John Wieler

WIELER, John of Langley, BC age 62 passed away peacefully with the family at his side on September 24 at the Langley Memorial Hospital in Langley, BC. A Memorial Service will be held to honour our brother John on Thursday, September 30 at 2:00 PM at the Henderson Funeral Home, 20786 Fraser Highway, Langley, BC. There will also be a Memorial Service in Winnipeg, MB. Date and location to be announced later. For the complete eulogy, go to www.mem.com

John Wieler of Langley, BC, age 62, passed away peacefully with family at his side on September 24th, 2010 at the Langley Memorial Hospital in Langley, B.C. He was born March 4th, 1948 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, the son of Jacob Wieler and Susan (nee Froese) Wieler-Loewen.

At a very early age it became apparent that John was not going to have an easy life. He suffered with very aggressive scoliosis that was already causing him very serious health problems. At the age of fourteen, in a Winnipeg hospital, he was admitted for a very new technique for stabilizing scoliosis. He was the first person in Manitoba - the third person in Canada - to receive this type of operation. This procedure included having the doctors fuse together most of his vertebrae to prevent further curvature of his spine. He lay in a hospital bed for one year then had to wear a body cast from his ears to the bottom of his spine. This was followed by various progressively smaller casts for another six months. This very traumatic time left him angry and confused for many years. It also left him with a fear of going to the hospital. He very seldom complained or even talked about his back problems. While he was born with a very determined personality, this made him even more determined.

John attended junior school in Sidney, Manitoba and high school in Austin, Manitoba. At the age of 19 he moved to Winnipeg where he worked at various jobs with Alice Avenue ROCO and Stadium Ford being the first two.

In 1970 he became a member of "Big Brother/Little Brother" organization becoming "Big Brother" to Robert Tuzzollino. John would take him places; help him with problems, etc. One highlight was when he won a trip through the "Big Brothers" for the two of them to go to Hamilton for the Gray Cup. John maintained his relationship with Robert to the very end and spoke very fondly of him.

In the mid '70's he started working for Stern GMC Trucks and was a faithful employee for 15 years. When this came to an end, he considered joining his brother, Bill, in the construction trade to become a full time electrician. He debated for several years before starting his electrical career in the mid 80’ working for Redekop Electric and committing to getting his Journeymen’s License.

While working for Redekop Electric, he was presented with an excellent opportunity, to work on a hotel construction project in St. Petersburg, Russia. With the exception of a few short trips to Manitoba, this project kept him in Russia for about 2 years. That was where he met Larissa Kourach, whom he sponsored to come to Canada.

John and Larissa were married in a very private civil service in February 1991. Shortly thereafter Larissa brought her young son, Igor, to Canada. To make childhood easier on Igor, they started to call him Edgar.

In 1992 John visited his brother, Gordon, in Abbotsford, BC and liked it so much he moved there with Larissa and Edgar. The weather was much kinder on his back.

Cultural differences were great and in 1998 Larissa divorced John. Regardless, John always had a special place in his heart for her son and accepted him as his own. Larissa and Igor remained an important part of John’s life. John took great pleasure and comfort in remembering that Igor had expressed to him that he was a good father image and that he knew John always took care of him as if Igor was his own son.

Although going back to school was difficult at first, John persevered and received his Journeymen Electrician’s license March 31 1994 in Abbotsford, BC. He was employed by several electrical contractors and in 2002 joined the Westrade Electric team. He valued the experience and gained the respect of his co-workers. A highlight while there was to join, for a time, his brother, Bill, and two nephews, Vernon and Nathan, as electricians.

In 2005 he took the opportunity to join SNC Lavalin O&M to help with electrical maintenance at the CBC Vancouver facility. Here his gift of being able to think outside the box became very useful. He would glow with satisfaction recalling how he was able to use his creative ideas to help solve unusual renovation problems. He found his job very interesting and challenging and he enjoyed it immensely. John made many good friends and was well thought of in his relationships at work. It was said by one person that he was the only man he knew who could do the work of three men and still not put his cup of coffee down. He would speak of his work with a special fondness and pride. He was still employed by SNC Lavalin O&M at the time of his passing.

In his personal life, many family members benefited from his gifts as a creative craftsman and a problem solver. We, as family members, received hand crafted gifts of all sorts - wooden toys, kitchen ornaments and many other items too numerous to mention. Many of his nieces and nephews still have these unique toys.

For the last number of years he lived on the same yard as his brother, Bill, sister-in-law, Kitty, and their two sons, Vernon and Nathan.

He loved his life on the big yard where he could putter for hours at various projects and was looking forward to many retirement years of puttering on all his planned projects. He had planted two fruit trees recently and took great pleasure in seeing them take root and grow. He was always willing to help out whether it was cleaning the shop, organizing, re-building something to make it "better" or designing something new. He enjoyed going to NHRA races at Ashcroft to watch his nephews race and he was preparing to go see another race on the very weekend the Lord called him home.

He very seldom complained about his back problems but in later years confided that throughout his life there was rarely a day he was without pain. This constant pain and the memories of his experiences kept him from seeking medical help when his health started to deteriorate. By the time he finally did go to Emergency at Langley Hospital it became apparent that he had already had a heart attack and his kidneys were shutting down. With further tests it was found that he had terminal stomach cancer. Even with this bad news he carried on with the same determination that had kept him going all his life.

Most of his life he was a man of few words and so many times he would go days without really talking to anyone. After his diagnosis of cancer it was like he had 62 years of silence to make up for, and he did. He would talk to everyone who would listen about anything and everything. He especially warned everyone not to make the same mistake he did and to get medical help as soon as possible.

Though he was normally a very shy person with trouble verbalizing his love, John opened up these last months and took every opportunity to tell everyone he was with how much he appreciated and loved them. He said over and over again how he never realized how important family was to him, and how he did not realize how much his family appreciated him. He loved it when family and friends would call on the phone or drop in just to keep him company.

In the last three months he took on life with the urgency of a person who had lots to do with a very short time to do it. He traveled to places he always wanted to go, did things he always wanted to do and said things he always wanted to say. All his life he had a passion for old steam tractors and steam locomotives, now he took the opportunity and went to a number of related events so he could see them again. One particular event was the Austin Threshermen’s Reunion in Manitoba where he visited with most of his siblings as well as experienced the old steam tractors going through their paces. He was so happy to relive his childhood days of going to the reunion with his family and of hearing the steam engines and whistles.

One of the most precious gifts he gave his mother was to tell her over and over how much he loved and respected her. He told his sisters, whenever he talked to them, how wonderful his brother and the rest of the family were to him. Martha and Jerry had given up their holiday to help Bill make his home easier for him though he was frustrated that he could not help with that, especially seeing as it was one of his planned retirement projects. He was very quick to tell anyone who would listen how he appreciated everyone’s work and effort. There was one piece of advice he would give to everyone he encountered, especially and repeatedly, to his brother, Bill, and nephews, Vernon and Nathan, "Go see your doctor if you don't feel right!"

Three weeks before John's ride home to Glory, he made peace with his Lord. He was baptized by Pastor Chris from Central Heights with his mother, his sister, Eva, his brother, Bill, and sister-in-law, Kitty, as witnesses to his confession of faith. He radiated with a peace that passes all understanding. This peace stayed with him right to the last breath he took, which happened to be in the back seat of his favourite car, the PT Cruiser, while on his way to pick up his baby sister, Trudie, from the Abbotsford airport. God was so kind to take him home in such a peaceful way.

The family would like to thank his medical team:

Zuheir Abrahams Cardiologist

C Andreou Urologist

Cass, Aaron Nephrologist

Justin Cheung Gastrologist

Willem De Vynk GP (Emergency Dr)

Kevin C Murphy Oncologist

William M Urton Podiatrist

John had nothing but good things to say about the Emergency unit at the Langley Memorial Hospital and the staff at The Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. He said more than once how caring and kind the people were.

We would like also to thank:

Dave Reilly and Gino Bigillio from Westrade Electric.

Sue Dodsworth and Dean Demick from SNC Lavalin O&M .

He was predeceased by his father Jacob in 1964.

He leaves behind, with the hope of seeing them in glory:

Mother:

Susan Wieler-Loewen of Winnipeg

Sisters:

Marrian (Les) Zacharias of Winnipeg, MB

Eva (Mike) Robertson of Winnipeg, MB

Martha (Jerry) Ramnath of Arborg, MB

Hilda Harder of Portage La Prairie, MB

Trudie (Ernie) Krause of Elm Creek, MB

Brothers:

Bill (Kitty) Wieler of Langley, BC

Gordon (Maxine) Wieler of Lethbridge AB

Ex-wife: Larissa Kourach of West Vancouver, BC

Stepson: Igor Kourach of Edmonton, AB

"Little Brother": Robert Tuzzollino of Winnipeg, MB

Many nieces, nephews and extended family.

A memorial service and reception was held for John on Thursday, Sept 30, 2010 at 2:00 PM at the Henderson Funeral Home, 20786 Fraser Highway in Langley, BC.

There will also be a memorial service for family and friends in Winnipeg MB on October 18 at 2:00 PM at Friends Chapel, 2146 Main St., Winnipeg, MB.

Donations, in lieu of flowers, can be made to the Dialysis Unit at the Royal Columbian Hospital, the Kidney Foundation or the Canadian Cancer Society.

The family thanks you for your prayers and expressions of condolences.