Obituary of William Brassington

B I O G R A P H Y BRASSINGTON: William John "Bill" Brassington passed away in the Lloydminster Hospital, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Sunday, January 13, 2008 at the age of 81 years. Bill is survived by: his wife Margaret of Lloydminster, one sister Mary and her husband Bud Block of Lloydminster, Margaret's children: Anne Orwig of Portland, Oregon; Alan George of Waterloo, Ontario; Lynda and her husband Barry Gibbs of Phoenix, Arizona; Art George and his wife Shirley-Ann of Ottawa, Ontario; eleven grandchildren, fourteen great grandchildren as well as numerous other friends and relatives. The funeral service for Bill was conducted from St. John's Anglican Church, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Michael Stonhouse officiating. Hymns sung were "In The Garden," and "Lord of The Dance," accompanied on the piano by Margaret Venance. Active pallbearers were: Kyle Orwig, Greg Orwig, Todd Orwig, Lisa Orwig Hagedorn (in spirit), David George (in spirit), Geoffrey George, Scott Gibbs, Guy Gibbs, Michael Gibbs, Jason George and Karen George. Interment will follow in the Lloydminster City Cemetery at a later date. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster administered the funeral arrangements. A eulogy was given by Doug Heath, Arthur George & Greg Orwig. By Doug Heath On April 26, 1912, Ben Brassington, a young man of 21 years, sailed to Canada from England and arrived in the McDonaldville district. On May 15, 1912 he filed for a homestead on NW 22-47-2 W4th. Ben married May Jenkinson, from the Golden Valley area. On November 19, 1921 Mary was born. Five years later, on Jan.3, 1927, William John was born - better known to all of us as "Bill". Bill's early years were typical of a normal farm family involving doing his share of chores and tormenting his older sister. During one such incident Bill and Mary were involved in a heated argument which ended with Bill throwing a Vick's bottle at Mary as she was leaving the outside biffy and hitting her on the side of the head. To this day Mary blames Bill for her poor hearing. Bill took his Grades 1 through 9 at Uneeda School, then completing 10, 11 and 12 in Paradise Valley. Getting to school required walking, or riding his bicycle or horse. At the age of 10, Bill's mother passed away. His Dad, along with Uncle Bennett, and his older sister Mary shared with Bill's upbringing. Bill wasn't always the attentive student and did on occasion play hooky from school. It seems that enroute to school, Bill and his close friend Evie Kitching would stray from the trail as they hunted crows nests and shot gophers with sling shots. Bill inherited his love for music and dancing from his mother and father, who would take the kids and travel many miles to attend every box social, shadow social and masquerade dance. In 1954 Bill took modern square dance lessons and danced for more than 20 years. Oh how Bill loved to dance. One story that comes to mind is we had bushing done in the pasture north of the yard and Bill had come down to help us clean up the piles by hand, after they had burnt down. For anyone who has done this knows it is hot, dirty work. This particular day was hot and we had been working since 9:00 am. At 4:00 in the afternoon I was starting to drag a little and was looking forward to having a shower and putting my feet up. At 4:30 Bill informs me we had to quit as he needed time to get home, get cleaned up and have supper, as he was going old time dancing that evening. It was all I could do to get home and he was going dancing!!! He would also tell us of the times he would walk the 5 miles to a dance in Paradise Valley, dance all night then walk back home. Bill worked at a variety of farming jobs ploughing, stooking and driving a team for numerous neighbours. Another one of Bill's stories was of helping Killan's process some 900 lb yearlings. Someone would rope a steer by the head, and then they would catch its back feet and stretch it out. They would then do the doctoring. Now came the tricky part - sending someone in to take off the ropes. That person would have to run like crazy and get up the fence before the animal could catch them. Bill also rode a gang plough pulled by a team for 10-12 hours a day. You would hit a dead rock and get tossed and upset the plough. You would get up and get everything reset and go again until you hit the next one, all day long, and for only dollars a day. When Bill started farming he purchased an old tractor, a tiller and a handful of cows. Over the years the herd grew to a substantial number of top grade Black Angus cattle and the mainstay of his farming operation. It was at one of those square dances that he met Margaret George. They were married on Oct.16, 1965. Bill's Dad "Ben" passed away in February, the following year. Bill moved to the Blackfoot district where he continued to grain farm, raise stock and of course dance. By Art George Bill was our Step-Father but in all the ways that matter he was our Dad. My sister, Lynda, was sixteen and I was thirteen when Bill joined our family. Our elder siblings had already left home for University and the working world. Bill was a thirty-nine year old bachelor. How he found the courage to take on the task of helping Mom to raise Lynda and myself, I cannot begin to fathom. But Bill did have that courage and, as I later came to understand, the strength, gentleness, patience, good will, good humour and honesty to take on that job. I speak for all my siblings as well when I say that we are very, very grateful that he did. Bill and I never talked much beyond what we were doing for the day. He certainly never tried to preach to me. Instead, he taught by the examples he set in his everyday life. He seldom showed even minor annoyance when things went wrong but, rather, simply set about making them right. He worked hard but always had the time to help others. We all remember the many long hours Bill spent crafting a beautiful Tennessee Red Cedar hope chest for Lynda's 18th birthday. He respected himself and gave due respect to everyone he came in contact with. He was both a gentle man and a gentleman. Mom taught us how to cook. Bill taught us how to enjoy good food. At the dinner table, there was always good conversation and usually laughter. Bill had many more interests than work and family. He loved to dance, play cards, garden, visit with friends, do crosswords and to play pool. I believe my siblings and I can all attest to having been soundly trounced by Bill when playing Crib. Speaking of dancing, he and Mom taught all their grandchildren at least the rudiments of old-time dancing and, I suspect, there are many friends in attendance today that also had the benefit of those talents. He showed his love for Mom everyday through the little things that he did to make sure that all was right for her. When Mom's health began to fail, Bill's devotion to her and his strength in dealing with her problems was inspiring to us all. Bill and Aunt Mary lost their father, Ben, shortly after Bill and Mom were married. As a self-absorbed teenager at the time, I did not comprehend the grief Bill was feeling. Today, as never before, I understand. We will miss Bill terribly. Good-bye Bill. Safe journey. By Greg Orwig It is my privilege to represent the 11 grandchildren of Bill and Margaret Brassington this afternoon. Nine of the 11 are here today, and I can assure you that the other two have very good excuses for not being here. I've been asked by my mom to read some thoughts that Grandpa had wanted to have shared at this time. I'll do that because, if I've learned anything, it's that you should always do what your mother tells you to. But I'm also glad to read this because it captures better than I could some important things that should be said. So, here are Grandpa's own words: "I have had many pleasurable hours playing cards with the Harbins - also dancing with my many friends. I was fortunate to grow up in the Paradise Valley area where people were so honest and friendly. I was very fortunate to meet my wife Margaret who was the best thing that ever happened to me. We have had many years of happiness without ever having a serious disagreement. I was lucky to have a sister who looked after me. Our mother died when I was only ten years old. She has really been good to me. The step children I acquired through marriage have been very good to me - also the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I have been well blessed." Grandpa also noted that honesty and honor are the two greatest assets a person can attain in life, and he had them both in spades. He wrote that if he had his life to live over again, he'd live it the same way; could we all say that at the end of our lives. And, as others have already noted today, he listed his hobbies as dancing, playing cards and pool, gardening and doing crosswords. The fact that most people in this room would know that list without Grandpa pointing it out gives testimony to the fact he made time in his life to do what he loved. That's a lesson for us all. I just want to close by sharing some of the memories that we grandkids have of grandpa and that we've been recounting the past couple of days. Most of us were able to visit the farm during summer vacations and have great memories from those times. We remember going with grandpa to feed the stray cats in the shed. We remember playing cards - Hearts, Bridge, Smear and Spades. Somehow, despite our tender years, we knew better than to challenge him in Crib. We remember those tremendous sneezes that he could cut loose with and our efforts to copy him. But the highlight was always getting to go out with Grandpa for a day on the tractor. I think one reason we enjoyed that so much is that while Grandpa was usually content, in a group, to let others carry the conversation load, we got more one-on-one interaction when we were out on the tractor with him. For some of us, he was the only grandfather we've ever known. And we couldn't imagine a better one. Good-bye, Grandpa. Card of Thanks The family would like to thank Doctors Dry and Kostic, and the staff at the Lloydminster Hospital for Bill's care. Between hospital stays, Bill was assisted by the Lloydminster Home Care staff. A special thank you to Linda and Bob Dennett for being there for Bill during his illness, when we were all so far away. Heartfelt thanks for the personal, compassionate handling of the memorial service by Canon Michael Stonhouse, for the music by Margaret Venance, and to the grandchildren, many of whom travelled great distances to honor their Grandpa, as pallbearers. We are grateful to Glenn McCaw and his staff for their caring and professional assistance before, during and after the funeral service. Thanks to the Anglican Church Women for the delicious lunch, and also to all our friends and relatives who sent cards, flowers, phone calls, emails, visits and food to the house. Thanks to those who sent donations to many charities in Bill's memory. In lieu of thank you cards, a donation has been made to the Lloydminster Health Foundation, Jubilee Home Equipment Fund. Margaret Brassington and Family Mary and Bud Block Donations in memory of Bill may be made to the Lloydminster Handivan Society c/o Box 2032 Lloydminster, SK S9V 1R5; the Jubilee Home Equipment Fund c/o 3820-43 Avenue, Lloydminster, SK S9V 1Y5 or to a Charity of the Donor's Choice.