Lutheran Cemetery
EULOGY given at the funeral of Walter Gabert, 31st August 2012. (Written by Jessica Chapman, read by John Chapman.)
Walter Emil Gabert, 24th October 1921 - 27th August 2012.
"Walter Gabert was born on 24th October 1921 at Lamont, Alberta. His parents were Fredrich Wilhelm Gabert and Rosalie (Kelm) Gabert, who were immigrants from the Ukraine. Walter was baptized on 13th November 1921 at Bethany Lutheran Church, Beaver Hills and confirmed on 2nd April 1935 in the same church.
"Blended families are regarded as a new concept and Walter grew up in a blended family. When Rosalie and Friedrich Gabert married, they had both been previously widowed and both had children from their first marriages. Friedrich had Fred, Chris, Gertrude and Adolph. Rosalie had Rudolph, Albert, Henry, Otto and Martha. Together they had Walter, Herbert, Hertha, Eduard and Margaret. In total, there were 14 children under one roof.
"From the time he was a baby until approximately 1927, Walter grew up at Beaver Hills on the same piece of land where he would later reside with Ethel. In 1927, the family relocated to the land where Larry Gabert resides today and Walter lived there until he built his own house in 1943.
"Walter attended school at the Deep Creek School. It was a one room school house and he went to that school until he completed grade 8. We don't know all the details, but we suspect that there were more than a few pranks conducted by Walter and Ted Gabert.
"Walter was a farmer. He was raised on the farm and learned the value of hard work. He first farmed with his father and then on his own. When Walter started farming, he used horses and gradually switched to machinery. He always kept cows for milk. In addition to grain farming, there were pigs (for a short time), turkeys, chickens and later, black Angus cattle.
"Walter met Ethel Mohr in approximately 1939 at Partridge Hill. She was playing ball and he was there with his cousin and good friend Ted Gabert. We don't know exactly what happened, but we do know that for the next 5 years there was a lot of bicycling back and forth to see each other; a certain amount of ice cream consumed and probably some more ball games attended. In any event, on 14th July 1944, Walter and Ethel were married at Josephburg. Their wedding attendants were Walter's sister Hertha and his brother Herbert and Ethel's sister Jean and her brother Norman. Deanna Dahl was the flower girl.
"Walter and his family had built a house so that it would be ready for the bride and groom. There were a few renovations over the years, but from 14th July 1944 until the summer of 2010, Walter and Ethel lived in that home. Walter and Ethel farmed together and raised a family together. In 1945 Gary was born. There were 5 peaceful years. 1950 brought the arrival of Carol and 1951 brought the arrival of the twins, Joanne and Janet. Walter's mother, upon hearing of the arrival of the twins, was concerned about how he would manage to feed all those children. There was no need for concern, everyone grew up healthy! Walter was a bit of a renaissance man (for the time period) and even got up in the night to help feed the babies.
"The babies grew up quickly, left the farm and married. In the spring of 1972, Gary and Irene were married, followed by Janet and David in the summer of 1972. In 1974 Joanne married John and in 1977 Carol married Ron. Then the grandchildren started to arrive.
1975 Jessica, Genevieve and Dean; 1977 Melanie; 1978 Colin; 1979 Sebastian; 1981 Erika and Sylvie. Walter also leaves behind 6 great-grandchildren, Veronica, Ethan, Felix, Sloan, James and Henry.
"It wasn't just his direct children and grandchildren that had a special place in Walter's heart. He was close to his extended family and Ethel's extended family. From time to time, other children would join the brood on the farm. In particular, Walter enjoyed spending time with his great-nephew Cory and his wife and their children. Cory and Leanne and their children visited Walter frequently in the last few years and did many things to take care of them.
"By the 1980's things on the farm were slowing down. The chicken farming operation stopped and then the cattle operation was shut down. Grain farming continued for a while and eventually came to a halt. This left Walter with time to explore his true passions: bush whacking, fishing and hunting.
"The bush whacking was a rewarding enterprise. Walter would get enough wood from the pasture to be able to heat his own house for the winter. No tree was safe! It was also a dangerous enterprise and in 1986 Walter was severely injured when a tree fell on him from behind. He spent a long time in hospital and had to have brain surgery. It was a scary time for the whole family. However, once he recovered, nothing stopped him from heading back into the pasture with his chainsaw. One of Walter's proudest acquisitions was his sawmill. From the trees that were chopped down and skidded out of the bush, he then made his own lumber and built one of a kind furniture. Many people here today would have been recipients of his creations as he was very generous.
"Walter loved the outdoors. He hunted with his good friend Klaus for 25 years in the pasture. His fishing and hunting supplied not only Walter and Ethel with food, but also many of their children and grandchildren. In addition there was always a large garden and so the grandchildren in particular never left a family function without bags of food to take home. Lots of the time, for those in university especially, it was those care packages that got us through. Walter in particular was in charge of a pumpkin patch that supplied many people with jack-o-lanterns for Halloween and pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
"Retirement gave Walter and Ethel time to travel. They had a motorhome and travelled around Canada and the United States in it. They even made a trek to Alaska. Eventually they began leasing a summer lot on Lesser Slave Lake and spent many summers fishing there.
"Walter and Ethel lived on the farm until the summer of 2010 when the farm was sold. They then moved into a condominium in Fort Saskatchewan where he was living at the time of his death.
"So those are the facts. When confronted with the task of summing up a man's life, it seems impossible to come up with the words. I asked relatives for words that they would use to describe grandpa. Here are some of our thoughts:
"He was creative and a problem solver. He built furniture, he kept machines working and made his own canes. Many of you would have items of furniture in your home that he built. He also employed his creativity in other ways. He had at least one deer that was captured in an unusual way. He made "special" jewellery from items he found in the bush.
"He was self reliant. His generation was perhaps the last generation of generalists. He knew how to live and could live without buying anything and did not need to hire people to do much.
"Some people I asked described him as calm, quiet and outdoorsy. It occurred to me that just might be a response to having three daughters, none of whom have ever been described as quiet!
"He had a 'live and let live' attitude and he was supportive. His children often had interests different from his own but he supported them through their studies, formal and informal. He may not have understood why his grandchildren were dyeing their hair purple and getting tattoos but he accepted it. He didn't stand in the way of his children's dreams.
"He liked to tease and was mischievous and fun-loving. I am sure anyone who stayed overnight at their place would remember being woken up by a particular obnoxious sounding rooster! When the grandchildren were small, it was not advisable to take the 'chocolate' he always had on offer. Later on, though, we did partake in his special medicine: cheezies and Jägermeister. As much as he teased, he liked being teased himself.
"Walter's quiet strength and steadiness gave his family roots. We are lucky to have known someone that it is so hard to say goodbye to."