LOUIS JOSEPH (BILL) LAVERY

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LOUIS JOSEPH (BILL) LAVERY November 9, 1917 May 3, 2008 Dad passed away peacefully with family by his side at the Charleswood Care Centre on May 3, 2008 at the age of 90 years. Dad was predeceased by his wife of 61 years, Martha, his daughter Darlene, his brother Frank and his sister Laura. He leaves to mourn his two sons, Lyle (Paulette) and Vance (Pat), his five grandchildren, Denise, Diana, Edward, Lauren and Jessica, and his two great-grandchildren, Tyler and Austin as well as his siblings, Doreen and Ralph, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Louis, or Bill as he was known to some of his friends, was born on a farm at Grande Pointe, MB and received his formal education at Otterburne College. The hard times brought on by the depression found Dad riding the rails to Saskatchewan during harvest season in search of work. He always said that working those long hard hours for a dollar a day, bent over in the fields stooking , was the hardest work he ever did and cured him forever of farming. When the war broke out in 1939, he was working in Winnipeg as a motorcycle mechanic at a dealership for German DKW Motorcycles. Dad decided to go down to Osborne Barracks and sign up, since as he told us, he would soon be out of a job anyway. He enlisted and served with A Company, 2nd Battalion of the P.P.C.L.I. until a case of trench foot ended his army career. Dad and Mom were married on Remembrance Day as that was the only time he was allowed to have leave. After his discharge, he worked as a locomotive fireman for the C.P.R. on the Winnipeg to Kenora run until the time away from home became too much for the family. He took a job with the Winnipeg Electric Transit driving a bus and then moved on to driving a cement mixer for McCurdy Supply for many years, retiring with Canfarge. Mom and Dad raised the family in a small wartime house on Logan Avenue that they were able to purchase through the veterans program and lived there for 50 years. Even though money was always tight, Dad found a way to earn extra money so that the family could take a two week summer vacation every year. He would work 10 hours a day driving a cement mixer and then work another four hours in the evening and all day Saturday putting in concrete steps, sidewalks and driveways for customers all over the city. He had far more work than he could handle, as it seems that everyone knew Louis. After retirement, Mom and Dad enjoyed traveling, once to Europe and saw many sights in Canada and the United States. Special thanks to the wonderful nurses and aides at the Charleswood Care Centre for their sincere kindness and care throughout Louis' stay and especially during his final days. A funeral service will be held on Friday, May 9, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. at the Thomson Funeral Chapels, 669 Broadway, Winnipeg. If friends so desire, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Society, 110-120 Donald St., Winnipeg, R3C 4G2. THOMSON FUNERAL HOME 669 BROADWAY, WINNIPEG, MB R3C 0X4 783-7211 Send expressions of sympathy at www.mem.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on May 07, 2008