Obituary of Tyson Weir

Tyson Paul Wade Weir passed away at the University of Alberta hospital in Edmonton, Alberta on September 19th, 2021 at the age of 47 years. 

Tyson is survived by: his loving wife of 23 years, Shawna; children, Jordon and Aleasha; parents, Donald and Stephanie Weir; sister, Carrie (Dave) Kohlruss; brother, Duane (Heather) Weir; parents-in-law Joe and Gladys Marciniw; sisters-in-law, Brenda (Calvin) Brown, Tracy (Darrel) Berg, Michelle Olson, Jolene (David) Rurka; brother-in-law, Dwayne (Jessica) Marciniw; as well as 24 nieces and nephews. 

Tyson was predeceased by: his paternal grandparents, Thomas and Pearl ("Granny") Weir; and maternal grandparents, John and Nadja Zayonc. 

A Private Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. 

Donations in memory of Tyson can be made to 2nd Chance Trail Ride Society, Lori Craven Memorial Tournament or GoodHearts Transplant Foundation.

 

~ Eulogy ~ by Dwayne Marciniw (brother-in-law)

“Be brave and never hesitate to explore everything life has to offer.” - Unknown

On December 16, 1973, Don and Stephanie Weir welcomed their third child into their family. Tyson Paul Wade was an incredibly adventurous boy. His Mom and Dad recall how he was ALWAYS outdoors.  He spent hours and hours walking through the bush, constantly on the lookout for wildlife and exploring the fields. Tyson always had a deep appreciation for what nature had to offer. His Dad recalls a day when Tyson found a snake by the barn. As he was playing with the snake, it bit his finger. In shock, he ran down the hill to his house, dropping his shoes behind him along the way.  He ran into the house and announced to his mom Steph... “I’m going to die!!”  From that day forward, he was petrified of snakes.

Tyson’s sister Carrie fondly recalls just how adventurous her brother was.  She says Tyson couldn’t wait to get home from school.  He would change into his camouflage outfit, grab his BB gun, jump on the quad and go off on his adventures.  Often, they wouldn’t see him again until it was dark outside.

Don remembers a story often shared by Tyson and his friends. Tyson found a coyote den between his parents and Brent’s place. The pups were just starting to come out so Tyson enlisted Brent and made plans to each catch a pup and tame them. Tyson’s pup was easy to catch as she was outside the den but Brent’s took a bit of leg work to catch.  After some time, they were able to tame the pups down and keep them as pets. Tyson named his “Sheena” and Brent named his “Wiley”. They raised them in a barn for a period until they became too rambunctious...the coyotes that is…. and thought it was best to return them to the wild. For the next few years, the pair of semi-tame coyotes would often come for visits. 

Stephanie remembers that when Tyson was around 7 years old, he was very adventurous, always working on a project, most times getting him into trouble. He was a superman of sorts around that time, wearing a blue shirt with a red cape sewn to it. One time he climbed a big maple tree and to his surprise, fell down, only to be caught by his red cape.  There he was...superman Tyson..dangling from his cape in the tree….mom to the rescue!

Another time, Tyson came running to the house, being chased by a bee.  He quickly got into the house, and forever insisted that it was such a close call that the stinger was caught in the front of the door.

Tyson shared many other adventures with his best bud, Brett Johnson. Brett worked at the Plaza 44 Liquor Store with Shawna.  According to Brett, “as soon as Tyson laid eyes on Shawna he was hanging around the liquor store like a stray tom cat.  As soon as he saw Shawna, he knew she was the one”.  Brett also recalls that Tyson bought an awful lot of beer that summer. Through Brett, Tyson mustered up the courage to give Shawna a call. Soon after, he was regularly coming to visit her at her second job at Ezzie’s. They spent many evenings playing pool and talking after Shawna’s shifts. At the end of that summer, Tyson attended Tracy and Darrel’s wedding with Shawna. The following year, Tyson and Shawna lived a long distance relationship while Shawna pursued her teaching career in Ridgevalley, AB near Grande Prairie. Tyson faithfully drove the six and a half hours on many weekends, in a gas guzzling short box 5 speed ford– one time even hitting a deer along the way. It was after that year that Shawna decided to move to Lloydminster to be closer to Tyson. On July 25, 1998, Tyson and Shawna were married.

One of the many things that attracted Shawna to Tyson was his easy going personality. One of his favorite sayings was “it is what it is”. He never asked for much and nothing ever needed to be extravagant for him.  All he really ever asked for was his “12 x 12 cabin where he could live off the land”.  He was easy to talk to and had the warmest smile.

Tyson’s friend, Trent, recalls that Tyson had a charm about him that was very rare. He could make anyone smile and feel good about themselves. He loved to communicate with people and tell a good story. Countless people have been subject to his telephone calls at all hours of the night. He could wake you from a deep sleep and somehow get you into a conversation that may last hours. Trent also says that Tyson’s charm went beyond his friends. He remembers a night, (kids plug your ears) where they were caught by the local authorities with a few beers when they were underage. Tyson was able to negotiate their punishment down to pouring it out and promising to go home for the night. Little did the RC’s know that Tyson was good at hide and seek and that there were plenty of refreshments left. Tyson and Trent decided to relocate somewhere else where they could get rid of them as quickly as possible. 

From a work perspective, most of Tyson’s early years were spent working on the rigs. Right out of high school, he started working service rigs and it quickly became a love of his.  He was so knowledgeable and passionate about his work, it wasn’t long before he became a driller and leader on the rig.  He was always interested in learning more and always enjoyed talking to everyone he worked with. Tyson was always known as a friendly guy who was very likeable, and would give the shirt off his back to help someone else out, much of the same qualities of his Dad, Don. Tyson worked at Weatherford for 18 years and he spent much of this time on the road. He was a hard worker, knowledgeable, and a loyal, honest employee. His job even took him to places such as New Brunswick and Columbia.  If Tyson ran into anyone who worked in the industry, he could talk for hours; making connections about people, equipment and methods.  He TRULY loved his work. 

Nobody will argue that while Tyson loved his work, he had a much deeper love for his family. Tyson shone in his role as a Dad.  It didn’t take long for him to share his love of tractors, quads and anything with wheels with his son Jordon. Jordon rode tractors and lawn mowers constantly...just like his Dad. For Jordon’s 4th birthday, Tyson took on a project to rebuild an old tractor into a mini John Deere. He painted it green and it was complete with a hitch and trailer so Jordon could hook and unhook for hours. Tyson was a fantastic Dad. He always found time to read with his kids and he loved rough-housing with them.  After he worked a long, hard day, he could often be found curled up on the couch sleeping or watching TV while the kids played around and on top of him. Aleasha fondly remembers one of Tyson’s favorite things to do with her. He would lay her on a blanket and roll her up like a little sausage. He would laugh as he watched her squirm and giggle to get out of the sausage roll. (I can just hear his laugh now) Tyson also shared all of his fatherhood qualities with his nieces and nephews.  At every family gathering, Tyson could be found showing the kids how to drive the latest quad or mower in the yard, talking with them about their latest adventures, having discussions about animals or anything else that the kids were passionate about. He was definitely a family man.

One of the happiest days as a family was when Tyson bought his boat. Tyson took great joy going to pick it up and surprising the kids and Shawna. He kept his boat in immaculate condition, polishing it often and making sure it was ready to go for the next family adventure. He often got mad at Shawna for getting sunflower seeds in the boat. Shawna always thought this was odd as it was PERFECTLY okay to get jack slime...anywhere.  Some of their favorite memories as a family were on the boat. The kids would love going for a swim in the middle of the lake. They often watched Tyson dive into the water and waited with anticipation as to where….and when….. he would come up. Tyson was very good at diving and loved spending time in the water.

Some of his most memorable moments were spent on holidays with family – California, Mexico, Kelowna and many Saskatchewan Lakes.  The annual family camping trip was always a highlight.  With fish fries, crib tournaments, prizes for the biggest fish, buffet meals, and time on the beach and water, there was never a dull moment for Tyson.

One of Tyson’s favorite things to do was play cards.  He has spent many hours playing crib with his Dad and Shawna and he got together on a regular basis with his Mom and Dad to play Tens and Spades. Many other family gatherings included Bid Whist, Crib or Canasta. Sometimes, Tyson had the longest legs and the most winks at the table, always trying to rattle his opposition!

Tyson was also a master chef...he thoroughly enjoyed being in the kitchen.  His specialties included seafood, donairs and pizza. During one of his recent stays in the hospital, Tyson face-timed Shawna and Aleasha to give them step-by-step instructions on how to make his pizza crust. They stood at the island in the kitchen to try to recreate the ‘Tyson Weir perfect pizza crust’. They were never able to get it quite the same. Donair meat was also a specialty Tyson often shared with everyone at the lake. He would bake up a batch and everyone’s mouth would water as Tyson travelled around... proudly offering everyone a sample.  Then... there was seafood.  While Tyson loved fishing and eating fish, he absolutely ADORED seafood.  Crab, lobster, oysters, mussels – there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t try to eat or cook….Then... there was the barbecue and smoker.  There was no end of delicious creations that came our way from Tyson. Tyson would always serve up samples of Brisket, chicken, pork, fish...and even tried to perfect singed face, hair and eyebrows from when his gas smoker went out in the wind, and he tried to reignite it.  His complexion glowed for a week! It’s great to see that Tyson’s love of cooking continues on with his son Jordon.

 Tyson, in essence, was considered a jack of all trades. It didn’t matter if it was building, electrical, plumbing or mechanical in nature, there wasn’t anything Tyson couldn’t tackle. Whether it was building a deck, garage or basement, Tyson dove in wholeheartedly. He often had his Dad by his side and the two of them spent many hours together tackling projects...even bringing home old mowers from the Kitscoty dump so Tyson could tinker, get them going, and cut the grass every two days, regardless of whether it needed it or not!  It is no wonder the two of them shared such a special bond. Tyson thought the world of his Dad and they created so many special memories together.

Now, if you look in Tyson’ garage, you would see that Tyson was a lover of tools. Princess Auto was his favorite place to shop and he never came out empty handed. Tyson likely had two dozen allen key and screwdriver sets in his tool box.  Recently, Tyson bought himself a red Snap-On stool so that even when he wasn’t feeling well, he could be in the garage puttering away on something.

Maybe it was an escape mechanism to get away from all the teacher talk!  

Tyson ALWAYS rolled his eyes when the girls would start to talk “teacher”.  It was a common thread all of the husbands shared - they would often try to escape from the room before the girls got too deep into it.  That said, Tyson always helped Shawna whenever she needed a hand in her classroom. He rebuilt an old stepping stool, recovered it and put new steps on it. A few years ago, he discovered a Good morning song that Shawna could play in her classroom every morning that she still uses today. It will mean something extra special now when she plays it for her students. Just this year, Tyson hung bulletin board paper on the walls and helped Shawna tape her computer and smart board wiring together. He often told Shawna how proud he was of her and was always there to show his love and support, lending a hand whenever she needed it.

While Tyson’s hobbies included cooking, fishing, being in the garage, or working on a project, Tyson also really enjoyed being in the garden.  He especially loved growing herbs.  One year when Shawna wasn’t able to plant the garden because of a surgery, Tyson quickly took over the role.  In her absence, he decided to plant three rows of beets in the garden.  They literally had beets coming out of their ears.  His granny laughed so hard at him!

Tyson ADORED his granny.  He loved her gentle nature and enjoyed spending time with her.  Shawna believes Tyson’s love of gardening and growing things came from his Granny.  After her passing, he often recalled memories of her and always said how much he missed her.

In 2018, Tyson was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Through the University of Alberta transplant program, he was given the gift of a double lung transplant on September 29, 2019. The road was not an easy one as Tyson faced many obstacles and challenges along the way. He faced them with bravery and strength…all for the hope of living a normal life again. His sense of humor in the hospital setting was entertaining to say the least. He was a bit of a smart ass (as we all know he can be) but in a fun, acceptable way. He continually provided the nurses with entertainment and always made them laugh. Tyson overcame so much on his journey, and through it all, his good nature shone through. He was determined to still have fun and share happy moments with his family. Even when he faced such significant challenges, he still shared love and goodness.

When Tyson became involved in the transplant program, he soon heard about the Second Chance Trail Ride.  This is an annual trail ride on the Iron Horse Trail to raise awareness of organ transplants as well as provide support and assistance to transplant patients and their families. It didn’t take long for him to decide that he was going to fix up the quad and get on the trail himself. His mind was set and it became a bucket list item. Once Tyson got home from the hospital and was well enough, he ordered parts online and was in the garage faithfully getting his quads tuned up. This August, Tyson decided it was time to take on the trail.  It was a beautiful day. Tyson, Shawna, Don, Dave, Carrie, Jordon, Shayla, Gerald and Holly started at Heinsburg and rode all the way to just outside of St. Paul. They stopped along the way to have a campfire and roast hot dogs. It was everything Tyson would have hoped it to be. He was so grateful he had the opportunity to take that ride.

Tyson had a few catch phrases that I’m sure will stick with all of us...”it is what it is.” For a man that did not enjoy needles, unfortunately he had many of them.  Through all his medical stays, you could see his body tense up when the hospital staff walked into the room to give him a needle.  To get through it, he would grasp on to whatever was nearby and say to the nurse or lab tech “you’re awesome”.  He would even try to force a smile when he said it. Tyson showed such courage and strength in everything that he faced. 

Tyson, you will stay in our hearts forever and we will miss you every day……we know that you are riding quads, catching fish, scouting deer, cooking the best food, mentoring others, and probably hanging out in the most amazing 12 x 12 shack one could think of, with your beautiful smile and those amazing dimples. You have touched and impacted so many lives with your warm personality, and we can truly say to you Tyson……. “You’re Awesome”.