Gail Hapanowicz and Saskatchewan flag designer Anthony Drake. (Submitted)

By Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM News

Saskatchewan flag designer remembered fondly after passing

Jun 3, 2022 | 10:07 AM

The man behind the Saskatchewan flag is dead.

Anthony Drake was 81. Drake, a teacher, came to Saskatchewan from England and submitted a design for the flag in 1969, which won the province-wide competition.

Gail Hapanowicz, of Hodgeville, said she is known as the “flag lady.” She runs the Facebook page “Home of the Sk. Flag.”

That came about after she learned Hodgeville is considered the home of the provincial flag, because Drake designed the flag while he was teaching at the school she now owns, the Hodgeville Skool Inn.

It took about a year, but Hapanowicz finally tracked Drake down and gave him a call that lasted around 45 minutes. She mailed him a Saskatchewan flag, which he signed for her and sent back. Hapanowicz said she hung it on her wall, thinking that would be the end of the story.

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Then she started receiving memorabilia from Drake — 47 years’ worth, saved since the time his design first became a symbol of the province. She put the collection of photos, articles, and thank-you cards on display.

Over the years, Drake and Hapanowicz became good friends. They stayed in touch, and in 2016 when Hapanowicz got a call from Drake saying he’d be coming to the province for three weeks to visit, Hapanowicz sprang into action, making arrangements for a “flag tour” with Drake.

Together, the pair visited an RCMP depot, a Hutterite colony and 11 different cities and towns all over the province. They met with mayors, toured libraries, delivered speeches and met thousands of people. They also visited the Legislative Building in Regina, with Drake as an honoured guest, and enjoyed tea with the Lieutenant Governor. A documentary was even produced about Drake’s visit.

In 2019, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Saskatchewan flag, Drake came back to the province again. He joked with Hapanowicz about topping his previous visit.

During the anniversary visit, Drake was honoured in front of fans at a Roughriders game by Premier Scott Moe. He was interviewed on the field and given a Riders jersey with the number 50 and his name displayed on it.

Drake never had the opportunity to see the inaugural raising of his flag, Hapanowicz said, and even had one incident where a friend didn’t believe he’d designed it at all.

When Hapanowicz learned about that, she took a photo she had of Drake’s signature on a blackboard and used it to make business cards that touted him as the designer of the Saskatchewan flag, ensuring he had proof of his accomplishment.

“He was such a humble, appreciative man,” Hapanowicz remembered. She said Drake never really understood the fuss about what he’d done for Saskatchewan.

“I’m just a guy who made a flag,” she remembered him saying.

Hapanowicz said Drake was “always smiling,” and was known as an author, artist, teacher, actor, gardener, Canadian yo-yo champion and, of course, her “friend from across the pond.”

Whenever she’d phone to speak with Drake, Hapanowicz said she was greeted by his wife on the other end, who would call for Drake by telling him “Canada is calling.”

Just three months ago, in March, Drake was asked to be in attendance at the opening of a Saskatchewan office in Canada House in England.

“You know, sometimes, Gail, I feel like I’m 70,” Drake joked with Hapanowicz during their phone calls.

It was Drake’s wife who informed Hapanowicz of his passing. Hapanowicz said she spoke to her friend on his birthday, April 19, but had no inkling of what was to come. Drake died on June 1.

“I was horrified and so sad,” she shared. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Hapanowicz said she reached out to Saskatchewan’s protocol office and the office of the premier to work out a plan, and was grateful to see tribute paid to the flag’s designer by Scott Moe on social media.

“I just wanted the people to know,” she shared.