Richard (Dick) Dick Samuel Greening

The one word that could best describe Dick was ‘smart’. He could have done anything that he wanted. Dick had a wealth of friends; he was well-liked and liked people. His favourite place was the great outdoors, especially the northern bush country. Dick found pleasure in many different things including: spending time with family, hunting, fishing, sports in general, eating good food, drinking wine, reading, travelling, and working. He did have some dislikes during his life, such as dirty vehicles, paper work, fixing old machinery, telephone surveys, pork, and picking Saskatoons.

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Richard (Dick) Samuel Greening came into the world on February 24, 1954 at 3:00 a.m. at the Wolseley Memorial Union Hospital. He weighed a healthy 7 lbs 8.5 oz. His mother, Olga, often told the story that the family had bought a new 1954 Pontiac to bring home the new baby. As there was plenty of snow at the time, a neighbour had to open up the road for them to use it. Sam and Olga Greening’s family was now complete with the birth of their second child. An older sister, Judith (Judy) Darlene Greening, had been born one year prior on February 26, 1953.

A long time tradition within the Greening family was to use the father’s first name as the middle name of the first born son. Thus, Dick’s middle name was Samuel in honour of his father. This tradition would continue into the following generations.

Samuel Henry Greening was born on January 11, 1913 to Heinrich (Henry) and Helena (Lehman) and was raised on the family farm northwest of Wolseley (SE 21-17-10 W2) that Dick would eventually inherit and farm. Olga Eleanor Arndt was born on September 29, 1922 to Gustav and Hulda (Patzwald) Arndt on a farm south of Lemberg. Sam and Olga were married in Ellisboro on October 16, 1946 with Pastor E. Krempin as officiant. Acting as their witnesses were Ruth Greening and Irvin Arndt.

Both Sam and Olga were of German/Russian descent and German was spoken in their household. Once their children started school, the family began to speak only English because Dick and Judy were having trouble grasping English.

Dick was baptized at the Zion Lutheran Church in Wolseley on March 28, 1954 by Rev. D. Leng. His godparents were Oscar and Lydia Schoenberger of Wolseley, close friends of the Greening family. A family christening gown was used for the occasion, and has since become a treasured heirloom. Although baptized Lutheran, the Greening family later began attending St. James United Church in Wolseley.

Dick was raised on the family farm that was purchased by his grandfather, Henry Greening, in 1914. A strict work ethic was instilled in him at a very young age by his parents. When not in school, Dick had many responsibilities on the farm. He helped with the field work, which included summer fallowing and baling. The family kept cattle, pigs, and chickens and it was often Dick’s job to gather the eggs, milk the cows, clean the barn, and help with butchering.

Dick had many friends within his rural neighbourhood. He spent many hours as a boy hunting with his friends - Rob, Terry and Victor Barnett, Carl and Ernie Fehler, Ron and Stan Magel and Bernie Livingstone. The boys would hunt for gophers, rabbits, birds, and deer in the surrounding coulees and the Qu’Appelle Valley. All the neighbourhood children would gather at the Greening farm every February to help celebrate a joint birthday party for Dick and Judy.

Sam and Olga also socialized within their rural neighbourhood and would often have neighbours over to play cards. Olga’s brother, Irvin, and sister, Viola, and their families were also frequent visitors.

It became evident early on in life that Dick had a very enquiring mind and was mechanically inclined. Just before springtime, Dick could be found in the basement ripping apart his bicycle and then putting it back together, so that it would be in good working condition for the summer. He spent many hours biking and exploring with his friends all around the countryside. As the boys grew older and their mechanical skills improved, they began to tear apart and rebuild engines. Dick’s first car was a brown and black 1968 Firebird.

As a young boy, Dick liked to play baseball and played on a Wolseley team. The Barnett family, who lived a mile north, would pick him up on their way to town as Terry was on the same team and his father, Harry was one of the coaches. Dick was allowed to play as long as the Barnetts picked him up. Two of the other coaches were Arnold McQuoid and Peter Banbury. Fellow teammates were Laurie Chatterson, Rick McQuoid, Dave Hepting, Ron Lyke, Kent Nickell, Ron Thomsen, Terry Mohr, Russell Pekrul, and Bruce Cranch.

In the summer of 1970, the Greening family went on their first and only holiday. They drove to the exhibition in Saskatoon and stayed at a hotel, which was also a new experience.

The two Greening children started school together at Mount Crescent School which was only 1 ½ miles north of their farm. Dick was only five years old when he began Grade One in 1959. Even though it was a year too early, there was no way he was going to be left at home if Judy got to go to school. For the next six years they went to Mount Crescent until its closure on June 30, 1964 at which time they attended Wolseley Public School. Dick was mathematically inclined and loved history. In 1971, Dick and Judy graduated from the Wolseley High School with class of thirty-seven students.

Following his graduation, Dick’s first job was at Miekelson’s Garage in Balcarres. Another Wolseley boy, Harold Kraushaar, also worked there. After a year, Dick left that job and went north to work in the oil fields at Inuvik for two winters. His good friend Bernie Livingston of Sintaluta also worked up north. Each spring Dick would be back on the farm to help his father. His next job brought him closer to home when he and his friend Alvin Hahn obtained jobs at Woodcogger, a construction company in Regina. Dick would continue to work during the winter at various construction businesses until 1979.

The Greening family was struck by tragedy with the sudden death of Sam Greening on February 9, 1975. Because of his father’s early death, Dick returned to the farm.

Dick began dating a local French Catholic girl Marianne Florentina Langlois in the early seventies. Their first date was almost a ‘non-event’ because Dick thought she wouldn’t be at home when he went to pick her up and Marianne thought that Dick wasn’t going to show up! But all turned out well; they went on their first date and were engaged in 1979. Prior to their marriage, a stag/staggette was held at the home of Stan and Barb Magel. Many family and friends turned out for the party. Later, a wedding shower was held for Marianne at the old Ste. Anne’s Hall.

Dick and Marianne were married in the afternoon on June 28, 1980 at Ste. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church with Rev. P. J. Nijssen as officiant. The wedding party consisted of family and friends: Elly Langlois (sister) was the maid of honour, and Leslie Nelson (friend) and Lucille (Lucy Hart) Langlois (sister) were the bridesmaids. Brent Pollock (friend) was the best man and the groomsmen were Allan Pollock (friend) and Stan Magel (friend). The bridesmaids were dressed in pastel colours of blue, yellow, and green. The men all sported suits. A wedding supper was held in the basement of the Wolseley Town Hall which the Ladies of Ste. Anne’s catered. Following the supper, an old time wedding dance was held in the hall for 150 guests. The newlywed couple planned to spend their wedding night at the Regina Inn in Regina. Their car had been left in the steel shed at the farm, and during the festivities somebody had pulled all the plugs off the distributor cap, and, of course, the car wouldn’t start. Dick had a heck of a time plugging everything back in properly, but once he did, the couple were off to the city. They spent their honeymoon camping, an activity that they would continue to enjoy throughout their married life. Dick and Marianne were married for thirty-three years.

Dick and Marianne started their married life on the Greening family farm where life was busy as they ran a mixed farming operation raising pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese. There were two barns filled with a hundred pigs that were reared from farrow to finish. They kept three hundred chickens raised from chicks until they were ready for butchering. As this was a big undertaking, many family members would come out to help with the processing. Chicken sandwiches were not served on that day.

For a number of years Dick farmed with two of his good friends Edward Dureault and Brian Bradley. This made farming easier and less expensive for them as they shared the field work and bought equipment together. As each of them began acquiring more land, this working relationship was no longer feasible.

Marianne also worked off the farm at many different positions. After graduating from high school she moved to Regina; her first job was at Sears. From there, she worked at Sask Tel, Vital Statistics for the provincial government and Sask Power. When Marianne moved back to Wolseley she worked at the Toronto-Dominion Bank from 1979 to 1985. After that, she worked at the local hospital and at the Wolseley High School where she continues to work. The only time off that Marianne had was for maternity leave.

Dick enjoyed playing sports, and during his early married years he played league broom ball. He also played baseball with the Wolseley Rockers as a short stop.

Three children were born to them: Morgan Richard on February 6, 1983 at the Wolseley Memorial Hospital; Nicole (Nikki) Lynn on September 9, 1985 at the Indian Head Hospital; and Lisa Marie on April 10, 1991 at the Wolseley Memorial Hospital.

Dick loved his children and was involved in as many of their activities as was possible. Morgan, a natural athlete, excelled at hockey and baseball. Every winter Dick and Morgan would build a huge skating rink in the back yard. They would put plastic down and spend hours flooding until they had a perfect ice surface. Dick was the manager for Morgan’s hockey team for many years. Morgan began his hockey career at an early age in Wolseley and soon became a very good defenseman. Morgan played for SaskCan out of Saskatoon for a couple of years and travelled as far as Minnesota for a hockey tournament. He loved hockey and played at a more competitive level throughout high school and after graduation

Nikki, the middle child, was also involved in many activities. Starting at the age of six, she took jazz and tap dancing with the Wolseley Dance Club and continued until she graduated from high school. She spent one year taking figure skating lessons. Throughout high school Nikki played both volleyball and basketball, and her father would be at as many of the games and tournaments as he could, helping out and cheering on the team.

Lisa, the youngest, was also a dancer and spent twelve years taking both jazz and tap from the same teacher as Nikki, Patti Bernhauser of Regina. She was always a very outgoing child and loved to entertain others. In the fall of 2012, Lisa was in between jobs and came home to help her father with the harvest.

Every summer the Greening family went on a camping trip with close friends Brent and Debbie Pollock and their two daughters, Kaitlynn and Melissa. Some years they would go to Madge Lake, and other years they camped in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the national parks of Jasper and Banff in Alberta, or at the many beautiful lakes of Saskatchewan – Clear Lake, Tobin Lake, Greenwater Lake, Diefenbaker Lake, Buffalo Pound and Fishing Lake. The Greening family and the Beliveau family traveled to Minnesota together twice, once for Morgan’s summer hockey and the other to see a Minnesota Twins ball game. Another holiday spent with the Beliveau family was at New Year’s when they went to Agassiz, Manitoba for downhill skiing.

Dick greatly enjoyed being outdoors, whether it was time spent hunting, fishing or on his snowmobile or quad. He had a wide circle of friends with whom he enjoyed these activities. One beautiful autumn day Dick hopped off his combine after the last swath was picked up and went hunting. The rest of the fall work could wait until his return.

Moose hunting took Dick and many of his friends to the Hudson Bay area. Some of these friends and family members were Morgan, Brian Bradley, Don Zaba, Darrick Zaba, Brent Pollock, and Ken Hinton. In later years, the men used big wall tents with wood stoves and would stay right in the bush for their whole trip. It was a total wilderness adventure.

In later years, Dick and his friends went fishing in northern Saskatchewan to Black Bear Island, north of Lac La Ronge. The crew would drive to Lac La Ronge and then fly in with a float plane. They camped on the same big rock each year where they would set up their tents. The plane would pick them up four or five days later. Those who took part in this sport were Dick, Brent Pollock, Brian Bradley, Don Zaba, Morgan, Adrien Coueslan, and Darrick Zaba.

The long Saskatchewan winters were filled with many snowmobile trips, whether it was locally with a ride to Glenavon or Katepwa, or further afield to the groomed trails of Hudson Bay. Locally, Dick snowmobiled with Don Zaba, Brian Bradley, Ron Lyke, Keith Ennis, Jamie McCaslin and Sheldon Blenkin. On the trips further north, those who went were Sheldon Blenkin, Ron Lyke and Keith Ennis.

Dick’s last snowmobile was a Skidoo that he purchased in October of 2012. The purchase of this new Skidoo was precipitated by the death of an old friend who had just retired and had planned to return home to farm. Dick was philosophical concerning his purchase and said, “I’m going to go buy myself a Skidoo because you never know how long you’re going to live.”

A local project that Dick and many others in the community took on was building a snowmobile shack as one of the TransCanada snowmobile stops. Dick, along with Keith Ennis, Sheldon Blenkin and many from the TransCanada Trail Drifters Snowmobile Club, built this shack on Greening land in the fall of 2011. It is located west of the Greening farm in a little clearing. All these shacks are mapped and known as the TransCanada warm-up shacks. For those snowmobilers who stop to use the facility, there is a guest book for all to sign.

In their early years of marriage a favourite winter activity for the Greenings was curling. Dick and Marianne curled together for many years. Dick also curled with a men’s team comprised of Steven Bradley, Ken Grazier and Jerry Banbury. Marianne curled with a women’s team. For a number of years Dick didn’t have much time for curling, but took it up again later in life and took part in mixed curling.

Dick served his community well and could be counted on to help whenever needed. He spent many hours at the local sportsplex helping paint the lines, working the time clock or helping his friend, Don Zaba, who was the caretaker. Dick was the president of minor hockey for many years and was also a leader for the Beavers and Scouts.

When time permitted, Dick enjoyed reading, especially mysteries. One of his favourite authors was Michael Connelly. He also enjoyed comedy and was a fan of Patrick McManus.

Dick and Marianne continued to enjoy travelling and they visited many faraway places. 2008 was a year for family travel. In February, Dick, Marianne, Morgan, Trisha, Nikki, Evan, Loretta, Jeanette, Dawn, Elly, Brent, Suzanne, and Brent and Deb Pollock went to Las Vegas to celebrate Morgan’s twenty-fifth birthday and Elly’s fiftieth birthday. During the Easter break, Dick and Marianne went with Lisa on her high school trip to Italy and France. In July of 2009, Dick, Marianne, Lisa, and Brent and Debbie Pollock went to New York City. The Greenings also went on numerous holidays with friends to Mexico, Cuba, Barbados and Hawaii.

The Greening family continued to grow with the birth of two grandchildren. Kade Morgan Greening was born on January 16, 2012 to Morgan and Trisha. The second grandchild, whom Dick would never get to meet, was another grandson, Benjamin Richard Hardy, who was born on November 26, 2013.

Dick died suddenly in the yard on the farm of a heart attack on February 1, 2013. The funeral service was held on February 8, 2013 at the Wolseley Town Hall followed by a lunch. The officiant was Rev. Jamie Bushell of St. James United Church. The eulogist for the service was Dick’s first cousin, Scott Arndt. Dick’s ashes were interred at the Wolseley Cemetery. The whole community turned out to mourn his loss.