Obituary of Willie Reimer

William “Willie” Reimer was born on March 13,1946 in Herbert, SK to Henry and Anna Reimer. However, according to family folklore, the year may have been 1945 as conflicting records in the family Bible existed. He was born a true middle child with siblings Betty, John and Abe before him and Adeline, Ed, and Len behind. At birth, Willie was not expected to live but hung on. This set the stage as the first of several medical comeback stories for him.

Willie’s early years were spent on the farm and going to school in Herbert. He was the first of his siblings to graduate, honoring a wish from his father who died when Willie was 16. In Moose Jaw, SK Willie earned his Journeyman in Carpentry and Brick Laying. Ambitious from early on, he dreamed of having a Journeyman’s in all the trades. In April 1966, he married his high school sweetheart Elvira Willms and daughters Lori and Shelly were soon to follow. After her death in 1974, Willie met and married Shari Farris in December of 1975 and Mike, Mark and Jenna rounded out the family.

Willie loved his work and to work. It was his livelihood, his hobby, his passion, and he worked so ridiculously hard. His indomitable spirit drove him to tackle jobs most would shy away from but even more important to him – do the job right. In the past decade, Willie had a few stays in the ICU but promptly returned to work immediately following each discharge. Not much kept the man down. It would be fair to say that at his core he was an artist with a creative spirit. Watching him renovate old houses, one saw that construction was often less science and more required the craftsmanship of an artist to make crooked lines look straight and irregular features symmetrical.

A day in the life of Willie was peppered with small and great kindnesses. Never one to brag, we often found out about these kindness from others who were the recipients of his helpfulness but never from the man himself. However, one thing Willie was not silent about was his love of hockey. “Willie Reimer” was synonymous with the Montreal Canadiens. He loved the sport – to watch it and to play it. In his years in Shaunavon he was a member of the Green Machine hockey team and an active participant in their shenanigans. At age 78, he strapped on his skates and hit the ice at the Herbert hockey reunion this past March.

Without a doubt, Willie’s greatest love was always family. Nothing made him happier than when the whole family was home. His favorite day of the year was the Frontier Day Parade when he was surrounded by his grandchildren to watch. He loved his siblings dearly and was on his way for his nightly visit with brother Abe at the time of his passing. His desire to keep our family together was evident and the success of this was something he often remarked upon with pride.

Willie had a wicked sense of humor and was a gifted storyteller though we were not always sure what percentage of said tales were fact or fiction. He was not a fan of obituaries that glorified only the grand aspects of the human and so we would be remiss not to include that he was stubborn, proud, quick tempered, and worked too much – things we have lovingly referred to as “being a Reimer.”  And oh, how much we love and profoundly miss that proud, stubborn man.

Left to mourn are his wife Shari, children Lori Reimer, Shelly (Fritz) Eckstein, Mike (Jocelyn) Reimer, Mark (Kelly) Reimer and Jenna (Troy) Jones. Grandchildren Max, Hannah, Emma, Cameron, Cole, Mason, Sam, and Avery. His brothers Abe Reimer, Ed (Deb) Reimer and Len Reimer. Sisters Betty (Jake) Cornelson and Adeline (Steve) Brown and sister in-law Joyce Reimer as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.

He is predeceased by his parents Henry and Anna Reimer, wife Elvira Reimer, brother John Reimer and sister’s in-law Lois Reimer and Karen Reimer, niece Mandi Reimer.

A Celebration of Willie’s Life will be Saturday, May 4, 2024, at 2:00pm at Trailview Alliance Church.

Streaming of the service will be available on Trailview's main page trailview.org/church-online or go onto Trailview Alliance Church Facebook or YouTube page.