William "Bill" Ormshaw

William (Bill) Ormshaw passed away on November 7, 2026, at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, aged 94. Born in Trenton, Ontario on September 1, 1932, he was the third son of Horace and Rachael Ormshaw. He spent an idyllic childhood in Trenton with his siblings Ernest, Alan, Betsy and Linda, and his best friend, Eugene Smith.

A gifted natural athlete, Bill played hockey and swam in the Trent River in summer, learned to skate on the frozen mouth of the Trent in winter, and later taught his kids to skate on backyard rinks in Ottawa and on the Rideau Canal. He loved playing anything that involved a puck or a ball, though he sometimes felt the deities of golf were aligned against him.

Bill joined the RCMP at 18, which took him west to Regina. Brought up under the strict confines of Methodist parents, he had never touched alcohol until he became a test subject while a recruit at Depot Division. He was a member of the Musical Ride and served in Maple Creek and Assiniboia, Saskatchewan—where in a quintessential Canadian love story, a young constable wandered into the hospital cafeteria late one freezing night, looking for a cup of hot coffee, and eventually took home Violet, his partner for life.

Bill proudly served in the force for 25 years, finishing his career as a Staff Sergeant at Headquarters in Ottawa. After working for the Bank of Canada, he and Vi moved to Saskatoon where Bill happily signed on with his brother-in-law Peter Semko, spending 25 years as greenskeeper at Greenbryre Golf and Country Club. He enjoyed the early mornings mowing the greens, fertilizing, fixing irrigation and playing golf with all his friends. Bill’s family and friends benefited from his many hobbies, including woodworking, refinishing furniture and gardening. In later years he loved weekend rounds of golf with Stan, Ray, and Bob—hundreds of cents changed hands during those hard-fought matches—and his weekly coffee meetings with Ray and Garth, and rehashing Brier and curling results with his brother-in-law Bob Campbell.

While he wasn’t a churchgoing man, he was imbued with a great spirit and love of life. We will continue to see him in the skies, the grasses, the wind, friendly dogs, wild geese, and all good things we are blessed with on this earth.

All Bill’s family will miss him dearly: his wife Violet, daughter Lori Lawler (Tim), son Peter (Marina) and grandchildren Willow, Rachel, Chris and Peter, and Bill’s sisters Betsy Brodie and Linda Longwell, brother-in-law Bob Campbell and sister-in-law Holly Bobyn.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Salvation Army or Saskatoon Food Bank would be appreciated.