MAIA CHRISTINA (ALASTOR) CHEMAR

December 16, 1993 - August 3, 2016

 

Suddenly on August 3, 2016 Alastor Chemar died at home at the age of 22 years.

 

Survived by sister Anna; mother Janice; father Gerry; grandmother Sybil; Aunt Barb; cousins Daniel, Andrew and Michael and beloved feline friend Kitn. Predeceased by grandfather Roger; grandmother Claudia and grandfather Ed.

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Maia was born December 16, 1993, and lived in Winnipeg her whole life.  She attended school at Crestview School, Ness Middle School, John Taylor Collegiate and briefly at Sturgeon Heights Collegiate in St James.  She was a bright, thoughtful, intelligent girl who was shy and soft spoken.  Although she was born with minor physical and mental developmental delays, she was a good student and enjoyed the friendship of a small circle of friends.  She was especially close to her sister Anna, who was also her best friend.

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Maia had a tremendous creative streak and enjoyed arts and crafts throughout her life.  Whether she was in art class at school, at Grandma’s house doing crafts, with her Grandpa in his workshop, or at home creating, she was doing what came naturally, through good times and bad.   Even during troubled times, her artistic force was alive and helped her deal with stress, as well as helped define and display her personality.  Maia was diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder, after struggling with social anxiety for many years.

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In 2008, Maia started to game online after a personal struggle and met a lot of great friends under the gaming name of Zerran.  Zerran was meant to be a boy, and Maia identified greatly with this male persona.  Upon the passing of her grandfather, Maia’s closest online friends discovered that their beloved Zerran was biologically female. The secret of Maia’s male identity was also kept from her family.  In late 2013, Maia began to use the name Alastor amongst close friends in game and in real life where he had started to identify as a transgendered man. During these next few years, Alastor created many different art projects including a costume of his favourite anime character and experimented with drag make up.   In 2015 and 2016, Alastor volunteered for Winnipeg’s anime convention, Ai-kon and was a door greeter and ticket salesman for the Ai-Kon Maid Café.   Alastor recently met his closest online friends this past July at Ai-kon 2016, both of whom are saddened by the passing of their beloved Alastor.

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Maia was much loved by her family, as Alastor was much loved by his friends.

 

Cremation has taken place and a private memorial service will be held.

 

Flowers are gratefully declined however memorial contributions may be made to the Winnipeg Humane Society or the Rainbow Resource Centre.

 

The family would like to encourage you to share your favourite memories and stories here on this page.  Condolences for the family are also encouraged.