James OLIVE

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OLIVE: James William (Jim) was born on the family farm on October 17, 1925. He was the first of 4 children born to Bill and Hazel Olive. He and his brother John, and sisters Joyce and Nora grew up on the farm and attended Runnymede School and Oakwood School in Oak Lake for high school. He rode his pony to school every day or drove the buggy or cutter to Oak Lake for school. After high school Jim choose to stay and farm with his father and brother. As a young man, while at a dance in Griswold, he met his soul mate, a young lady by the name of Betty Skinner. They courted and were married in 1949. They built their home on the east quarter of 20-9-23 RM of Sifton and began raising a family of their own - a daughter Terry and son Murray. They took great pride in their large garden and orchard which they planted at their new home. Jim and Betty decided in 1982 it was time to move to town, so they built a new house on North Railway Street East in Oak Lake and retired. In 2012, after having lost his wife to cancer in 2009, Jim moved to Oakwood Place, a seniors residence in Oak Lake. He remained there until shortly after his 90th birthday when he moved to the Sherwood Nursing Home in Virden in the fall of 2015. He remained there until his passing on November 21, 2017. Jim was very active in the community. He was a founding member of the Oak Lake Co-op store. He was a member of the Royal Forresters and a director on the board of Manitoba Pool Elevator. He served as councillor for Ward 1 in the RM of Sifton for several years. He was a lifetime member of the Oak Lake Ag Society, serving a term as president and many years as a Horticulture Director. He was a Life Member of Oak Lake Legion Branch #79, having held the position of Treasurer and Poppy Chairman for several years. He was very active in the Curling Club and Golf Club, helping to convert the course from sand to grass greens. Jim enjoyed hunting with his buddies, locally for geese and duck and white tailed deer, as well as trips up north for moose. Jim’s real passion was fishing, whether it be at the river bank, their trailer at Lake of the Prairies or out on the ice at Oak Lake. He and Betty loved trying to out-fish the other one. They also enjoyed curling and ski-doing in the winter with their friends and playing cards. They were avid bottle collectors. They and some of their fellow collectors would arrange digs at the old City of Brandon dump. They began repairing broken ginger beers and crocks. Jim would glue pieces back together and form missing pieces with body putty and Betty painted the finished product. Other collectors would bring their bottles for them to repair and they would take other bottles in trade for payment. It was a wonderful hobby, and one Jim and Betty would enjoy doing together for many years. Jim was pre-deceased by Betty, his wife of 60 years, mother and father, Bill and Hazel Olive, and his sister Nora. Jim is survived by his sister Joyce Olive (Ted Snow), brother Jack (Alice) Olive, daughter Terry Wood (Darrel Morrow), her son Chris Wood (Karren), their children Mac, Kalyssa, and Cadence, her daughter Heather Wood (Fred Wind) their children Fraser and Fletcher, Darrel's son Ross Morrow & Clarisa Barrios, their children Josephina and Lucia. Darrel's daughter Karen (Brad) Mann their son Evan. Son Murray (Trudy) Olive their daughter Melanie (Spencer) MacPherson their children Rylee and Kaitlyn. Son Steven Olive and Cheryl Wareham and their children Aiden, Alex, and Cole and several nieces and nephews and cousins. A celebration of Jim's life was held in the Oak Lake Community Hall on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 and interment took place at Oak Lake Cemetery. If friends so desire, a donation may be made to Oak Lake & Area Foundation, Box 133, Oak Lake, MB in memory of Jim.

As published in Brandon Sun on Dec 09, 2017