'It was his whole life': Beloved Penticton bakery owner dies

Benjamin Manea, a popular baker and owner of Penticton's Walla Artisan Bakery, has died of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

It was just last year that Manea was looking for an apprentice to take over his shop after he was diagnosed with the fatal nervous disorder, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. His customers rallied around him to help keep the business open.

The man and the bread

Manea's wife, Sharon Wiener, says her husband spent 12 years trying to get more flavour in the delicious Jewish rye bread he baked.

The bread wasn't the only reason the community continued to buy and support the bakery.

"Really the bread was the man... he was kind of crusty on the outside if you met him. And once you got to know him, he was just soft and delicious and complex on the inside," Wiener said.

Because the bakery was Manea's passion and purpose in life, the business will not continue.

"It was his whole life, the most important thing to have something to feel so serious about, to be so committed to, to love with your whole being you, to be happy, to get out of bed in the morning." 

The bread lives on

Wiener says friends will keep the bakery open this weekend because Manea had prepared enough dough in the fridge. That will be the last hurrah.

"Without Ben, there is no bakery...Walla was Ben, Ben was Walla."