DAVID WILSON

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DAVID WILSON David Wilson was born on April 22, 1917, on a farm near Rapid City, MB. He is survived by daughter Pat and son John. Dad's parents emigrated from Scotland around 1900, to make a new start in Canada. They were married in 1907, and proceeded to have a large family of six boys and two girls. Dad was the sixth. Dad had an enjoyable childhood in the large and caring family. There were always chores to do and much work in the fields during planting and harvesting. All work was done with horses, which had to be constantly attended to. Dad enjoyed and excelled at school. It was a break from work on the farm plus a chance to be with friends. Dad was good at mathematics and loved to read. In those years it was common for good students to be advanced a year, which Dad was. He graduated in 1935, and worked on his father's farm. Baseball was a very popular pastime at the time. Dad had a great passion for the game. With five brothers you could play almost anytime. When he was a teenager he played on local teams which went to tournaments where you could win money. In his early twenties, he and two brothers played for the Brandon Greys which was a very good senior team. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Dad signed up in Brandon. He was assigned to the radar unit, and sent to Winnipeg to study for two months. They were sent overseas to Liverpool where they spent six months doing more studies and waiting for assignments. He was sent to the Far East as part of a mobile radar unit. First it was six months in Ceylon. He liked the tropical climate except that any small cuts healed slowly. Next he spent two years in Calcutta. He liked the climate better and on furlough took train trips to the countryside. In 1944, he was sent to northern Burma. He returned to Canada in 1945. After the war he took the agriculture diploma course and the University of Manitoba. There he met Joan Young. They were married in 1947. They went back to the farm near Rapid City, where they farmed until 1959. A daughter Pat and son John were born there. In 1959, he joined the F.C.C. in Virden. His job was to go out to farms and appraise their value to see if they were worthy of a loan from the government. He enjoyed the work travelling around countryside and meeting farmers. Dad had an easy way about him and could make people feel at ease. A daughter Margo was born in Virden. In 1968, he became area supervisor and moved to Winnipeg, where mother could reconnect with her family. They had great get-togethers with the Barbers and Youngs and friends from work. Dad retired in 1982. He enjoyed golfing and keeping the house up to date. Dad and Mom belonged to many bridge clubs and spent many enjoyable evenings playing bridge with family and friends. In the winter they would travel down to the southern states for a month. They had a trailer in Tucson for ten years, where they would visit the Youngs. Mom died in 2007. My sister Pat moved back home to take care of Dad. He gradually declined over the next six years and needed more and more care. For the last two years, we had Joe Paraton, a home care worker, during the day who was a great help and became a great friend. Dad was able to stay at home until a short stay in the hospital at the end. Dad had an optimistic, easy going personality and a good sense of humour, which made it a pleasure to help him out. I would like to thank Dr. Brian Sharkey, who was a wonderful help for the last couple of years. I would also like to thank my sister Pat, who spent many evenings watching TV with him and getting his snack. Memorial service to be held in the summer.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 19, 2013