Obituary of Gary Filion

Gary Silas Filion of Bengough, SK, passed away on February 17, 2016, at the age of 81. Gary was born to Silas Omar Filion and Mable Amanda (Eichstadt) Filion on April 19, 1934 in Bengough. He had an older brother Frank and half brother Charlie. He and Frank spent many hours building, and crashing, model airplanes. They walked and skied many miles hunting rabbits to buy more model airplane kits. When they weren’t walking or skiing to school, they were hauling coal and wood into the kitchen stove and ashes out. Fetching a barrel of water from the well, and trying not to let the horse start with a jerk and spill the water. But it wasn’t all work. He also had many fond memories of the family and hired hands heading into town in the old Pontiac, back in the days when everybody went into town on Saturday night. In preparation for what would become a lifelong battle against broken down machinery, Gary went to Balfour Tech in Regina for his grade nine. He used to recall how it once took him three days to get back to Regina, for school. My, how times have changed. With the passing of his father, the work on the farm kept him from returning to school. In 1959, he met his one true love. On June 20, 1960, Gary married Merle Ann Carnahan. Shortly after being married, he spent two years in Regina, working for Dominion Bridge. The single biggest contract he helped with while there was the SaskPower Building. Over the next ten years they would have five kids, Myrtle, Colleen, Michael, Sandra and Robert. He worked well with Merle trying to teach their children some of life’s lessons. Don’t skip breakfast because it’s the most important meal of the day. Life isn’t supposed to be easy, the old timers always said that it was a test to see if we were worthy of entering the kingdom of heaven. Being on the farm gave Gary the opportunity to teach his boys everything from how to sharpen a jack knife to how to fix a combine. Not too sure if the swearing came from the farming, the fixing, or the father, but they figured that one out too. Anybody that knew Gary knew that he loved his John Deere equipment. And those old two lungers, well they just don’t make ‘em like that anymore. After having a small herd of purebred Herefords for close to forty years, I guess you could say that he held a special place in his heart for them too. While he may not have been the most active member in the community, Gary did spend some time on the school board and for quite some time helped Archie collect admission at the rodeo. After his experience at Dominion Bridge, he came to be known for his welding skills and was always happy to help his friends and neighbors out in that or any other way. Gary is survived by his family, daughter Myrtle; daughter Colleen; son Mike; daughter Sandra; son Robert; brother Frank. Predeceased by his wife Merle (2012); parents Silas and Mable. Celebration of Life took place on Thursday, February 25, 2016, at 2:00 p.m., at the Knox United Church, Bengough, SK. Officiant was Marie Barr. Urn bearer was Robert Filion. Interment took place at the Bengough Cemetery. Memorial donations in memory of Gary to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, 1738 Quebec Ave Unit 26, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1V9.