Obituary of Harry Bexson

Click here to view Video Tribute BIOGRAPHY BEXSON ~ Harry Allan Bexson passed away peacefully at the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Centre in Lloydminster, Alberta on Thursday, July 30, 2009 at the age of 105 years. Allan will be sadly missed by his six children: Marguerite Withers of Vegreville, Waverley Ollenberger of Frenchman Butte, Terence & Betty Bexson of Marshall, Frank Bexson and his friend Betty of Lloydminster, Ron & Karen Bexson of Two Hills, Owen & Bonnie Bexson of Grande Prairie; thirty-five grandchildren; seventy-four great grandchildren as well as numerous great great grandchildren. Allan was predeceased by his wife Irene as well as three sons: Harry, Russell and Bill. The Funeral Service was conducted from the Stockade Convention Centre, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Harold Martin officiating. The eulogy was given by Allan’s grandson Dwaine Bexson. The hymns sung were “Bringing In The Sheaves” and “God Be With You” accompanied by Donna Weston. The Grace United Church Choir was in attendance. Active pallbearers were Zane Mundt, Eldon Germann, Cody Bexson, Emery Wolfe, Blair Graham, Blair Bexson. Interment was held in the Lloydminster City Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. CARD OF THANKS Allan’s family would like to thank the Lloydminster Agricultural Exhibition Association for the wonderful lunch and use of the hall. Thank you to the staff at the Pioneer Lodge, Dr. Cooke and Lloydminster Hospital for the care that was given to Allan. Thank you to Reverend Harold Martin, organist Donna Weston, eulogist Dwaine Bexson and the Grace United Church Choir for creating such a memorable service. Thank you to everyone who sent cards or made donations in memory of Allan. HARRY ALLAN BEXSON 1904 - 2009 So many times we have gathered together to celebrate another birthday for a man that has seemingly defied the laws of nature. Today we gather here to celebrate his life one last time. How do you condense 105 years into 15 minutes? We are all so proud to be part of this mans life and all have our memories and favorite stories that I know will be shared following the service and many years to come Harry Allan Bexson was born in the city of Derby, county of Derbyshire January 10, 1904 to Joseph and Elizabeth Bexson. He was the youngest of the siblings Joe, Cleve and Ivy. Their home was known as "Rakestones" at Idridghay. His father was a farmer and butcher, with a butcher shop in Derby. They had beautiful hackney horses, which they used to deliver meat throughout Derbyshire. When Allan was seven, the butchershop was sold and they moved to a farm where his interest in heavy horses began. After a short and unhappy stint as an office worker, Allan began working on the local farms and came under the tutelage of Herbert Kidd who taught him about showing horses and finer points of decorating In 1921, at the age of 17, Allan and his family boarded the "S.S. Melitta" The decision was made following the turmoil of World War I to join the oldest brother Joseph in Lloydminster. The morning they arrived, Allan saddled up his brothers horse and went for a ride, he loved the freedom of riding anywhere with no fears of trespassing and stated "This is the life for me". He loved Western Canada and never got homesick for England. They settled on a farm seven miles east of Lloydminster. Allan worked on the family farm in the summer time and Cleve's butcher shop in the winter. He worked on various farms in 1922 and 1923, even trying his hand at the rodeo circuit when he finally landed a job with Jonathon Fox II showing the Justamere Percheron horses. They would travel the fair circuit including Lloydminster, Battleford, Prince Albert, Vermillion, Innisfree, Vegreville, Camrose and Red Deer for six weeks by rail. The hardship of the accommodations was easily forgotten when the driver reached down and took the reins of the marvelous black teams for their smart trot around the show ring with every horse decorated and harness gleaming. While working for Jonathon Fox, a courtship started between Allan and Irene which was interrupted upon a decision for Irene to go to school in Minnesota. Of course they corresponded, and Irene was so homesick and unhappy, so Allan suggested they meet in Winnipeg and get married, which happened on New Years Eve of 1925. He was quite proud of the fact that the wedding was an inexpensive affair costing a total of $30 but lasting for 57 years. That winter, Allan drove a team on a dump wagon digging a basement for the Hudson Bay store on Portage Avenue. The couple came back to Lloydminster that spring and started their life together. It was a hard start for the couple as he lost his finger in the butcher shop and was unable to work as he was fighting to survive from blood poisoning. Upon his recovery, he started his draying service hauling things such as coal, ice, gravel, anything that needed to be hauled. He also had what he called his most interesting job, driving what was called horse livery. You had good driving horses and picked up people to go various places and distances. In 1931 he managed to save enough money to buy some land nine miles east of Lloydminster. Then in 1937 bought his father's farm moving there and raising their family of two girls and seven boys, Marguerite, Waverley Eldora, Terence Allan, Frank Harold, Harry Alex, Russell Leslie, Edwin Ronald, William Lawrence and Robert Owen. Granddad often boasted that he had planned the family and had Marguerite and Waverley first to help grandma look after the seven boys. The stories on the Bexson farm during those days are endless. Ron remembers resenting his father a boy saying he was a taskmaster and was very harsh. As an adult he understood that his dad's time was limited and it was his way in preparing his children for the future. The boys all remember the family boxing gloves, being taught to put up their guard up and how to take a punch. Frank remembers an incident where Allan was using a long crow bar to dig a hole for a post as he swung the bar around he hit him on the head and Frank began to laugh. The chase was on with Frank jumping out of the oversized boots in order to escape. Allan yelled for him to get back to work but he held his distance until he noticed a grin on his dad's face. There were numerous coyote hunts with the hound dogs and I remember uncle Harry freezing the coyotes in different positions and decorating the entrance to the farm yard. Frank remembers skinning and stretching 87 hides one winter. It was here that he became known for raising Percheron horses, most memorable being "Showtime" who was inducted into the Canadian Percheron Hall of Fame, Hereford cattle, and many different dogs along with his favorite, the black lab, keeping as many as 100 dogs at a time. Also during this time he served on the Trafalgar School board, was director of the big Gully Telephone company, on the Exhibition Board for fifteen years, three of those years being President, served as campaign manager for the Federal CCF party which is now NDP for two terms, served as Provincial Constituency President and President of the Federal CCF for six years, and was director of the Percheron Horse Association for five years. He also judged horses in numerous places, locally, at the Toronto Royal Winter Fair, Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver and various fairs in the USA and England, gave seminars and judged 4H classes. In 1965 he followed a life long dream to own a ranch. So he sold the farm and moved north of Meadow Lake. Although there were many good times and hardships endured, accomplishments made it ended up being one of the biggest disappointments of his life after the death of his son Harry in 1970. The decision was made to move back to Lloydminster in 1972, where he lived on the north end of town until Irene passed away in 1982. During this time is when I got to know him the best and his love for hunting. There are many hunting stories throughout the years but they all include his excitement of the hunt. Owen shared a story of a particular coyote hunt when he and Harry were off with the dogs and Granddad had the old blue one tone truck but couldn't see what was going on so he climbed on the roof of the truck. They could hear him yelling instruction to them and he was awfully excited. When they returned to the truck they were not able to get in because the roof was caved in so Harry climbed in to pound the roof back into shape. Granddad hunted all his life. When he was 99 he went out by himself and tagged his whitetail and mule deer. He also spent hours traveling the countryside hunting gophers Not happy with city life, Granddad was always looking for another spot in the country, when one day he phoned and asked me to come look at a place he was going to throw a bid on. It was south of Maidstone and needed a lot of work. All I can remember thinking was how can this man who is now in his 80s, make this place livable. This was accomplished with the help of friends and family and Granddad and his friend Kitty Garden lived here until their auction. They moved back to Lloyd after which Kitty died a year later, and then he moved to Frenchman's Butte to live with his daughter Waverley until she had a stroke. He spent the winter with Doug and Susan in Sooke BC where I picked him up in the spring and he lived at my house for 1½ years. Fortunately Judy was there to help out with the household chores. This was a very special time for all three of us. Each night we would sit, talk and listen to stories and we never heard the same story twice. Some people Granddad talked a lot about were Russ Robertson, Harvey Kromrey, Joe McClean, Alex Mitchell, Eling Krammer, Toby Nollet, Tommy Douglas Granddad moved to the Pioneer Lodge at the age of 101. He was the oldest resident and was still driving with a valid license plus had his own key for the side door for when he came in late. Granddad called when he was 102 and said he had three close calls that week and wanted to surrender his keys and have the truck sold while his license was still in good standing. Allan was a great supporter of the Exhibition and remembered the days fondly. I remember him telling when they were fundraising for the old curling rink building, the planning and construction of the Stockade building that we are gathered in here today. On June 13, 1987, the Lloydminster Agricultural Exhibition Board paid tribute to Allan at a dinner for "Horseman Extraordinaire". The quote "God forbid that I should go to any heaven in which there are no horses" was very appropriate for the occasion. Allan was inducted into the Lloydminster Agricultural Hall of Fame on November 5, 1987. Granddad had a great life, he was rarely sick, had a great mind even reciting from memory "The Cremation of Sam McGee" for my mom 6 weeks ago. I would like to finish with a few of Granddad's sayings: - it's a great life if you don't weaken - there is nothing wrong with getting old, its just awful inconvenient - if you get any wooden nickels split them with me - you don't give up the reins until you are done driving the team He was asked several times the secret to longevity – he would say everything in moderation too much of any one thing is no good. Jokingly he would say eat everything the dietitian tell you not to. He would also advise that good genes are helpful. Granddad was all about gene pools and it is one we can all be proud to belong to. I have especially been honored to present the eulogy and would like to thank all of you for coming to celebrate his life today. Donations in memory of Allan may be made to a charity of the donors choice.