Orton Earl Stauffer

In Loving Memory of

Orton Stauffer

1926 – 2015

 

Peacefully on November 6, 2015 at the age of 89, Orton passed away at the Parkland Regional Hospital.

A celebration of Orton’s life was held on November 10, 2015. The following is the Eulogy delivered by Jeff Corrigal.

I am Jeff Corrigal, and I am the eldest grandchild of Liz and Orton. My grandpa was a big part of my life and very important to me. I learned a lot from him and he had a positive impact on who I am as a person. I’d like to share some of my, and my family’s memories of him with you today, to pay tribute to the wonderful, happy and very special man he was.

Orton Stauffer was born on October 18, 1926 on the farm. He was the second eldest of five children of Earl and Hazel. Orton attended school in Roblin up to the grade six, then he left school to help on the farm as he was the eldest son. While his formal education ended at an early age he always continued to learn and was a very intelligent man who had a deep understanding of nature. He was also a skilled business man.

Orton grew up helping run the farm. He was very inventive, fixing and customizing equipment to fit their needs.

One fascinating invention of his was a snow toboggan, which was built by Orton, his brother, Hugh and cousin, Ralph Delmar. It took them one year to build in 1956, and the description on the back of a photo we found of it said that the snow toboggan ran for about five winters and never had to be fixed. Good luck finding a snowmobile like that these days! It was built to hold three people, but the photo description notes that one time they loaded it with eight people and rode to the highway and back at 18 miles per hour. He could have been a millionaire as this invention preceded the Bombardier snowmobile!

In addition to farming, the Stauffer family started a fur farm, which included milk and fox. They used greyhound dogs to help with hunting and trapping done to feed the fox and mink.

Orton started a butcher shop with his brother, Hugh and did custom butchering covering the territory from Yorkton to Grandview. As he preferred to start his butcher work on customer’s farm, over a cup of coffee he met and got to know the entire community.

Now it seems the only thing missing from Orton’s life was a partner.

Back in the early 1970’s for some reason Orton was always going to the local Co–op store in Roblin...whether he needed to or not. Liz was working at the Co–op.  She entered his life and it was full speed ahead. Orton and Liz eloped and were married the weekend of February 23, 1973 in Carberry, Manitoba at Orton’s brother, Calvin and his wife Cathy’s farm. Once married they came back to Roblin and a social was held for family and friends to celebrate.

Not only did Orton gain a wife, he also embraced a family as Liz had three married daughters. With his new family, grand parenting wasn’t too far behind as I was born about three months after they were married!

Grandpa was fortunate to be able to work from home in that he held the butcher shop right on his property, called Stauffer’s Custom Cooling. Grandma and grandpa always worked as a team. He would cut and she would wrap. Together, they worked and played together every day.

 I used to like to watch grandpa in the butcher shop. I would stand out of the way and would be fascinated at the way he would work with his knife fast and accurate. The cooler always seemed to be packed, especially during hunting season. There were always five or six cats at the door – or maybe 20 cats - all waiting for scraps. Occasionally there were coyotes and bears too.

Grandpa always liked having cats around and fed them every day. He also enjoyed having birds come to the bird feeders in front of the kitchen window and always ensured the feeders were full.

Of course, all guests were well taken care of too. Anyone who stopped was always warmly welcomed, fed and enjoyed memorable moments, fine stories and talking around the kitchen table.

One thing that I never acquired a taste for, or dared to try, was beef tongue sandwich, which was one of my grandpa’s favorites, along with headcheese, liver and onions.

After he retired and sold the butcher shop, Orton and his brother Hugh setup a woodworking shop in the now vacant butcher shop. The butcher tables were replaced with woodworking equipment and just like the pride he took in his butchering, his woodworking projects were built to last. He built many ladders, bookshelves, lazy Susan’s, wishing wells and custom projects. I still liked to stand around and watch him work, and the cats were also still at the door! In our home we have a beautiful bookshelf in our son’s room that has passed from grandchild to grandchild. We also proudly use one of the casserole platters that he made.

Orton also knew how to enjoy life and relax over fishing or sharing good times with friends and family. Finally, Orton decided to retire to spend time enjoying all his favorite past times, especially fishing.

If prompted...or not... grandpa could tell you fishing stories with such detail you could imagine yourself right there. He had a great memory and was an excellent storyteller. That’s when you would hear him laugh the most, and it was usually at himself!

When they weren’t busy fishing or working around the yard, Liz and Orton had a group of friends who called themselves “The Gang”. No, they weren’t part of any organized crime ring, it was more like organized good times! The Gang would get together for birthdays, anniversaries, camping and snowmobiling trips, card parties...basically any excuse to get together and share some fun and laughter.

Orton and Liz enjoyed travelling. Their #1 travel destinations were to visit family. Liz and Orton travelled to Alaska, Florida, Arizona, and Vancouver Expo 86. They also enjoyed many summer weekends at Falcon Lake.

Liz and Orton loved to do everything together. On the farm, Orton would tend to the garden and when it came time to harvest Liz would be busy pickling, making jams and jellies and cooking up the fresh vegetables and beef stews for all to enjoy. This was all done of course between fishing trips down to Lake of the Prairies. Orton and Liz loved to fish and rarely came home empty handed. There weren’t too many people who would turn down an invitation to go fishing with them because they knew they would be eating fresh fish that evening.

Grandma and grandpa could be sure their phone would ring on the weekend from an eager grandson wondering if there was room in the boat for one more, and of course there always was. Grandma would pack a lunch and we would fish all day. To this day I still love fishing and having grandma and grandpa to thank for that. After a long day of fishing, nothing tasted better than fresh fish accompanied by new potatoes and fresh garden vegetables.

One day I’ll always remember is the day my grandpa and I went to the Lake of the Prairies and he caught a Master Angler. That morning it was just the two of us. We just pushed the boat out and grandpa threw his line in the water and immediately got a hit. I’d never seen a rod bend so far! When he reeled it in, it was the biggest walleye I’d ever seen! Fortunately I was able to net it for him and I don’t know whose smile was bigger! It was the best start to a day on the lake that we ever had. We kept fishing and got our limit, which we pretty much always did.

Both grandpa and grandma taught me how to play crib. Once they did, I always wanted to play. On a recent visit I had made, he hadn’t played crib for some time, so we sat down and played. He started off by saying he didn’t remember how to play. Well, that evening I didn’t win one game!

Grandpa had excellent vision. He needed it for his butcher work and his woodworking hobby. In recent years he had difficulty hearing but continued to have excellent vision. He would sit a mile away from his small screen TV and read old subtitles.

Grandpa enjoyed sports, especially baseball, golf, and curling. He was a big fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, and was happy to see them have a great run this year.

Grandpa enjoyed socializing, being with family and friends, and good jokes. Grandpa was a very honest, dependable, strong and a self– reliant man. He was hardworking and skilled at whatever interest he pursued.

When I was young I always wanted to go visit my grandparents. Grandma and grandpa were always lots of fun to be around. They were interested in everything I was doing and were always patient in teaching me, and of course enjoyed spoiling me with attention and good food.

It was just under four years ago that Orton lost his wife of almost forty years. The past few years were very difficult and lonely for my grandpa. I would like to thank all those who helped make it possible for him to stay on the farm, which is the only place he wanted to be. Our family extends a huge thank you to all nurses, homecare workers, friends and neighbors, especially the Welcher family, for all of their extremely kind, generous and warm support. We really appreciate it.

While we were all very sad, we take solace in knowing that Liz and Orton are reunited together and surely they must be very happy to be together again.

I feel very fortunate that I had the opportunity to spend so much time with my grandparents and enjoyed being with them. They were a very big part of my life over the years and had a positive influence and impact on me. I am very thankful and appreciative for all they taught me and for their presence in my life.

Orton is survived by his siblings, Buryle Doole, Hugh (Marion) Stauffer, Marge Doole and his sister–in–law, Cathy Stauffer.

He was predeceased by his brother, Calvin and brothers–in–law, Bill and Jim Doole. He is also survived by numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. He is also survived by Liz’s three daughters; seven grandchildren and six great–grandchild; daughter, Bonnie; her children, Jason, Bradley (Kim), and great–granddaughter Kara,  Clara (Graham) and great–granddaughter, Alana; daughter, Connie (Doug) children, Rod and Reg daughter, Barb, children, Jeff (Deidre), great–grandson, Braeden, Lesley (Jim) and great–grandchildren, Chelsey, Zachary and Mackenzie.

Orton, grandpa, we know you are in a better place now. We will always cherish and treasure our memories of all our happy times together. We all love you!

We would like to thank Nairn–Chyz Funeral Home, EMT, hospital staff, family, neighbors and friends for thoughts, prayers, flowers, and donations made in Orton’s memory. The family would like to thank all those who helped make it possible for Orton to stay on the farm. He was very proud to say it had been in the family for 100 years. Special thanks to the Welcher family for all their help to Orton over the years.

Buryle Doole and family

Marge Doole and family

Hugh and Marion

Bonnie, Connie and Barbara

 

 

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