Obituary of Gordon Wilber Grabher

Gordon Wilber Grabher 1927 - 2010 Gordon Wilber Grabher was born on October 17, 1927 in Leduc, Alberta and was the fourth of six children born to Charles and Christina Grabher. He lived his early years with his parents, four brothers, George, Herman, Stanley and Robert and sister Dora in Hugheden, Alberta until the family moved to Collington, outside of Athabasca when Gordon was four. Times were tough for the Grabhers in Gordon’s early years. He quit school in grade four and began helping with the family farm, doing side jobs, from picking blueberries and selling them in town for 10 cents a pound to helping the family with their janitorial contact at the local school. At age 14, Gordon left home and went to work in the logging camps in Collington then Athabasca until his early 20’s when he landed his first rough neck job in Calmar, Alberta. During his early years on the rigs, Gordon met Joyce Stuart in Drumheller and they were married a little over two years later, on December 5, 1952. Over the next few years as Gordon worked his way up from roughneck to tool push, he would move Joyce from one end of Alberta to the other; every three months to wherever the next well had to be drilled. When Gordon took a job as a field superintendant with Arrow Drilling in 1957, Gordon and Joyce were finally able to settle down in Dawson Creek and start their family where their first daughter, Valerie was born. After a short period of time in Dawson Creek and then Edmonton, the Grabhers moved to Fort St. John where their next two children, Terry and Tannis were born. Shortly after arriving in Fort St. John, Gordon was elected president of the Light Horse Association, which he held for a number of years. He was very instrumental in the building of the rodeo grounds and the race track. In 1966 Gordon decided to hang up his field superintendant hat and try consulting. Soon after, he moved the family from town to the Just A- Mere Farm at Fish Creek, where their cattle business began. It was a tough start in the cattle business as Joyce had to break it to Gordon that their very first calf had drowned in the watering hole, while he was away at work. In the mid 70’s the Grabhers packed up again and moved to the 3 X Farm in Montney that had been started with Earl Brown and Cec Papke at a liquid filled horse sale in 1962 when the three partnered up and bought six Shetland ponies together. This eventually turned into a nine quarter grain farm. After a short time in Montney, the Grabhers decided to move south, after falling in love with a piece of property in Arras, British Columbia to what we all know as Grabher’s Last Stand. In the early 80s, when new regulations required consultants to obtain new tickets and learn the much hated metric system, Gordon decided he had had enough of the oil patch and turned into a full time rancher. It was on the Grabher’s Last Stand that Gordon and Joyce enjoyed their true passions in life, grandchildren, family, good friends and live stock. It started early, usually by 5:00 am with Joyce making Gordon his must-have breakfast and soon after the action started. It could be anything from calving out the 200 cow/calf pairs to riding out to check on the 300 horses grazing in the pasture, or just feeding the 100 or so buffalo because Gordon needed an excuse to get out in the morning. Gordon enjoyed sitting down at the kitchen table with a paper and a pencil, transferring his creations to a piece of paper. He would then fire up his welder and work relentlessly until he was done his new creation. Gordon enjoyed many of the simple things in life such as just having the kids around, hooking up a team of horses for a sleigh ride, riding out checking the livestock, telling one of his great stories to an audience, having one of his famous laughs over a story or joke or just sitting silently around the fire pit. Gordon made many good friends over the years including Cec Papke, Earl Brown, George Hauber, Warren Mackenzie, Mike Green, Mitch Green and Garth Woods just to mention a few, but he had an extra special bond with his best friend and grandson Dwayne. There was rarely an event that happened at the Last Stand that Dwayne wasn’t right there beside Gordon, willing to help with whatever grandpa needed. Gordon passed away in Dawson Creek on December 31, 2010 at the age of 83. He is predeceased by his mother and father: Christina and Charles; two brothers: George and Herman; and one sister: Dora. He leaves behind his loving wife of 57 years: Joyce; two daughters: Valerie (Braden) and Tannis (Ron); son: Terry (Judy); two brothers: Stanley (Verna), and Robert (Gerry); seven grandchildren: Dwayne (Chelsea), Jodi and partner Sky, Fallon (Victor), Gary, Kyle, Clinton and Curtis; two great-grandchildren: Olivia and Waylan; two brothers-in-law: Ken and Guy; four sisters-in-law: Donna, Marge, Nora and Rhona; and numerous nieces and nephews. Gordon was the hardest working man I’ve ever known, he had strong family values and a great big heart of gold. He was a great husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and of course a great friend and will truly be missed by all! A memorial service was held on January 6, 2011 at the Bergeron Funeral Chapel, with Pastor Al Stebing officiating. Expressions of sympathy in memory of Gordon, may be made by donation to the ‘British Columbia Heart & Stroke Foundation’ P.O. Box 714, Dawson Creek, British Columbia V1G 4H7 or the ‘British Columbia Lung Association’ 2675 – Oak Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 2K2.