Obituary of Robert Graham

GRAHAM- Robert Maxwell Graham passed away peacefully at the Cut Knife Care Home in Cut Knife, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at the age of 89 years. Robert will be sadly missed by his wife Mary; two sons: Bob (Janice) and Barry (Faith) five grandchildren, Marie [Jamie], Jewel [Shawn], Max, Brendan and Chad. One brother-in-law: Irvin Hunter of California. The funeral service for Robert was conducted from the Neilburg Community Hall, Neilburg, Saskatchewan on Monday, June 18, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. with Mr. Tom Poppleton officiating. Eulogy was presented by: Grandson Max and Granddaughter Marie It is difficult to sum up the life of a man who lived 89 years in a few minutes. Just like many of us, Grandpa’s daily life was pretty normal. He worked, he played, he rested. Grandpa was born nearly 90 years ago on November 4 , 1917 in the Artland area. He was the firstborn of Robert Maxwell and Nellie Graham. His only sibling was Lucille who was a couple of years younger. Around 1928 the family moved to the Cliffe District. In August of 1944, Mary Wagner became his bride and in the next few years they had two sons. Robert Maxwell and Barry Anthony. Bob married Janice Schillmiller and they have three children. Marie Lynn, Jewel Dawn, and Robert Maxwell Stuart. Barry married Faith Tiede and they have two sons. Brendan Kent and Chad Daniel. The family still continues to grow. We don’t know much about Grandpa as a young boy. We don’t know if he teased his sister, like he did his Grandchildren. As children we couldn’t walk by Grandpa without having our toes stepped on or having our hair pulled. We know more about the man. One of his first jobs started at the age of 16 trucking lumber from the Graham Mill in the St. Walburg area. Some of the wood he hauled home, to be sold, became part of the Neilburg Hotel. By the time he was 26 he had taken over the family farm . Great Grandpa Max would help with some small jobs but basically the farm was Grandpa’s responsibility. With the help of his hired hands, Grandpa was also able to work as a mechanic for Gibbons Garage and McIntosh Garage. He had taught himself to fix machinery and equipment and worked his way to be a licensed mechanic. We’ve been told that Grandpa had a talent for setting thrashing machines and neighboring farmers would ask him to do their thrashing so they could get a good clean sample. Another job he had was driving school bus in the Baldwinton area for the Lloydminster School Division. This proved to be a good deal for the Bertoia girls. He often felt so sorry about the length of the bus ride that he would by them chocolate bars. As a father of two boys it became Grandpa’s job to fix snowmobiles and motorcycles in addition to keeping up repairs on the machinery, equipment and family vehicles. Grandpa’s rule was to service the car every 1000 miles. If there was a threat of it going over on a trip the oil was changed before they left. When we changed over to kilometres the highest Dad and Uncle Barry could convince him to go was 1500 km between oil changes. Whenever you were looking for Grandpa, the place to find him was either in his machine or wood shop. One of his favorite jobs was fixing and repairing junk. As long as the projects were vintage and rusty he was happy. He would restore them and sell them and go buy more. One tractor took a very long time to fix. Grandpa was waiting for just the right parts. When he finally found them the tractor was quickly sold. Nobody else even got to hear it run. Grandpa made other things from remnants in his shop as well. Some of the creative inventions worked and some did not. He built a few Go Carts and we also remember a tandem bike. Grandpa built it so that he and Grandma could go bike riding together. Instead of building the bike from front to back he built it from side to side. It proved to be a difficult ride. Marie and Jewel have first hand experience of this. Grandpa had his own version of “you might be redneck” "You might be a Graham” if you build a boat lift for a 14 foot outboard and it is strong enough to be used for a 19 foot inboard. “You might be a Graham” if you build something out of wood and when you are finished the project is three quarters steel. “You might be a Graham” if the Auctioneer sells you the junk pile and you didn’t even attend the sale. Grandpa always had a soft spot for his pets and animals. Cows, horses, pigs, chickens, ducks (which were a wedding gift), turkeys, dogs and cats resided on the farm at one time or another.. Skippy and Rover were lucky dogs and Smokey the cat was an off the charts companion for him. Just shy of having her own plate at the table Smokey always ate her meal right along side Grandpa, regardless of Grandma’s warnings. When they were done eating they would head to his favorite chair to take a power nap together. The family holiday was a week at the Loon Lake. Grandma and Grandpa eventually bought out the Graham cabin and not too many years later Grandpa and many helpful hands spent a few summers building the new cabin. Fishing was not what drew Grandpa to the lake. His time spend there included reading Archie comics on the deck, sneaking away for ice- cream, teaching the squirrels to eat peanuts out of his hand, taking naps in one of his ever changing trailers and watching his family enjoy the summer days. But the main draw for Grandpa was the thought of a junk yard and a trip in the country side with Mr. Morgan looking for antique machinery. Over the years many good memories were made at our summer home and will not be forgotten. It was difficult for Grandpa to leave the farm life behind but in 2003 Grandpa and Grandma moved into Neilburg. In 2005 he moved to the Cut Knife Care Home where he was looked after by a very caring nursing staff. Robert Maxwell Graham was a man worth knowing, a friend worth having and a loving husband, father and grandfather. We are going to miss him. A Scripture reading was read by daughter-in-law: Faith Graham Hymns sung were “in The Sweet Bye and Bye”, Church In The Wildwood” and “Beyond the Sunset”. accompanied on the organ by Marcie Park. Neilburg Community Choir was in attendance. Honorary pallbearers : Alf Wightman, Ken Chiverton, John Edwards, Bill McGarry, Donald Graham, Norman Peart, Grant Doolittle, Everett Putnam, Stan Ritchey, Dave Weiszhaar, Martin Otteson and Pat Gibbons. Active Pallbearers : Glen Harris, Doug Graham, Brian Graham, Fred Wightman, Dean Walde, and Ken Hallett. Interment was held at the Wycollar Cemetery. The Family would like to extend Heartfelt Thanks to Dr. Steenkamp and the staff at Cut Knife Care Home, McCaw Funeral Service, Tom Poppleton, Marcie Park and the Community Choir. The Honorary and Active Pallbearers. The Museum Board for the lovely lunch. The support we received through Food, Flowers, Cards and Donations is greatly appreciated. Mary, Bob , Barry and Families. Donations in memory of Robert may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.