James WALKER

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WALKER: James (Jim) Edward Walker passed away peacefully in his sleep Sunday, July 30, 2017 at Brandon General Hospital, Brandon, MB at 83 years of age. Born June 16, 1934 in the Ewart district to Thomas Edward Walker of Cromer, MB and Dorothy May Callan of Ewart, MB, Jim was the second of three children. The family was living in Oak Bluff and moved to Reston in 1943 to farm two miles east of town. In 1954 he met Donna Ames of Brookdale who was nursing at the Reston Hospital. In November 1955 they married in Brandon, MB. They lived on the family farm until they moved to Manitou, MB where Jim worked with his uncle doing plumbing. Then Jim took a welding course in Winnipeg which enabled him to take a job in Medora, MB where he worked for Tweeds Garage for a few months before returning to Reston. While there, their first child, Douglas Edward was born in 1958. Then in 1961 they moved to Redvers, SK where he was a butcher for Curl's IGA. In January of 1962 they returned to the farm at Reston to take over the cattle and farming. While on the farm, they had their second child, Deborah born in 1964. They remained on the farm until the spring of 1977 when they moved into their brand new home in Reston. Before leaving the farm, Jim and Al Bloomer started Reston Trenching and Plumbing and continued until Jim became a sales representative for Big "O" Drain Tile. This job had him on the road in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. In 1981 most of the family moved to Brandon where Jim began his career in car sales at Wilton Motors. Next he sold cars for Binkley Motors and then took a job as sales rep for Perth's Dry Cleaners. This had him on the road again as his territory was western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan. He retired but kept busy picking up or delivering vehicles for Kelleher Ford and then became a part-time shuttle driver. It was here that he was able to mix two of his favorite things, driving cars and visiting with people. Jim was pre-deceased by his father Ted in December 1961, his mother May in November 2001, his older sister Helen (Munro) in May 2007 and his younger sister Doris (Buck) in November 2011. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Donna, and his son Doug (Bev) of Calgary and daughter Deb of Brandon as well as grandchildren Krista (Dave) Reid of Kamloops, BC and Lindsey Walker of Calgary, great-grandchildren Taya, Jackson, Grace and Marcus Reid. Also mourning his loss are many nieces, nephews, cousins and cherished friends. A celebration of his life will take place on Saturday, August 5, 2017 at 1:30 pm at the Prairie Oasis Senior Centre, 241-8th Street, Brandon, MB. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Jim may be made to the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation, “Dialysis Unit”, 150 McTavish Avenue East, Brandon, MB, R7A 2B3. A special thank you to the Dialysis Unit and the 4th floor staff at the Brandon Regional Health Centre for their exceptional care and kindness.

As published in Brandon Sun on Aug 05, 2017