Obituary of Julius Beer

B I O G R A P H Y BEER: Julius Julian Beer passed away in the Jubilee Home, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Saturday, January 21, 2006 at the age of 87 years. Julius is survived by: three children: Ronald and Viki Beer of Peachland, BC; Marlene and Clifford Graham of Lloydminster, SK; Dennis (Anne Dixon) of Edmonton, AB; three grandchildren: Clinton and Shirley Graham of Lloydminster, AB; Scott Graham of Lloydminster, SK; Nicola Dixon of Edmonton, AB; three great grandchildren: Baily, Jordan and Cora-Lynn Graham; four sisters-in-law as well as numerous other relatives. Julius was predeceased by: his wife Olga in 1984; his mother Anna (Kerscher) in 1968, his father Josef in 1957, eight brothers-in-law and two sisters-in-law. The funeral service for Julius was conducted from the Knox Presbyterian Church, Lloydminster, Alberta on Thursday, January 26, 2006 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Allan Young officiating. A eulogy was given by Ron Beer. The hymns sung were “Lord of The Dance,” “Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory,” and “Safe In The Arms of Jesus,” accompanied on the organ by Eileen Yaxley. Active pallbearers were: Clinton Graham, Scott Graham, Allan Mochoruk, Gerald Dessert, Peter Gradauer and Alfred Unterreithmeier. Interment followed in the Lloydminster City Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster administered the funeral arrangements. Eulogy - Ron Beer Born February 1, 1918 in Germany and grew up in a small town just north of Regensberg called Nittenau. In 1935 Dad and his parents packed up their belongings and headed to Canada as new immigrants in the Hillmond area. After the war they moved to a ½ section farm 2 ½ miles south of Greenstreet. Dad didn’t know the English language and started working for various farmers in the area where German was spoken. As he worked he learned English. Dad once told me that your pay was $1 per day with room and board included or $1.50 if you have your own team of horses. Once Dad became fluent in English he moved around a bit. He worked in Prince Albert in the same building where John Diefenbaker had his law office. Dad joined the non-Permanent Active Militia in 1940 as a Naval Tailor and was at Dundurn. He was given a medical discharge in 1944. It was when he was in the Saskatoon area that he met Mom at a Legion dance. They dated for a while until Dad decided to head to Vancouver and try his luck out there. He obtained work at Drapeshire Clothiers, a firm he continued to use until he retired from tailoring. Mom followed him out there in 1946 and found work. They married in 1947 and I was born in 1948. Given the weather in Vancouver they decided to move back the to prairies and settled in Lloydminster, close to his parents. Dad worked for Quality Cleaners for a couple of years. Marlene was born in Lloydminster in 1949. Dad decided to go on his own and set up a tailor shop in a building he rented from Archie Miller. In 1952 Dad purchased a building on the Albert side from Jimmy Mah and converted the front into a tailor shop and the back into living accommodations for the four of us. By that time Dad had hired Mrs. Niven, a skilled seamstress, to work with him. She worked for Dad for 17 years. In 1955 Dennis was born and now we had five in the living area - getting crowded. Granddad passed away in late 1957 and in 1958 Dad purchased a new home on the west end of 46th street where we moved in 1959. Dad rented out the farm for a few years and then decided to farm it himself. We farmed until about 1966 when I left home for university. The following year Dad sold the machinery and rented out the farm again. In 1971 the land was sold to Alfred Unterreithmeier, one of Dad’s pallbearers today. Alfred’s family was the next farm to the east so it went to close friends. Dad, along with another family friend, opened a men’s wear store that they operated for a number of years. B & B Men’s Wear was the name and many of you here will remember the store. Later they closed that business and Dad went back to straight tailoring. Mom passed away in April 1984 and Dad retired in 1986 and moved to Sherwood Park where he lived for 16 years. He made a lot of friends in that area. Dennis was working in Edmonton and the two of them golfed together and started a Sunday brunch routine where they would meet each Sunday morning for breakfast. As Dad aged he slowed down and arthritis in his hip and back were bothering him. In 2002 he moved back to Lloydminster and into Knox Manor, then moved to the Pioneer Lodge in 2003. A little more than two weeks ago Dad was moved to the Jubilee Home. He was called home last Saturday morning. In the 60's Dad made many trips to the United States to attend conventions of the Custom Tailors and Designers Association of America and even modeled some of his ideas. Of course he met many of the top tailors in the USA from such cities as New York and Chicago. As a family we took one interesting camping trip. We traveled to Vancouver to visit friends of Mom and Dad’s from the 1940's. From there we drove south and then east to the Grand Coulee Dam. After visiting the dam we headed to Spokane. While exiting Spokane Dad got on highway 2 and before we knew it we were at Sandpoint and decided to continue north to Bonners Ferry. We changed the vacation plan from a trip into Yellowstone National Park to a leisurely trip back to Canada. We entered Canada and drove to Fort Macleod. We pitched our tent as usual and during the night there was a large earthquake in Yellowstone National Park. Had Dad not taken the wrong turn leaving Spokane we would have been camping somewhere in the Park the night of the quake. Dad had a lot of energy for community interests. In 1949 he helped give a push to continuing the Lloydminster Figure Skating Club. He taught skating and also did comedy routines at the Club’s annual Carnivals. Dad taught Marlene figure skating. That association with the Skating Club continued as long as Marlene was a member of the Club. His love of skating had him as a tireless driver for both Dennis and myself as we played in minor hockey games around the area. Remember I am seven years older than Dennis so when I finished playing minor league hockey Dennis was just starting. To me that was driving for about 14 years. Not many fathers today make that sort of commitment. Dad was also a strong supporter of senior hockey, going to most of the games. If you remember the old arena - it was a cold place to be standing for a few hours. In addition to hockey Dad like to curl. He was on the team that recorded a seven ender. I think the skip of that team was Dr. Ron Nattress but I stand to be corrected on that. He played piccolo in the Lloydminster and District Citizens Band for quite a number of years. On one occasion the band played for the Queen. He assisted in a gymnastics club that he, Ben Sproul and a few others organized. I was a member of the club for a few years. Dad liked to ski and was an enthusiastic supported of Mount Joy. He worked at the concession for a few years and took his grandsons, Clinton and Scott, there to ski. As well he won a hew Molstar Races held at Mount Joy. He also took Clinton and Scott to Marmot Basin in Jasper for some mountain skiing. For a couple of summers Lloydminster had a men’s soccer team comprising a number of European immigrants in Lloydminster. Dad played the outside right position and I played the outside left position because I am a natural left foot kicker. I was 14-16 years old then, which would make Dad 44-46 years old. Dad was in good physical shape. I think Dad’s favorite sport was golf. As far back as I can remember Lloydminster businesses were closed Wednesday afternoon. Dad and three of his good friends, Mr. Henning, Mr. Squires and Mr. Osika, would meet at the golf course and play a round. Dad and Mom took Marlene and me golfing regularly. Dennis also played golf with Mom and Dad once he became old enough to swing a club. This love of golf had been passed onto his grandsons who spend their share of time on a golf course. Sports were a big part of our family life - probably because Dad was athletic and enjoyed the competition. Despite all of these activities, Dad always found time for the family to attend church and I think we started coming here regularly in about 1955 or 1956. During the 1960's Dad served on the Board of Managers of this church. It is hard to condense almost 88 years into a few short minutes. I thought I would end like this. In 1918 John McRae wrote theo poem Flanders Fields and spoke of throwing the torch. In 1961 at his inaugural address to the US population, US President John Kennedy spoke of the torch being passed to a new generation. Here that torch is being passed from Dad to Viki and I, to Marlene and Cliff, and to Dennis. At some point in time we will pass that torch to Dad’s grandchildren: Clint and Shirley, Scott and Nicola. Later that torch will be passed to Dad’s great grandchildren: Baily, Jordan and Cora-Lynn. Card of Thanks The family would like to thank: Drs. Sayeed and Pather for their excellent care. The nurses and health aides at home care especially Dawn and Colleen, for their help with Dad’s care. The staff at the Pioneer Lodge for the little things you did for Dad. Reverend Young for the wonderful service, Eileen Yaxley for her gift of music and the Knox Ladies for the lunch after the service. We thank you all. The pallbearers, Clinton and Scott Graham, Gerald Dessert, Allan Mochoruk, Alfred Unterreithmeier and Peter Gradauer. Ron for doing such a good job of the eulogy. We understand how hard it was to do this. To friends and neighbors for the expressions of sympathy, food to the house, phone calls and flowers, and for the donations in lieu of flowers to charity of your choice. To the staff at McCaw Funeral Service, especially Glenn, for professionalism and kindness at this trying time. Your guidance was greatly appreciated. Ron & Viki Marlene, Cliff & Families Dennis, Anne & Nicola Donations in memory of Julius may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or the Pioneer Lodge Resident Fund.