Obituary of William Gainsforth

WILLIAM ORVILLE GAINSFORTH Orville Gainsforth, formerly of the Rivercourse district, passed away at the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Centre on November 20, 2008 at the age of 92 years. He will be sadly missed by his family: son Ron and wife Sharon, granddaughters Joanne (Boomer) Thompson and Carin (Derrick) Jensen, and great-granddaughters Ally and Hailey Thompson, and Avery Jensen, one sister-in-law Hazel Holtby and numerous nieces and nephews. Orville was predeceased by his wife Gladys, son Brian, and his parents William and Laura, and his brothers and sisters, Vernon, Norman, Myrtle (Bert) Allen, Lillian (Melvin) Sandbeck and Helen (Ivan) Spence, and niece Irene Crews. The funeral service for Orville was held on November 25, 2008 at 2:00 P.M. at the McCaw Funeral Chapel with Reverend Allan Young officiating, with interment at Oxville Cemetery. Pallbearers were Gordon Gainsforth, Cecil Reid, Barry Dow, Don Moffat, Arnold Sandbeck and Leon Holman. Eulogy was written by granddaughters Joanne Thompson and Carin Jensen and is available on the McCaw Funeral Service website (www.mccawfuneralservice.com). CARD OF THANKS We wish to thank family and friends for words of sympathy, flowers, cards, baking and donations in memory of Dad, Grandpa and Great-Grandpa. We are grateful for the excellent care and attention given to Orville at the Dr. Cooke Extended Care during his time there and thank you very much. Our thanks to Bill Dobson for gravesite preparation, the pallbearers, Reverend Allan Young for the service, Donna Weston for the music, and the Rivercourse Ladies for the lunch after the service. Thank you to Glenn McCaw and staff at McCaw Funeral Service for their guidance, compassion and service at this time. Ron and Sharon Joanne and Boomer Thompson, Ally and Hailey Carin and Derrick Jensen and Avery Eulogy for William Orville Gainsforth - as given by Joanne Gainsforth Thompson and Carin Jensen August 1, 1916 - November 20, 2008 Grandpa was born on August 1, 1916 in Vandura, SK to William and Laura Gainsforth - the third of six children. His siblings were Vernon, Norman, Myrtle, Lillian and Helen. Grandpas' dad was an elevator agent for the British American Elevator Company and oversaw the construction of elevators in various mid-west towns. This meant a lot of moving before the family settled in Rivercourse in 1929 where William was the first elevator agent for the Rivercourse elevator. Grandpa completed his schooling at Ridgeclough, three miles south of Rivercourse and one mile from the Gainsforth farm. He also spent a lot of time at the elevator with his dad, working and visiting. He spoke many times of how the money to buy grain would be sitting in a box in the elevator office and even though times were tough, not a penny went missing. There was a respect, even among strangers, during those times that the world somehow lost as the years went by. Grandpa kept that respect and trusted that people would treat him well in return. He also did not like to "owe" anything. When we would take Grandpa out for lunch or dinner, he would always insist on paying the bill and giving the waitress her tip before the food arrived - sometimes even before we had ordered! It was during the first years in Rivercourse that Grandpa's love of baseball grew and his pitching ability flourished. He said there were many times when he and his friends would play catch by throwing the ball over the elevator. Grandpa played on the Rivercourse ball team and the team played in tournaments in Lloydminster where the competition was intense. He said it was nothing for him to pitch four or five full games in one day and still be ready to pitch again. Baseball scouts were at these tournaments and Grandpa was approached by a scout for the Boston Red Sox to pitch for them. However at the time he was a newlywed and had gotten land of his own so he turned down the offer. Nonetheless, he was still very proud that he was asked and mentioned on many occasions that the pitchers they have today sure can't pitch like he could back then. When Grandpa moved into the Pioneer Lodge he was surprised at how many of the old ball players he knew were in there as well. He enjoyed seeing them all again and talked about baseball quite often after that. Grandpa met Gladys Sandbeck in the Rivercourse area and they were married on August 15, 1940. They had a homestead just inside the Saskatchewan border and then moved to the farm along Highway 17 in 1942. They had two sons: Ron, born in 1945 and Brian, born in 1953, who passed away in 1984. Ron married Sharon Gerbig and they had two daughters: Joanne, who married Boomer Thompson and now lives at Grandpa's yard site and has two daughters Ally and Hailey and Carin, who married Derrick Jensen and lives in Taber with their daughter Avery. Grandpa and Grandma were married for almost 53 years when Grandma passed away in 1993. Grandpa stayed on the farm helping Ron with the field work until the fall of 1998, when he moved into the Pioneer Lodge because his knees were getting too bad. That fall is the first time Grandpa had the luxury of running water - something I believe he cherished for the rest of his life. Over the years Grandpa farmed, raised cattle and pigs, grew large gardens and did custom weed spraying for the neighbors. He loved the outdoors and hunting from the time he was small. He was an excellent marksman, tracker, trapper and skinner and has earned a lot of respect from fellow outdoors men in the area. He always took time to go camping and fishing in the summer (he loved to cast from the shore) and hunt for geese and deer in the fall. At home Grandpa was always feeding the birds, chipmunks, squirrels and bush rabbits. I remember the wild rabbits he had that would take carrots out of his hand and he told stories about his pet coyote he had on the Gainsforth farm. That coyote could do almost anything a dog could do, but he couldn't get it to stay out of the chicken coop! Grandpas' door was always open and you were expected to have something to eat every time you stopped. If Grandpa had a saying that he lived by, it was "There's something wrong with you if you can't eat!" Grandpa was an amazing man, full of wonderful experiences and friendships. He always had kind words and actions for everyone he met and never let anyone do without. Grandpa never complained about anything and truly loved life. He was a great role model for his family and friends, both young and old, and will be missed greatly. Donations in memory of Orville may be made to the Dr. Cooke Patient Comfort Fund or to a charity of the donors choice.