George Harry Broadbent

Chris - On behalf of Grandma and the rest of the family, thanks so much for being here with us today to celebrate Grandpa's incredible 92 years. Grandpa always loved seeing this hall full, and this would put a smile on his face.

My name is Chris Scheetz, Grandpa's oldest grandchild.

Vicki - And I'm Vicki Fritz, his one and only Dolly.

Chris - I hate to break it to you, you're not his only Dolly, but we will get to that in awhile.

Vicki - Dad always cheered for the underdog - in sports, and really anywhere in life. He always cheered for the one that had the longest odds...and that makes sense: considering where he started, he was a true underdog.

My dad was born in Lacombe on August 31, 1925. His parents were Percy and Ivy Broadbent. Unfortunately by the time he was 3, his mom got blood poisoning from a sheaf of wheat and passed away. Dad was now a baby with 5 older siblings and a dad who needed to leave for work. Left behind were Albert (known as Buster to us), Eddy, Hilton, Mabel and Edith (known as Bonnie to us). Dad cried when he told the story about Aunty Dolly taking him home to live with her in Saskatchewan. All his siblings stayed in Genesee. A year or two later, he was returned to his home.

Aunty Mabel, his oldest sister who was only 7 years older than him took over as his mom. He told the story of how he was sitting backwards one day in a kitchen chair with his legs hooked into the rungs when the house started on fire. Wow, what a job Mabel had dragging him out. Dad went to school in Genesee until grade 8. They were so poor he never knew if he would even have overalls to put on for work. He never even had a chance to finish grade 8 before he needed to go to work stooking for a neighbor. Dad worked all his life from the time he was 12 years old.

Time moves on and Dad got a job clearing land for Mike Olah. Well surprise, surprise, a beautiful young teacher was living there. As strange as this seems, dad had promised all his buddies that he would get the next teacher that came to Genesee. Dad always told us "She came to work and I came to look." We always say it was a match made in heaven but story be told, it was a match made in Genesee, Alberta. He courted on horseback and they went to dances or ballgames on the weekends in his 1932 Chevy.

Dad moved to live with his brother Buster and family in Warburg and continued to work at helping his brother haul freight for Warburg and area. Buster hauled groceries for the three grocery stores in Warburg. Dad tells the story how he bought his own three ton freight truck which he financed from a friend and then he started his own journey hauling cattle, pigs, and anything else that kicked and squealed. He always appreciated the people that helped him and when he could return the favor, he paid it back 10 fold to everyone who also needed a leg up.

On October 27, 1947 was when he took his first load of pigs to the city and that changed his life. He started buying cows from the farmers and took them to the city and sold them for a profit.

On Valentines Day 1949, Dad gave Mom an engagement ring and plans to marry in July were made. The big day was July 21, 1949. They were married in the St. Charles Catholic Church in Warburg. The wedding reception was held at Mom's parents' home on the farm in Calmar. About 85 people were guests for the celebration. In the evening, everyone moved to Calmar Hall to dance to the music. And Dad loved music. It was raining and the mud was terrible. Their best man Robert Scott, opened the window while driving them home to see where they were going. Whoops!, the bride's dress full of mud! But luckily the sun did shine!

Mom and Dad had another reception the next day in Genesee that was put on by Uncle Eddie and Auntie Hazel at their farm. Party, party, party! They had another open wedding dance in this very hall and then off to Banff on the train for their honeymoon. Grandpa remembered seeing Grandma's Dad and his brother Buster dancing in the streets of Warburg with the sun coming up as they left that day. This date, July 21, has been memorable for many reasons. Two of his grandchildren chose this date to marry their loves: Jeffrey married Trina July 21, 2001 and Rebecca married Lenard in 2012. What a great tribute to your grandparents. May your married lives be blessed with as much happiness and time as your grandparents had.

On October 3, 1950, their first daughter arrived. Carol was the only child for 5 years until her perfect sister came along in 1955 - me - Vicki. Five years later our little brother - whoops, sister Valerie showed up. And from these girls, the legacy of Grandpa and Grandma was created: 8 grandchildren - Christopher Scheetz (Karen), Jason Scheetz (Tammy), Laurie Abel (Warren), Garth Scheetz (Shannon), Jeffrey Fritz (Trina), Amanda Sax (Dennis), Rebecca Schofer (Lenard), Jenna Wakefield (Jordan); and 21 great grandchildren - Brittany, Baillie, Carter, Tyler, Kyle, Morgan, Jaiden, Jackson, Evan, Makayla, Wyatt, Sierra, Joshua, Riley, Justin, Ty, Kennedy, Kassidy, Travis, Addison, and Maverick. Nothing brought Dad more happiness and life than these babies.

Chris - Hearing a George Broadbent eulogy is like going to a George Strait concert. You're not going to hear all the hits at a George Strait concert because he has too many. Just like you're not going to hear all the George Broadbent hit stories today - there are just too many. The other issue is nobody tells a George Broadbent story like George Broadbent, and there were so many stories....

About 4 years ago, I took a video camera to Grandma and Grandpa's and had them tell their life story. There were a lot of tears in the first 10 years or so of Grandpa's life as he told the stories. The smile returned when he started talking about meeting Grandma.

His love for Grandma is still his greatest triumph. He lived for Grandma and even as he became ill in the last months, he would still be taking care of "Mom" as he always called her. I can tell you that no man will ever love his wife as much as Grandpa did. We could write this entire eulogy about their love and their 68 years together.

In the early 60's, Grandpa and grandma bought the cabin at Pigeon lake for $4500. $4500 worth of liquor (most of it rum) would be consumed yearly for many years. The cabin at the lake made for some great family memories. So many meals with so many people, and I think most of us still have the hives from swimming in the crystal clear Pigeon Lake water. Many of the family now own boats, and even live at the lake and I can't help but think it was because of the cabin influence.

Grandpa was always a gentleman, and I never heard him swear, except when chasing cattle or trying to get a calf to suck. He would get very excited - to put it mildly - with the cattle when they wouldn't do what he wanted. His farm was his heaven, and he loved his dogs and horses. Sheila the horse, which he got from the Englishmen, that won 3 races in one day. Flicka, Pal, Fury, Trigger and Ginger, the horses he taught how to pray. Grandpa did everything possible to make his grandsons into cowboys. He even bought some of us horses for Christmas. Jason and Jeffrey became his only cowboys and well, let's just say others didn't pick it up as naturally.

In 1974 while buying cattle at Sekura's, Grandpa and Wendy were having a drink of rum, and Wendy said they should build a hotel in Drayton. 4 partners took a huge financial risk. The Westwind was built, and it did well; but Grandpa told Wendy one day "We should sell." And they sold just before the interest rates jumped to 20% in the early 80's. It was a good move by a smart businessman.

I remember fondly riding in Grandpa's cattle truck to Sekura's Auction Mart in Drayton. Grandpa would play and sing Wilf Carter hits all the way. Wilf Carter's song "There's a bluebird on my windowsill" was the last song Grandpa heard before he fell asleep Friday, just the way it should have been.

Going to the auction mart with Grandpa was like going to the Vatican with the Pope. It was his place, and the respect everyone showed him was so obvious. We've heard from many that said he just knew what cattle were worth and they trusted him. Now his grandson Jeff is one of the owners of the Thorsby auction, and Grandpa was so excited and proud that the family legacy has continued.

One year Grandpa sold over a million dollars worth of cattle and castrated over 1000 bulls. The Lone Ranger needed Tonto and Grandpa needed Mikey Worbeitz. Grandpa cared so much about Mikey, his hired hand, that one day chasing cows Mikey said he wasn't feeling well, so Grandpa thought it would be a good idea to share his nitro pills with him. What a good friend. Mikey put the pill under his tongue and didn't stop running until he hit Alsike.

When Grandma was pregnant with Carol, they built a house for their new family. Grandpa basically built the house by trading trucking with the Schnicks at the lumber yard, and that house with a wood floor cost $2700. Grandpa told me a great story about when Auntie Vicki was born. It just so happened that Hughie Scott from Warburg had a baby boy the same day. After Grandpa and Hughie saw their babies for the first time, they were talking about their new bundles of joy. Both babies were quite dark, so Hughie said, you should see my baby Brian. He looks like Rocky Marciano, and Grandpa said you should see our Vicki, she looks darker than that.

Once Valerie came in 1960, the family was complete, and in 1964 they built a new house and as Grandpa said, it is still the best built house in town. They moved into their last house in 1980. The house is beautiful, but the yard is more amazing. Just last night Grandma said how much Grandpa loved his yard and took so much pride in the flowers and the lawn. He also had a love/hate relationship with the squirrels. After one got in the house, it got serious. After killing one and realizing that made him sad, he relocated about another 8.....or maybe the same one 8 times.

Grandma and Grandpa travelled to Vegas 8 times and then Ralph Klein brought in the VLT's, and Grandpa didn't need to travel to Vegas again. According to Grandpa, he never won at the Casino, but Grandma and Leeson always did. Grandpa could tell you one story about playing a machine at the Casino and make it as exciting as anything you've ever heard. My favorite story about the casino was a few years ago: Grandpa and Grandma were in Leduc at Walmart, and when they came out, there was a tornado warning for the county of Leduc. Grandpa took one look at the clouds and said it looked better towards the River Cree Casino, so they better go there to be safe...so they did.

Grandpa loved his vehicles. He bought a new vehicle every 2 years for as long as I can remember. In fact, shortly after he got the news he had cancer, he still wanted to go to the dealership and get one more SUV. The showroom at a car dealership was another one of his happy places. It was his way of staying current and up to date.

He had so many happy places. I think the coffee shop with his friends might have been one of his favorites. The coffee was good and the conversation with his best friends was always fantastic - as long as he was telling the stories - but the highlight was the game of "birdy in the bush" which determined who would have to pay for the coffee and the tip.

He also loved playing pool. For years he would meet his friends and play for hours. He had a pool table in the basement of the house and I think all of us grandkids can remember playing pool with Grandpa. He would always help us out by putting his finger where we should aim the ball.

Grandpa loved both watching and playing sports. He had so many stories about playing baseball and how his friend Leeson had a 90 mile an hour fastball. It's still beyond me how they figured that out back then. My first memory of watching hockey was with Grandpa. It was the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers. He said "Chris, we are cheering for the Rangers because they are the underdogs."

His favorite sports team of all was the Toronto Blue Jays. You can count on one hand how many days he didn't spend at home with Grandma, but he did agree to come with me and my son Carter to Toronto to watch his team. We stayed at the Skydome hotel in the ballpark, and I'll never forget when he opened the curtain and saw the Blue Jays warming up. He smiled like he was 5 years old. We went to two games, and the Blue Jays were terrible. Halfway through the second game, I could tell he wasn't happy with his team. I said "Grandpa, you're in Toronto with your grandson and great grandson, drinking a beer and watching your Blue Jays...you should be happy." He said "I know I should, but the Blue Jays only have 2 hits and Roy Hallady can't hit the side of a barn." As the Jays left the field after the second game, he was yelling at them. That didn't mean he didn't love them. Grandma would watch baseball with him every night on their chairs. Then they would watch the "Wheel" as he called it and then a bath for Grandma and then bed.

Just before Christmas, Warburg honoured Grandpa by putting the park by their house in his name. He loved this town, and this is his town. I'm not sure there's another small town quite like Warburg when it comes to supporting things, and it's no coincidence he lived here. He, along with many other selfless people, cared so much about this community. He worked tirelessly improving the hall we are in today. I remember as a young man coming to this hall for socials watching Grandpa working the bar and breaking up the odd fight.

He was the Warburg Mayor for 8 years starting in 1977, and has never been a fan of smoking. He lost a good friend from lung cancer years ago and it became his mission to get people to stop. At one point, he told town council that he was going to resign if they didn't stop smoking in the council meetings. They never smoked again in the meetings. His council influence would continue long after he finished his time as mayor. He would walk the streets convincing younger people to run for council. I was talking to Ian, a current councilor, the other day, and he said Grandpa walked over to his house and convinced him to run for council. Ian still couldn't believe it happened. You just couldn't say no to his passion for the town he loved. Grandpa could sell Warburg timeshares.

In the last year he helped convince the town to borrow the money and pave some roads including the road leading to his house. As he would say "he wasn't even buying green bananas anymore" but still cared about the future of this town. How many 92 year olds can you say that about?

I talked at length with Auntie Val about our one of a kind Grandpa, and she talked about his huge spirit: "He was a unique person. His heart and mind worked in balance, which is unusual. He was so brilliant and yet so caring. He really didn't have much of a childhood, yet he always had a childlike innocence."

In my 47 years, he never got old in my mind.

Auntie said: "He was open-hearted and open-minded. He was a legend, a pillar, an icon, he was valiant...Strong when he needed to be strong and could cry when he needed to cry."

He has so many catch phrases we should have written down. Just talking to the family we came up with a list:

1. Slept like a little piggy

2. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse if you hold its tail

3. Here I come a hipping and toeing

4. If I was any better, it would be a run away

5. Lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut

6. Won't be long now said the monkey as he backed into the lawnmower

7. He's spinnier than a wooden watch

8. I got more milk in me than that cow.

When I was a young boy, I remember being so mad at others who claimed my Grandpa George was their Grandpa George. And I'm not talking about my brothers and sisters and cousins. They are not even related to him, how can he be their Grandpa George? I learned over time he made them feel like he was their Grandpa George by the way he cared, and I figured out I was just going to have to share him with the world.

That was the thing about Grandpa. He had the unique ability to convince you that you were his favorite person no matter if you were his child, grandchild, neighbor or a person he saw at the coffee shop. We've heard stories of people devastated when they found out they weren't the only person he called "Dolly."

Some people just fill a bigger space when they are on earth, and that means the hole is much bigger when they leave. They already miss him at the Warburg store, probably wonder why they haven't seen him at the Casino lately, and I'm positive that coffee time in Warburg will never be the same.

The good news is that we can all try to fill that hole. If every one of us takes something we learned from him and does it, this world will be a better place.

On his final day, he had a final ice cream sundae with his girl, and a final rum and coke with his family and was about to go to sleep for the final time: he was ready. Grandma asked him if he wanted to go, and in typical Grandpa style he said "Well, let's put it this way: Carol and I have been busier than a dog with 2 tails so something has to change." Typical Grandpa, always thinking of someone else.

Grandpa also used the phrase "Once in a Blue Moon" and today is a blue moon, blood moon and super moon for the first time in 152 years. Not a coincidence.

Our underdog became a successful businessman, a loving father, grandfather, great grandfather, husband and friend to everyone. He will be missed every day.

Service Folder for George Broadbent -

A Golden heart stopped beating,

Hard working hands at rest,

It broke our hearts to see you go,

God only takes the best.

They say that memories are golden,

Well maybe that is true,

But we never wanted memories,

We only wanted you.

Your life was love and labor,

Your love for your family true,

You did your best for all of us,

We will always remember you.

We sat beside your bedside,

Our hearts were crushed and sore,

We did our duty to the end,

‘Til we could do no more.

In tears we watched you sinking,

We watched you fade away,

And though our hearts were breaking,

We knew you could not stay.

Our lips cannot speak how we loved you,

Our hearts cannot tell what to say,

But god only knows how we miss you,

In our home that is lonely today.

Service Information for George Broadbent -

Funeral Mass

Warburg Community Hall

Thursday February 1, 2018

11:00 a.m.

Officiating

Fr. Silvichan Dominic, CFIC

Eulogy

Vicki Fritz & Chris Scheetz

Readers

Wendy Skinner

Rhonda Fedor

Organist - Carolyn Meyer

Soloist - Troy Tomaszeski

Hymns

Be Not Afraid

Prayer of St. Francis

Pallbearers

Miles Tomaszeski

Chris Scheetz

Jason Scheetz

Garth Scheetz

Jeffrey Fritz

Warren Abel

Interment

St. Charles Catholic Cemetery, Warburg

The Broadbent family would like you to join them for lunch after Interment.

* * * * * * * * * *

BROADBENT, George

It is with great sadness that the family of George Broadbent announce his passing on January 27, 2018 at the age of 92 years.

He will be missed by his wife of 68 years, Wanda; children Carol Scheetz, Vicki Fritz (Roger), Valerie Free (David), sisters Mabel Davidge, Atlanta Broadbent Braley, sisters-in-law Ada Broadbent, Janet Wedman, Carole Tomaszeski, and Melva Thomas; grandchildren Chris (Karen), Jason (Tammy), Laurie (Warren), Garth (Shannon), Jeffrey (Trina), Amanda (Dennis), Rebecca (Lenard) and Jenna (Jordan).

George is leaving a legacy of twenty-one great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of George’s Life will be held at the Warburg Community Hall at 11:00 am on Thursday February 1, 2018.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to STARS air ambulance, The Stollery Children’s Hospital, or the Warburg Cultural Centre.