Gary Hamilton

On May 16th 1938 a light entered the world that shone so brightly that it couldn’t help but change the lives of everyone who was blessed enough to be near him. Gary was the youngest of four children born to Ann and Austin Hamilton. He was an incredibly special person, who poured his whole heart into everything he did whether he was baking pies, pumping gas, tuning up engines or giving of his time to invest in people and community, sometimes doing all of those things on a daily basis!

In 1981 he married the love of his life, Wanda. The life that they built together was one of fierce loyalty, love and so much joy and laughter. Gary believed that family is everything. He invested time in his nieces and nephews always making sure that they were having fun, stirring up at least an acceptable amount of trouble, and that they were learning the value of hard work and dedication to your community and those around you. When his children, Corey and Lynnsey came along, they became his entire world. He worked tirelessly to provide for his family. Even after long days at work, he made sure that he took time the second that he walked through the door to play, and laugh, read stories and sing songs. As they grew, he instilled values of community, service, and hard work into them. He always encouraged them to follow their dreams and was there at every milestone to cheer them on, or sometimes pick them back up and help them to dust off before pushing them to get back out there and try again.  He shared his love of engines and engine work with his son, and his love of music with his daughter.

Grandpa was a title that he bore like it was the biggest badge of honour that anyone could receive. His grandson Austin would spend time during the summer working with him at the museum, learning the value of hard work, and fixing things instead of just throwing them away. He would delight when his young grandchildren, Cole, Rylee, Chelsey and Dax would come for a visit, completely turning his house upside down in chaos to build forts and race cars. He also always made sure that they got dessert (even if he had to sneak it to them when no one else was looking) He would share stories and pictures of them with everyone who would listen.

One of Gary’s most treasured past times was sharing his gift of music with the staff and residents at Caleb. He would get so excited to play his keyboard and sing and often would talk about it for days afterwards, especially if anyone got up and danced.

Gary was an active member of his community right up until the time he passed. He was a hardworking and dedicated member of the Elks, spent many hours volunteering at school fundraisers, spearheaded the project that brought Caleb Village to Kindersley and was an active member of the Kindersley Museum. You would be hard pressed to find someone more generous and giving than Gary. Over the years, he was presented with many awards for volunteerism, and although he was grateful for the recognition, his response was always the same, “I don’t do this to be noticed, I do it because it needs to be done.”

The loss of Gary will be felt very deeply by his friends, family and community. He left us all a lesson of selflessness, service and tenacity. Perhaps if we all even just picked up and did one thing that needs to be done, we could come close to filling the void that has been left in his passing and honor his legacy.

Gary has been lovingly reunited with his beloved wife Wanda, parents, sister Louise, brother-in-law Dean, brother-in-law Murray, brother Austin and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins that went before him. Left to mourn him here on earth are his son Corey, daughter Lynnsey (Johan), sister Jean, grandchildren Austin, Cole, Rylee, Chelsey and Dax, his nieces and nephews, as well as many honorary sons, daughters and grandchildren who knew him as Dad and Grandpa. 

A graveside service will be held at a later date 

For those who wish, donations in memory of Gary can be made to the Elks and Royal Purple Fund for Children with details on how to donate below 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Gary Hamilton, please visit our floral store.