Obituary of James Milton McMillan

McMillan ~ James Milton McMillan passed away at the Pine Island Lodge, Maidstone, Saskatchewan on Tuesday, July 1, 2014 at the age of 99 years. Milton was born in Maidstone, Saskatchewan on November 28, 1914 to Williamina and Alexander McMillan. Milton leaves to mourn his passing his loving wife of 68 years, Lillian; his children: Mac (Frances) McMillan; Donna Gardy (Bill Bochenko), Darleen (Gary) Robb, Della (Byron) Reeds and son-in-law, Dewayne Wiltermuth; 16 Grandchildren; 34 Great Grandchildren; sister, Mary Lundell and numerous other relatives. He was predeceased by his daughter, Marilyn Wiltermuth; and grandson, Todd Wiltermuth. The Memorial Service was conducted from the Maidstone United Church, Maidstone Saskatchewan on Monday, July 7, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Don Retzlaff officiating. The eulogy was given by Bradie Maines, Kaley Kraft and Maggie Rhinehart. The organist was June Franks. The Honorary Pallbearers were all his grandchildren. The Maidstone Community Choir was in attendance. The Urn Bearer was Dale McMillan. Interment was held at the Maidstone Cemetery. The reception was held in the Maidstone Legion. Donations in memory of Milton McMillan may be made to the Pine Island Lodge Activity Fund. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, administered the funeral arrangements. Card of Thanks The family of Milton McMillan would like to thank our family and friends for all the cards, phone calls, food, flowers, visits and donations. We would like to thank Don Retzlaff for officiating, Bradie Maines, Kaley Kraft, Maggie Rhinehart and Della Reeds for writing the eulogy, Dale McMillan for carrying the urn, June Franks for playing the organ, the United Church Women for supplying the lunch, the Maidstone Community Choir and McCaw Funeral Service Ltd. for their services. A special thanks to all the staff at the Maidstone Pine Island Lodge for the extraordinary care given to Dad. Lillian McMillan Mac & Frances McMillan and family Donna Gardy, Bill Bochenko and family Darleen & Gary Robb and family Della & Byron Reeds and family Dewayne Wiltermuth and family Eulogy given by Bradie Maines, Kaley Kraft and Maggie Rhinehart Bradie: Hello everyone, I am Bradie Maines. These are my sisters Kaley Kraft, and Maggie Rhinehart. We are the daughters of Della and Byron Reeds. Today, we are honored to speak in true celebration of the long life of our grandpa. Grandpa was born on November 28, 1914. Apparently it was very hot that November, and they had to take the storm windows off the house to make the heat bearable - I guess our strange Canadian weather has been around for a while! Grandpa was the 5th of 8 children born to Alexander and Williamina McMillan. He was born and raised, (and spent the majority of his life) in the Milleton district North of the Gully. Many hours were spent with the animals; he has said the horses were their best friends; and helping out on the farm from a very early age. Grandpa attended school in the community and felt a great sense of achievement when he earned his Grade 8 certificate. In 1943, at a country school dance, he met grandma. They loved to go to dances, picture shows, and Saturday night bowling. - Grandma says her friends still talk about sitting and waiting for grandpa to ask them to dance. By 1945, they were married, and by 1947, family was on the way. Aunty Marilyn was born in 47, Uncle Mac in 49, Aunty Donna in 52, Aunty Darleen in 56, and last but not least, mom, in 1961. Through these years, some of their favorite memories were camping at Loon Lake (which apparently took a whole day to get there back then), swimming in the dugout, milking cows, and working on the farm. By 1979, the last child was married, and grandchildren were expanding the family with Maggie being the youngest of 17 grandchildren. We've been busy adding even more to the family tree, and grandma and grandpa now have 34 and nine tenths great-grandchildren, which brought grandpa so much joy. Kaley: Fortunately, Grandpa has had the most wonderful, caring, beautiful wife for a week short of 69 years of marriage - isn't that amazing! She has been there for him through everything, through thick and thin. Grandpa wasn't always easy on himself, but with the love of his family, the better man came through, and that was the only man his grandchildren and great-grandchildren ever knew. Grandma, we love you! You've been an amazing role model for all of us, such an inspiration. Your positive outlook on life is contagious. Grandpa sure knew how to pick em! Maggie: Throughout his life grandpa worked hard and played hard. He had a true passion for baseball, playing cards, curling, history, and kids. He loved watching the blue jays and baseball in the summer, curling in the winter and playing cards ALL YEAR LONG! He also found time to read up on history and study a map to follow where anyone went. Grandma says he never read a book that wasn't true! He even quit buying the National Enquirer once someone told him it wasn't fact. Grandpa and Grandma also made a fantastic team making mats. How many millions of fortrel squares did he cut at that little table? Grandpa spent his entire life as an active member in the Milleton district. He helped build the curling rink, was a long time Milleton Hall member, was a frequent customer of Allan's store, and spent lots of time visiting many neighbors and friends. He loved to visit (and play cards!) with everyone willing! Relatives from every direction have many fond memories of summer visits to the farm. Grandpa was a hard working man. His dad passed away when he was only 12 years old, so responsibility on the farm started early. He spent a few winters of working away in the bush, back and forth to the farm, but soon full time farming back at home became his life. Grandpa was so dedicated to the farm. He never had any big fancy equipment, but he was always able to get the job done with what he had. We're told, he never, ever, complained about hard work. He had a true love for animals: horses, cows, and many pets. He was proud of his simmental cows, and was known for having the most well-fed animals. Uncle Mac said that's because he had the "biggest chop pail in north America" - Grandma says - That must be how uncle mac felt when he had to carry it! Bradie: Grandpa always loved to garden. As his work load lessened at the farm, the garden patches got bigger and bigger. He would pick pails full of strawberries and raspberries to share, and loved picking berries in the wild too. As the years went by, Mac and the boys took over the farm. I guess grandpa always said he wasn't quitting farming until he got a good crop, and it took till he was 75 years old, but that year he had a great crop and they made the move to town! But he couldn't quite break free, so the farm moved to town in the form of his immaculate yard and garden. Different people used to tell grandma "I drive up the back alley just to see your garden". And the story went, at coffee row, if you were a weed in Milt's garden, don't stick your head up after 6am or he will get ya! And grandma tells us she always had to plant the seeds, but grandpa had to cover them up, because she couldn't do it right! Bushels of tomatoes, pails of potatoes, pounds of peas, grandpa was a gardener right till the end. Even in his last years at the house, he dug his potatoes on his hands and knees. - cause my goodness no one could help Not only did he tend so carefully to his garden, he also took pride in his yard. This included daily hedge clippings, shovelling snow before it even hit the ground, and getting up really early to cut the grass before anyone had a chance to do it for him. Once, in his 90's, the neighbors phoned family to tell them he was on the roof shovelling snow, and his response was "Well, I tied myself to the chimney! There was nothing to worry about!" About 5 years ago, failing health sent grandma and grandpa over to the apartments. However, cards and visiting never stopped no matter what the address. In November 2012 the time came for someone other than grandma to help care for grandpa. He became a permanent resident of the lodge in 2013. Grandpa couldn't have had any better care in the lodge, but he never stopped asking about going home, and back to grandma. Kaley: Wow, how things have changed over 99 years!. From horses to steel wheeled tractors, to 4 wheel drive. From cbc radio to tv's to internet. His kids recall feeling like millionaires when they moved into the house with running water, But Grandpa opinions he said the biggest change he saw in his lifetime was getting power. And grandpa never could get over how we could check the weather or message aunty Darleen in Hawaii from his bedside in the lodge. We all chuckled when grandpa got to go to the museum in North battleford last year and when we asked how it was, he said "Well That was my life. That's what I did. I know more about those that they do." Maggie: We believe grandpa was so close with all of his grandkids and great grandkids because he was really just a kid himself. Most of our memories of grandpa include a treat or candy of some sort - cheesies, rosebuds, peppermints, fudge, Turtles, hard raspberry candies, jubejubes, black licorice, and the list goes on .He was our Cheesy Grandpa - He brought out the cheesy bag as soon as any visitors showed up, and he liked to eat them as much as anyone else J And there's always been cheesies.. Every get together has had cheesies for as long as we can remember. And mom tells us that even before grandchildren, he used to buy a bag of cheesies from Allan's store for Buster (yes, the dog, got his own bag of cheesies!) Grandpa, we've finished the bag of cheesies from your room, and the kids are already asking for more. Bradie: It wasn't just candy, he loved to play too. The casino slot machine, balloons, the singing santa, and the toy barn stand out in our memories. And he might have been the only grandpa at the lodge with a toy box for all his little ones. Back in the days of the farm, grandpa made a cart for him to pull us around on. We all have fond memories of rides on that cart, and some remember a horse ride too. Oh grandpa was just like a big kid, even chuckling at the flinstones and bugs bunny on tv. Kaley: You might not think of grandpa as competitive, but he sure could be - and he might have passed that on to a grandchild or two. In a card game, there was a quite a difference in the atmosphere of the room if grandpa was winning or losing. Although visiting was important, cards trumped everything else, and if a smear game ever got slowed down by visiting, grandpa would often say, "are we going to play or what." However, the competitive nature never showed through with the little ones, (unless you were playing a game of 31 at Christmas!) but really, grandpa just wanted us all to learn to play card. He took pride in using cards to help children learn their numbers until they were ready for a game of kings in the corners. Cards occupied much of grandpa's days, and if you were going to stop by, you better have time for a game. If no one was around, grandpa was found playing solitaire at the famous little table. This last year, family, friends, and staff brightened his day by stopping in for a quick game of crib - or an all day session of smear. Grandma would even judge how grandpas day was going by whether or not he asked to play cards at her daily visits. Maggie: Family has always been very important to grandpa. His children and grandchildren were so special to him, and having to say goodbye to Aunty Marilyn and Todd was especially difficult. He was close with his siblings all his life, and he had a special bond with Aunty Mary. Grandpa took her under his wing as a little girl, and their two families farmed, grew up, and played side by side for years. Later, they both retired to Maidstone, and their relationship grew even stronger. We were so lucky to have them both in town as we were growing up. After all the years, isn't it fitting that they ended up living in the lodge together. I sure hope we have inherited some of that longevity ;) Grandpa looked forward to the birth and naming of each and every grandchild. He had little notes around to remember every name- many of them named after him in some way. One of his latest goals was to finally meet their precious little twin great-granddaughters. He always said, "I just can't imagine what a baby that small would look like." We're so happy he got to meet them. Grandpa continued to enjoy some of his favorite things, even with his failing eyesight. The cards just got larger, the tv got closer, and did you see his GIANT remote! We'd like to say thanks to the lodge staff for the little things you did for Grandpa, like pulling the TV up really close for him to watch his final Blue Jay game. Writing this with mom has brought back so many memories and taught us so much about grandpa`s life. In 99 years, there's so much to celebrate and share! We could talk about him for days, but grandpa always said he wanted a short service, so we better quit soon. Some of the most important things grandpa had to live for were Grandma, cards and kids. Grandpa, you loved those things so dearly, and we will keep loving them for you… We'll take care of grandma, keep playing cards in your memory, keep our families close and love our kids with all of our hearts. Grandpa, we love you and we miss you so much already!