of Kimmirut. “He was always very active in the community.

Mingeriak was also involved with the Nunavut Trust, the Baffin regional Hospital Board, Nunavut Tungavik Inc. and Pathways.

“It was quite a shock to everyone,” said Kimmirut Mayor Mickey Akavak. “He was always very organized and energetic.” Akavak said that many of the bylaws he deals with every day were first signed into being by Mingeriak, who was once mayor of Kimmirut.

Mingeriak is survived by his wife Lucy, their six children and five grandchildren. Funeral services were held in Kimmirut last Friday.