William Edwin Milner

Bill was predeceased by his daughter Laura; four siblings, Mary (Everett), Kay (Lauder), Marnie (Dunne), Roy (Bud); as well as the four dogs he enjoyed so much throughout his life Bing, Joey, Smudge and Barney.

Bill is survived by his beloved wife Sheila; two sons Bill (Nicole) and John; grandchildren Elizabeth and Julia White and John Milner; son-in-law Peter White (Marina and her daughters Maria and Dasha); and many nieces and nephews.

Bill was born on December 26, 1930 in Winnipeg, Manitoba to Roy and Margaret. At a young age, Bill and his family left Winnipeg to their new home in Calgary as well as their family ranch just outside of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He loved the ranch, most memorably riding his horse named Blaze through the countryside.

At 17 years of age, Bill decided to make his mark on life and left for England to join the Royal Air Force (RAF), where he proudly remained for 8 years as a dedicated fighter pilot. Shortly after returning to Winnipeg from England, he met his wife Sheila Watson. They married on July 2, 1959 and created their family of three children, Laura, Bill and John. Bill and family remained in Winnipeg and Minaki, Ontario (their favorite place for weekends and summers).

Bill’s flying experience in the RAF led to becoming an Air Canada pilot, which he later left to begin his life with Sheila in Winnipeg. Bill worked for a number of years at Mumford Medland, many years at Ramset Fasteners and then decided to take control of his career by starting his own business at age 50, Winnipeg Tools & Fasteners Ltd. His business proudly supported his family until he retired and closed the business at age 80.

Bill’s father owned one of the original lake properties at Minaki, Ontario, which he and his family enjoyed every summer until the early 1970’s and then through much persistence and some luck, he was extremely fortunate to find and purchase a beautiful peninsula at Minaki. Bill was able to fix and build almost anything and with those special skills, built his family a beautiful cottage and over the years helped many people around the lake. He and his family have always cherished their weekends and summers there.

Bill was an extremely dedicated family man and will always be missed by his family and those who knew him.

Due to people's recent concerns with traveling and group events, the "celebration of life" event in honor of William Edwin Milner, has been cancelled March 18 at Thomson "In the Park".

Thank you all for your kind thoughts.

For those of you wishing to make donations, please consider The Laura Milner White Fund at The Winnipeg Foundation (1350 – 1 Lombard Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0X3) or The Winnipeg Humane Society (45 Hurst Way, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 0R3).