Garry Olson

In Loving Memory of

Garry Olson

Public Visitation

Thursday, February 4, 2021

4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Chapel of Tompkins Funeral Home

Wadena, SK

A private family funeral will be held.

Garry Olson passed away peacefully with his family by his side on January 29, 2021.  In the final days before his passing, he contently said he’s lived a great life and he’s ready to go home.

Garry was born in Wadena, SK and spent his days in the Tiger Lily district, Northwest of Wadena. He lived and worked his entire life on the home quarter where he was raised. He valued his family, the farm, and the land and did whatever it took to support these priorities.

From a young age, Garry ran an extensive trapping line to generate his spending money and to fund his lifelong passion of hunting and trapping. Trapping weasels and muskrats as a child were some of his fondest early memories. After finishing school (with the occasional pool hall visit) he devoted his full attention to his passion of farming and working the land. He supported this passion and his family by all means necessary. One of those means involved him working in Thompson and Gillam, MB over a number of winters. He worked various jobs such as a rock crusher, a chauffeur for the mining big wigs, but his favorite job of all was working as a security guard within one of the camps. Anyone who spent time with Garry while he was behind the wheel of a car in his younger days can see the humor in him being a legal authority. After Garry returned home from his winters away, he put every dollar he earned back into the farm. Whether it was buying a new tractor or paying down bills, his commitment to his family and the farm was unwavering.

Garry was a true farmer at heart and had immense pride in growing food for the world. He always said he felt so lucky to be outside and working with nature every day. He greeted each spring with optimism and the belief that it would be a good year. His true love of working the land can be noted by him never listening to the radio while in the tractor. In his words “he just loved being out there” regardless of how long the days were. He respected the weather and always loved a good rain and a crackling thunderstorm. That being said, he had a little less respect for the harsh - 40 days in the winter.

Garry is best known in his younger years as one of the finest curlers, shuffleboard players, and pool hall hustlers around. Garry loved his father dearly and cherished the times he got to play alongside his dad in curling bonspiels. He also loved laughing at the countless memories with Sig Nakrayko where he was playing shuffleboard blindfolded or hustling pool across Canada in his new corvette. As a metaphor for his life, he frequently said during a pool game “it’s not what you make but what you leave that counts.”

After an extended period of “baching” Garry unsuspectingly met the love of his life when the new High School teacher moved to town. Garry and Rose got married on October 20, 1979 and spent the next 40+ years together, until his passing. They have many fond memories together such as: traveling to Montreal to watch the Expos, going to Hawaii, visiting the east coast or just spending some downtime gardening and planting trees on the farm. They later raised their two boys Mark and Aaron on the same family farm where Garry grew up. Garry was so proud of his boys, his family, and all their accomplishments over the years. He proudly shared their accomplishments with people around the community whenever he had the opportunity. Garry always made a point to be together with his family, whether it was family vacations to Disneyland or reluctantly going down the ski hill at Whitefish in Montana. Garry was a selfless man and always put his family interests ahead of himself.

Being the outdoors man he was, Garry had a lifelong passion for hunting, fishing, and trapping. If it had four legs or two wings, chances are, Garry probably bagged it at some point in his life. He had many fond memories of hunting geese and ducks with

his brother John and longtime family friend, Ed Alvey, from Wisconsin. He also took pride in sharing his passion for hunting with his son, Aaron, and all their adventures of hunting deer together. Garry was a great shot, and you would be hard pressed to find someone who understood hunting better than he did. The life expectancy of a mourning dove, magpie, or coyote was pretty low if Garry had the 12 gauge in his hands. More recently in life, Garry shifted his passion to fishing with his wife Rose.  They have many great memories of catching pickerel together on Fishing Lake. Garry enthusiastically embraced his role as “the baiter” and never complained about filleting the fish, even if there might have been a few over the limit.

Garry’s love of speed and fast cars has manifested itself in various forms over his life.  From owning the first corvette in the district, to speed boats, to stretch limousines, if it had four wheels or went fast, he was interested. That passion continued over the numerous years he spent drag racing snowmobiles across Western Canada with his two sons, Mark and Aaron.

Anyone who has spent more than five minutes with Garry knows he was a very happy person who liked to joke around. Whether you were in the grain elevator, bakery, or curling rink you probably witnessed one of Garry’s endless supply of jokes and antics. He loved to have fun and always thought life was too short to be serious all the time.  His joking personality will be forever missed.

Garry was predeceased by his father John and his mother Stella. He leaves to mourn his loving family: wife Rose, and sons Mark and Aaron. He also leaves behind his brother John (Lois) and their children; Darren (Trish) and their family: Dillan and Josh; and Randilee and her family: Luke, Monica, and Nicholas.

Donations in Garry's memory may be made to the Wadena Re/Max Curling Club Box 157 Wadena, SK S0A 4J0 or to a local charity of one's choice.