Obituary of Oscar Tesch

BIOGRAPHY Oscar Tesch passed away in the Mervin Riverside Health Complex on Monday, October 31, 2005 at the age of 72 years. Oscar Tesch is survived by: by his son Larry Tesch of Mervin, his daughter Kathleen and her husband Gilbert Baillargeon and their son Gage of Turtleford, one sister Minnie and her husband Fred Sejbjerg, his two brothers Walter Tesch and Dick and his wife Chris Tesch, as well as numerous other relatives. The funeral service for Oscar Tesch was conducted from the Turtleford Community Centre, Turtleford, Saskatchewan on Friday, November 4, 2005 with Reverend Canon Donald Skinner officiating. The hymns sung were “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art” accompanied on the organ by Bev Miekle. Pallbearers were: George Stewart, Ronald Stewart, Bob Bannerman, Nick Bannerman, Robert McNinch, and Gordon Spencer. Interment followed in the Mervin Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd. of Lloydminster and Turtleford administered the funeral arrangements. Dad was born August 24th, 1933 on the family farm to Adam and Elfrieda Tesch. He was the 3rd of 4 children. Aunt Minnie came first, next was Uncle Walter, then came Dad and Uncle Dick was the fourth. Unlike some of his other siblings who had one or two middle names, Dad had only one; Oscar. A simple, to the point name that suited his personality and his life. Growing up, he did not have an easy life, his mother died when the children were small. And that is when Aunt Minnie at the age of eight had to step in as mother figure. Up until Dad’s death he still referred affectionately to her as ‘Old Mother Hen.” In his youth he worked for a few different local farmers. When he was 15 or 16 he left home to join the work force. In the early1950’s he went to British Columbia to work. He worked at the grain terminal at the port of Vancouver, in the peat fields on Vancouver Island and also worked in the Peace River country in the construction field. In the fall of 1954 he returned home. In the summer months he farmed, and in the winter he worked in the sawmill at Edson, Alberta until the winter of 1960-61. On November 2nd, 1961 he married our mom, Margaret Chisholm. They settled at the family farm near Mervin. On March 2nd, 1964 Larry was born and three years later on February 25th Kathleen was born. In the winter when he wasn’t farming he had a sawmill camp north of Glaslyn until 1976, after that he farmed full time. In 1983 Larry became part of the farming operation. Dad and Larry farmed together until this year. Throughout his life, you would never see Dad without at least one dog in his company. They rode everywhere with him, whether he was in his truck, on the swather, tractor or combine. Dad was also a huge sports enthusiast. His first love was baseball, and he could tell you almost any stat. Through the years he was a competitive player, his main position was pitcher. He played many places in western Canada including, Peace River, Cold Lake, Lloydminster and Saskatoon. While working in Vancouver he threw a no hitter at the age of 17. While playing in Cold Lake, they won the Alberta championship. In August of 1998 Dad was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in Battleford. In later years after he quit the sawmill and had his winters free he became an avid curler. He curled in many Senior and Master playoffs, even getting to the Provincials. And if he had enough ashtrays, salt and pepper shakers and whatever else that would work, he could replay the game for you at the table. When he died, he was watching TSN in his hospital room. Now that is a true sports fan! Now he will always pitch the perfect game and he can play with all the legends that he grew up watching. Dad was also a man of many questions. And anybody that knew our dad would know that his first questions when he meets St. Peter would be: “So where do you come from? How long have you been working here? How’s the pay? Do you like your boss?” With all our memories, Dad will never be far from our thoughts or our hearts. “Love you Dad!” Card of Thanks The family of Oscar Tesch would like to thank the Hospital Staff for the care given to Oscar. Thank you to the ladies who prepared and served the funeral lunch, for the cards, flowers, donations, phone calls and visits. Thank you to Reverend Canon Donald Skinner for his comforting service and to Bev Meikle for playing the organ. Your thoughtfulness at this time will always be remembered. Donations may be made to Canadian Cancer Society or the Riverside Health Complex.