Obituary of Eric Rayner

Eric will be sadly missed by his wife Audrey; daughter Norma Mauro of Red Deer, two sons: Greg Rayner and Geraldine Ruud of Lloydminster, Daryl and Shannon Rayner of Regina; ten grandchildren; one great grandchild; one brother Tom Rayner of Battleford as well as numerous other relatives. EULOGY Good morning and on behalf of the family, thank you for coming. It is with mixed emotions that this eulogy is presented, sadness at losing a friend, honor at being asked to do it and fear that justice will not be rendered to his name. Eric was born May 15, 1929 to John (J.W.) and Gladys Rayner (nee Hitchens). He was the youngest of 10 children and was predeceased by his parents and 8 siblings. Life on the prairies and on it’s farms was very tough in the thirties and through the war years so at the ripe old age of 14, Eric left home to make it on his own. This involved working on various farms, doing whatever was required, and in those days this involved a great deal of hard physical work, from dawn to dusk, for very little pay. From the farms he got a job with the C.N.R. in their telegraph repair/construction department. This took him all over southern Alberta and eventually into B.C. The years passed and it seems Eric decided to go home, or so I understand, and this trip led him to Lloydminster, where he planned to stay only long enough to make some money to get home with. Well, in December of 1951, fate intervened and he met a beautiful young lady by the name of Audrey Johnson. This led to a whirlwind courtship and a wedding in the spring of March 1952. Norma, their first child, told me her Dad said he knew the first time he saw Audrey, she was the one he would marry. Their family consist’s of 3 children: Norma, Greg and Daryl, 10 grandchildren and 1 ½ great grandchildren. Fifty eight years later they both felt the some towards each other and it showed. Wow was he ever right!! I first met Audrey and Eric while working at Northside Service, they would come in for gas etc. The first time seeing them you had to be impressed with the happy smiles they and the kids had. Every time it was really pleasant to have them show up, as no one else came in as happy with each other and with life in general. At this time they were living in the north end of Lloydminster and had developed a very close group of other parents (friends) all busily raising their families. About this time Eric became a contractor, building mostly homes and his real working passion came to the forefront. He took a great deal of pride in building homes of outstanding quality no matter what the price range, size, finishes asked for or all the things that go into a home. About 1970, Eric and Alvin Lider formed a partnership company. It is a testament to both men that this partnership lasted in an amiable manner for about 30 years at which time Alvin retired. In this same time frame the family bought a cabin at Bright Sand Lake, which proved to be a very good investment from a family perspective. The family and later including grandchildren, spent a great deal of time at the cabin, in and on the water. From what I know this was a very enjoyable time for all concerned. From first meeting Eric and Audrey it would be a few years and a lot of water under the bridge before we became friends. When we traveled together, driving, in later years I marveled at where he had actually built so many homes. No matter where you were or in what town he would point and say “oh we built a house over there” or sometimes two or three down some side road. Audrey said they had no idea how many they had built. It must have been a lot!! An attribute this man had was the ability to visit or talk to whomever he met or was sitting beside. You would see this time after time, such as at Zellers get togethers, on trips or even when you went out for a meal. People would gravitate to him and become engaged in an animated conversation. His interest in who they are and what they are doing was very evident. Something some people may not be aware of is that Eric had a competitive side. This first came to light for me when we used elevators to decide who had to pay for the next meal, while on a vacation together. We would meet at the elevators after leaving our rooms and since this hotel had 6 servicing our area you had to guess which one would come. If yours arrived the other person had to buy. Boy, Eric enjoyed free meals!! Over the years we have played a lot of cards and Eric’s competitive side, along with a bit of devilish nature always showed itself. He had a way of getting into your head and making you almost forget what you should be doing. Then to make matters worse he would seem to know when a wild card was on top of the deck and it was his turn. He always let you know when he was right and this always seemed to over ride the odds of probability. You started to think he was psychic and with how often he won, maybe it was true. We had the pleasure of going to the east coast of Canada with Audrey and Eric last fall. On one occasion went whale watching. Well Eric, bionic knees and all (he had both knees replaced) bounced, jumped or stumbled from one side of the boat to the other and I think the only person out of about 20 to get pictures as the whales breached. In fact, even our tour guide asked for copies, which Eric sent him. Something I did not know, that later in life Eric became a trapper. His weapon of choice was a bear trap and his prey were poor innocent grandchildren. He would lie in wait, grab them and wrap his legs around them. His bear trap!!! It seems they would laugh and scream until he let them go, then as soon as possible they would come back for more. I understand the noise level was so high that others in the area were very glad when it finally ended!! Even in his so called retirement, Eric was always very active. For instance, he dug a gold fish pond into the back yard then I understand he later filled it in. Re-doing the basement after it was flooded. Laying new flooring upstairs and lord only knows what else. Wine making. For a while he made home made wine, this continued until his basement got too full. Eric and Audrey both enjoyed the odd trip to a casino and both seemed to be fairly lucky. Bus trips to various casino’s seemed to be a favorite. Eric had a love/hate relationship with the Edmonton Oilers. He enjoyed watching NHL hockey but could easily be led into a fairly animated conversation when Edmonton were playing badly...which lately was quite often. All this while making a lot of road trips to Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia to visit family, relatives and friends. Each of his children have written a short note and I would like to read them now. Norma ~ For as long as I can remember, my brothers and I turned to Dad for advice on everything, from learning to ride the stick horses he made us, drive a car and building our homes. He was constantly renovating our houses even when he had a full time job building for others. He was a wonderful grandfather to all 10 of his grandchildren. When my children lost their father at a young age he became a father figure to them and they had the utmost respect and love for him. It broke their hearts when he got ill and they will miss him so much! Greg ~ The things I will always remember about Dad was his infinite patience and his exceptional work ethic. He was always doing something, whether building a home for someone or for his family. When he was not building he was maintaining his house, the cabin or the yard. Dad was always doing something. I remember one spring when I was about 17 and one Friday night getting my car stuck at on oil well lease. Hitched a ride home and “borrowed” Dad’s truck. Well I got Dad’s truck stuck too so got home again about 2 A.M. and woke Dad up. We drove his car back to the site and pulled both vehicles out. Then since we were up Dad decided we should go to Vermilion to work and that I should drive while he slept. He worked me extra hard that day and for some reason decided again the I should drive home while he slept. He never gave me heck, got mad or said a thing about it again. I on the other hand stayed away from wet oil well leases. Daryl ~ For me two qualities that I valued that Dad had were his commitment to his family and the work ethic he instilled in his children. Dad’s life revolved around family - Mom, us kids, his grandchildren and great granddaughter. Those were the things that mattered to Dad. Dad worked hard his whole life. Until the last few years of his life he never sat still. He did not complain, he merely did whatever was asked of him. His work mattered to him and he wanted his family to grow up with the same values. In the end the most important thing a person leaves behind are their family and the values, beliefs that they have. Eric, you did your share of this admirably! So on behalf of your family and friends, Goodbye Old Friend! Donations in memory of Eric may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.