Obituary of William Cayford

BIOGRAPHY CAYFORD ~ William “Bill” Charles Cayford passed away peacefully at the Spearfish Regional Hospital, Spearfish, South Dakota, United States on Saturday, January 2, 2010 at the age of 60 years. Bill is survived by his loving family: his wife Diane; two children: Brian Cayford of Lloydminster; Shannon and Mitch Bryce of Lashburn, Saskatchewan; his mother: Maude Cayford of Lloydminster, Alberta; one brother: Howard and Betty Cayford of Lloydminster, Alberta; four sisters: June and Ed Gerling of Macklin, Saskatchewan; Margie Wagner of Vancouver, BC; Jean and Fred Proft of Barrhead, Alberta; Mary and Gordon Pederson of Wabamun, Alberta; Uncle: Gordon Wilson of Lloydminster, Alberta; several nieces and nephews and three grandchildren. The funeral service was conducted from the Stockade Convention Centre, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Friday, January 8, 2010 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Harold Martin officiating. The eulogy was read by Alan Cayford. Leader of song was the Grace United Church Choir. The hymns sung were “How Great Thou Art” and “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” accompanied on the organ by Irene Knowlson. The honorary pallbearers were All Those Who Shared In Bill’s Life. The active pallbearers were Robert Heffner, Robert Herle, Al Schille, Ron Raher, Gordon Rohs and Darwin Dean. Interment was held in the Lloydminster City Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. Bill’s Eulogy William Charles Cayford, better known as Billy, Uncle Bill, and of course Brother Bill, was born May 14, 1949, and passed away peacefully Jan. 2, 2010, in Spearfish, South Dakota We family members have been gathered for a few days now, collected our thoughts and are at peace with the events of the past 10 days or so. We all wished that we could have been there with Diane and Brian but I know they were in excellent hands with the medical staff in Spearfish who comforted them and made Bill as comfortable as possible in his last hours. Diane told me the Dr. had said in the medical profession we always want to treat to promote life but sometimes we need to treat to promote death. This statement will stick with me for a long time as it seems to me that the needs of the ill should come first when their quality of life is in jeopardy. So we come here today not to mourn the passing Bill but to celebrate the life of a man who touched us all in so many ways. Bill was many things, a husband , father, grandfather, son, brother, brother in-law, uncle, and cousin, as well as an inventor, designer, welder, electrician, plumber, pipefitter, and mechanic. About the only thing he didn’t like was carpentry. He never liked the way the pieces of wood fit together. The joints were never precise enough for Bill. To me Bill was both brother in-law and uncle better known as a Bruncle . You see Bill and I married sisters which has caused some confusion over the years. Diane thought she could alleviate the confusion when she stated I am my own sister’s aunt, but I don’t think that helped much. Bill, even before he was born, was creating wise cracks. My dad, Howie, said when grandma went into labor with Bill he told grandpa if it’s another girl leave her in the hospital. You see he already had 4 sisters. Grandma tells me Bill’s mechanical abilities surfaced at young age. She recalls a cousin (Bob Levitt) moving away and leaving Bill a mechano set. Bill was 3 at the time and Bob thought he was likely to young for the set, but Bill had the pieces built into projects in no time and had to order many more components over the years. Although the Cayfords were a farming family in his early years Bill never liked the farm much. The dust bothered him and the work didn’t suit him. Dad told me neither Bill, nor any of his sisters ever milked a cow. We may get a rebuttal later. When the farm was sold and the family moved on to Barrhead and eventually Swan Hills, Bill’s skills continued to develop. You may have noticed in the slide show a picture of a young Bill pulling a cart behind his bike. He had built that cart to haul me and my younger brother John around. The good looking guy in that picture would be me at about 21/2 years old. In Swan Hills Grandpa had a garage and Bill sold gas, fixed things and began to experiment with the shop welder. His first big project was a go-cart with a gas engine. He entered it in the Barrhead fair parade and won 1st prize. I am told you had to walk beside the cart since when Bill kicked it out of gear there were no brakes, you had to grab on to it to slow it down. In 1966, Lloydminster would become Bill’s home. Many outstanding accomplishments and funny stories would come out of the next 43 plus years and I would like to share a few with you. We all know about the prankster in Bill and I think a fellow by the name of Ed Gerling had a little to do with that. Bill loved to go to Ed and his sister June’s farm at Macklin Sk. Ed had a small dozer and a shop : things right up Bill’s alley, however Bill also went there in search of the allusive goose hunt. So when you go goose hunting you need to get up early and set up in the dark before the geese arrive, Uncle Ed told Bill he would wake him in the morning and Bill went to bed, Ed woke Bill and Bill said gee I feel like I just went to bed but he got up and got ready. When he reached the kitchen Ed was laughing out loud. In fact Bill was right only a half hour had passed since he went to bed. Of course anytime you put a group of hunters together you may get a story. Gordon Peterson, tells a story of how he and Bill planted a fake skunk in the hunting cabin charging in and wrestling the unsuspecting beast into submission, much to the amazement of the other hunters who likely would have shot the skunk in the cabin. Tom Fisher, Al Carr and Bill were hunting a Murphy Lake and were heading to the cabin at near dark after a day in the bush, just short of the cabin Al spotted a deer so they stopped bailed out and Al shot it. Being so close to the cabin they just threw the deer in the truck and carried on. When they jumped out at the cabin the deer was standing in the truck box very much alive. There are many Murphy Lake stories to share but we might be here all night. Quite a few of us remember blasting a florescent orange paint can with a shot gun. I’m sure if you ask around someone will share a story about an RCMP officer’s hat in a rubber boot. Really though when it comes down to it Bill’s life was his designs, construction, inventions, his family and his friends, Bill was devoted to all three. Good times on the golf course with the Herles, Schilles, Rahers, and of course the Cayford clan. Robert Herle talks of golfing in Osoyus when the prankster Bill bugged a Canada goose to long and the goose put the run on Bill. I personally will miss the whippings Bill use to give me. A pretty good golfer for a guy who stood on the wrong side of the ball. Herle said most of the stories from his group likely shouldn’t be made public, which is a good enough story in itself. The work that Bill did in construction and design will be his legacy for all time. The original Cayford Holdings foam tank shown in the slide show was the first tank of that size or shape ever built. Although many newer tanks of that type have been built the original from 1984 remains in service today with the original serial number which begins BBT-Billy Built Tank. In his early years Bill engineered designed and built service rigs, drilling rigs, bed trucks, tractors, and an array of associated equipment. He had the ability to look a difficult task in the eye, explain it to a lay person and build it perfection. A welder that worked with us at Border Drilling told me that he was sure that Bill had cross hairs in his eyes. Later on he developed well head drives, stuffing boxes, test benches, oil change units, pipe handling equipment and many others. Bill told me one time that an engineering design group came to him about a project he was working on. They wanted to do blue prints and specifications and then have Bill build it. He told them why don’t you let me build it first that way I know it will work, it will be cost effective and I’ll only have to build it once. You can draw it after I build it. The one invention of Bill’s that received little attention but in my mind is one of the most practical ever is the bumper dumper, yes a simple toilet seat mounted to trailer hitch receiver allowing for simple removal of contaminents without fear of invasion by cactus, bark or ants. Ah the simple things in life. On all counts Bill Cayford was a great guy. I suspect today that a redesign and build project is underway at the Pearly Gates and likely some engineer has been told, you bet it will work just stand back and you will see. CARD OF THANKS The Cayford family wishes to acknowledge with deep appreciation the many expressions of love, kindness and support shown to us during this difficult time. Thank you for attending the service and taking the time to share in the remembrance. Thank you to Reverend Harold Martin for his comforting words, to Irene Knowlson for providing the music and the Grace United Church Choir for the singing of the hymns. Our sincere thanks to Alan Cayford for reading the eulogy and Robert Heffner for his kind words on behalf of AMIK Oilfield. Many thanks to John Cayford and Brian Cayford for the slide show presentation and music, great memories. Special thanks to the ladies who prepared the lunch following the service. To all those who sent floral arrangements, sent cards & online condolences, those who brought food to our homes and who made phone calls and visits, your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated. Thank you to all who made donations to charities and the donations received in the cards was given to the AMIK Oilfield Student Award. Our greatest appreciation and sincere thanks to the McCaw (Family) Funeral Service Ltd., for taking care of the funeral arrangements. We will be forever grateful for the kindness, support and comfort you had given to us. Thank you The Cayford Family Donations in memory of Bill may be made to the Amik Oilfield Student Award at the lakeland college or to a charity of the donors choice.