William (Bill) Weber July 31, 1917 - January 9, 2012 It is with great sadness that we announce that "the old buck", as he called himself, passed away at the age of 94 years at Mainprize Manor in Midale, Saskatchewan. One of the earliest memories Dad shared was of the migration of his family, when he was about 14, from the Marienthal District of Torquay to Benson. The horse with the buggy, loaded down with all their worldly possessions, travelling that long dirt road and taking on a new adventure. The first time my mother, Florence Dame, saw the new boy named "Willy", she commented on what a shrimp he was. Well, I guess he took those words to heart and by the time he was 16 he had stretched out to 6 feet tall. They courted and married in 1940. Dad recalled those early growing years of Benson, telling how the community always came together when work needed to be done and how they built the Roman Catholic Church to pray in and the curling rink to play in. He spoke with great fondness of attending old time dances, sometimes in folks' houses. They'd push the furniture aside, put a jug of homemade wine on the floor, in the centre of the room and everyone would dance around that jug and take their turns at swigging a mouthful. Early in their marriage, Dad bought some farmland and began that hard way of life. The Second World War was in full swing now and Dad heard the call to arms. Mom couldn't look after the farm herself, so he rented out the land and moved Mom and the boys, Wayne and Francis to Grandma and Grandpa Weber's farm which is where Barry and Bonnie Weber now reside. He enlisted and spent just 6 weeks training before the war was declared over. He was sent back and since his farm was rented out, he moved the family into a small bunk house south of the tracks in Benson and went to work for the Canadian National Railroad, with the section crew repairing the track and he was a big strong man and he could carry two railroad ties at once, one on each shoulder and that's where his back problems began. A few years later, he quit the railroad and sold the farm. He had the opportunity to buy the pool hall and he did so. Dad moved his family onto the upper floor of that pool hall and time passed. Dad would spend a lot of time downstairs of that hall while mom spent her time upstairs looking after the boys. When the baby girl, Judy was born, she had the colic and she was in such pain most all of the time and would cry her little eyes out. Dad would often lay her on his chest and gently rock her and that would soothe her some, but he had a business to run downstairs and so for most days and early evenings mom was on her own. At her complete wit's end one day, she said "Bill, if you don't sell that pool hall, I'm going to throw this baby out that window." And I'm telling you, that he knew very well, for her to say such a thing about her precious baby girl that he had better listen. So just like that he sold that pool hall to Henry Brasseur. They packed up and moved again, this time into the Honan house on the corner of main street, and Dad took a job in Estevan working for Alec Dorsch at the Massey Ferguson dealership on Fifth Street. Back and forth everyday he would make that journey from Benson to Estevan. And a few more years passed. 1958 was not a good year for the Weber family. Mom and Dad lost their first-born son Wayne to a tragic tractor accident that had found him pinned under it. The accident had occurred on Aug. 17, just 2 days after his 17th birthday and a few days later he passed away. In the late summer the following year 1959, tragedy struck again. Dad's brother Gerald lost his life as a result of a car rollover a few days after graduation. I have heard it many times that bad luck strikes in threes and it rang true to the Webers. Shortly after Gerald's passing when mom was 7 months expecting, she slipped on the stairs and fell and the beautiful baby was no more. Too much to bear. Grandma and Grandpa Weber had already sold their grocery store in Benson and moved to Estevan when Mom and Dad followed suit. A new start and no more time wasted commuting. Life was in rhythm, going smoothly. A good opportunity turned up and Dad purchased a taxi licence from John Weiler. Dad talked Mom into joining him in the business and she became the main dispatcher and keeper of the books for City Cab and that's when Grandma and Grandpa Dame moved off the farm they had rented from Hildahls and settled into the small house in the back of our yard at 729 4th Street, where they were close enough to keep an eye on us kids. They loved working with the public. There was no one that they were not kind and courteous to. Just plain good folks they were. The hours of operation are long in the cab business and days off are virtually non-existent when you own a business and so for 10 years they endured. During those 10 years a lot of good people worked for Dad. Some were drivers, some were drivers who had put their cars in service of the business. Names that come to mind in that category are: Buster Keating, Harold Rowe, Leo Audet, Terry Zimmerman, Dan Keating, Ray Dame, Isabelle Sears, Ken Iverson, John Borschowa and Cy Knight. Then there were the dispatchers, I recall Wendy Knight, Dad's "adopted daughter" as he liked to call her. Wendy is now married to Ralph Horrocks. And there was also Marge Peters and Bob Crumly, Jeff Nicholson and a very nice girl whose last name was McGillicky and I apologize for not knowing her first name. Moving on, the hours of work had taken a toll on Dad and shortly after we had moved to 5th Street, the chance to go custom combining down south came up and Mom agreed that he should go. So Dad packed a few things up and he joined Bill Mitchell's group and they headed south, stopping in Kansas, Missouri, Texas and other states along the way. Mom looked after the taxi while he was gone, and every few weeks Dad sent his whole paycheque back to her. He was away for 4 months. He drove cab again when he came back, but not for very long. The shine of the taxi business had worn off and they sold the business to Jim Halladay and Randy Marchand and M&H Taxi was born. Bill Harris had been propositioning Dad into joining his team at Harris Equipment and Dad took him up on his offer. He joined Bill and his gang as a partsman and very soon he was promoted to Parts Manager. Dad was very honoured at this gesture and he was always the first one to open up the shop in the morning and was always on call and he loved that. No matter where he was or what time of day or night it was, if his farmers needed parts, he was there for them, plain and simple. Keeping inventory records was easy for him, his mind sharp and remembering numbers was always a breeze for him. There was a time many years earlier when Grandpa Weber had made a tough decision to take Dad out of school. It was the Dirty Thirties and money was in short supply, the hired man was let go and that meant the oldest son, Bill, would have to quit school. The headmaster was very disappointed with this decision. Bill was an excellent student and it didn't seem right to him, so he rode out to the farm to speak to Grandpa Weber about dad returning to school, but that was not to be. Grandpa needed the help and there was no extra money to pay someone else and so it was. Dad remembered fondly the trip to England that Bill and Helga Harris had made available to the managers and their wives. A working vacation of sorts, only with lots of recreational time. Mom, not being a fan of flying, politely declined the offer and do you know that Bill Harris, from the goodness of his heart gave Mom the money that had been budgeted for her share in lieu of the trip. Bill Harris was a very good man. Dad told me that working for Bill was by far the most joy that he had ever experienced in his working life. Dad developed colon cancer in the early nineties and I remember Bill telling Dad to take whatever time he needed to recover and that health was the most important thing and that his job would be waiting for him and his pay would not be interrupted. I'll say it again, that Bill Harris was a good, good man. After that brush with cancer, I guess Dad felt it was finally time to take the time to share more of his life with Mom. They started to travel more and really enjoy their calmer life together. They had moved to Albert Street in October of 1985. Mom finally had a really nice house and a pretty yard and life was good. Plans were made to attend an upcoming Carriere family reunion in B.C. Mom was so excited at the prospect of going. However that was not meant to happen. Towards the end of May in the year 1986, 7 months after moving into that lovely house, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and within 2 1/2 months on Aug. 15 she was taken from us, to join Wayne on his birthday and Dad was left on his own. Sometimes we don't realize how good life really is until an important person is gone. He missed her deeply. He always said he had lady friends but no girlfriends and that Florence was the only woman that he ever loved. Period. Now Dad has gone too, to join Mom and Wayne and all the many loved ones that have passed. And Mom and Dad are dancing in heaven together for Dad loved to dance. Oh yes, and another thing that he is doing for sure, is visiting with his good friend Bill Harris and his wonderful wife Helga. And life up there is very, very good and you know, life down here is good, too. Bill was predeceased by his wife Florence (nee Dame); their son Wayne; parents, Rosa (nee Mitchell) and John; brothers, Mathew and his wife Mary (nee Karkowski), Roy and Gerald, as well as sister Pauline and her husband Bert Buck; sister-in-law Olive Weber (Don) and sister-in-law, Lilas (nee Andrews), wife of Adelord Dame. He leaves behind two brothers, Donald, Red Deer, Alta., Edwin (Olive nee Shea), Calgary, Alta.; two daughters, Judith (Paul Fraser), Regina, Sask., Marian (Don Dukart), Estevan, Sask., and two sons, Francis (Sandy nee McDonald), Regina and Mark (Karen nee McGuiness), Lloydminster, Sask., and brother-in-law, Adelord Dame, Tucson, Ariz. Bill was blessed with five grandchildren, Brent, Todd and Christie, born to Frank and Sandy; Makinley and Kelsy, born to Mark and Karen; and two great grandchildren, Crystal and Justin, born to Christie and J.R. Vincent. Funeral Mass was celebrated on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. in St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, Estevan, by Rev. Peter Nijssen. Interment took place in Sacred Heart Parish Cemetery, Benson. Those so wishing may make donations to a charity of choice in Bill's memory. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Hall Funeral Services, Estevan. Thank You We, the family of the late William Weber, wish to express our most heartfelt thank you, for the many expressions of caring and love regarding the passing of our father. The flowers from Enbridge, the Steelman Crew and Don AND Lyla and Darren Cowan are so appreciated. Thank you for them. Thank you to Father Peter Nijssen for celebrating the funeral mass and to the reader of the scriptures, Jo Ann Schopf, and the ladies of the C.W.L. for the lunch.Thank you to the nurses and staff of Mainprize Manor Midale for their loving care of Dad, and also to Dr. Allison Christie for her dedication to Dad.Thank you Dustin Hall for sharing the gift of your beautiful voice with us. Your rendition of Amazing Grace brought tears to many eyes. You are special. Thank you for all your help with the planning. Your knowledge and Shirley's experience were a Godsend for us. A special thank you is extended to the Knights of Columbus and the honour guard for their dignified service and to all the friends and relatives who were able to attend the service and all those who were unable to be there in person but had Dad in their thoughts and prayers. And to close, a very special thank you is extended to the pallbearers for their service: Barry Weber - God Son of Dad, Jim Carriere - cousin of Mom (Florence Dame), Brent Weber - Grandson, Todd Weber - Grandson, Paul Fraser - Son-In-Law and Don Dukart - Son-In-Law. Love, peace and happiness to you all. - The family of William & Florence Weber - Frank, Judy, Marian and Mark.
