William James Babcock, 1918 - 2007

On July 9, 2007, William James Babcock passed away peacefully in the High Prairie Hospital at the age of 89 years. Bill was born on June 12, 1918 in Maple Creek, Sask. His family lived in Red Deer until 1929 when they moved to Salt Prairie. Bill finished his schooling in the log school house in Salt Prairie completing the eighth grade. It was then necessary for him to go out to work. He worked for $7 per month in Salt Prairie, and later went on to work in High Prairie for a huge increase of $1 per day. Bill filed for a homestead in Salt Prairie in 1937. Soon afterward, the war broke out. He and his brother, Lewis, enlisted in High Prairie. After training in Canada, they went overseas. They spent some time in England before sailing for Italy in November 1943. In that time Bill and Lewis were joined by their oldest brother, Nathaniel. All three were in the same platoon and never separated. They spent time in Rouseliers, Belgium and moved up into Holland by way of Nipmeger, Arnham, Enschede, Groningen, Assen, Eerdeek and Appledoorn. Bill spent time in many places in Holland. While being stationed in Enschede for a while, he met the love of his life, Maria (Mary) Ridderholf. Mary could not speak English when they met, so Bill quickly learned some Dutch. They enjoyed life while he was there, dancing three or four times a week. On Dec. 22, 1945 Bill and Mary were married in the Town Hall in Enschede. Bill left for Canada late in January 1946. He arrived in Canada in February 1946 on the Aquatania. Mary stayed in Holland until October 1946 and then made her journey to Canada aboard the Lady Nelson. In November of 1947 Bill and Mary were blessed with their first child, Nancy. Two years later they welcomed the birth of their second child, James, in November 1949. Throughout the years Bill chose to remember, and share with his friends and family, the good times that he had in the war. Even though it is certain it was not all good times and laughter, he looked back on the years of the war as the best years of his life, often joking that he’d like to thank Hitler for his part in taking him overseas because he met his lovely wife there. There were very few times that one would visit Bill and not hear a good old story. He was an amazing storyteller and often had all of his grandchildren surrounding the foot of his chair to hear what he would come up with next. He talked about all the different places he got to see, the laughter shared with friends, dancing so much he had to get his shoes resoled twice in a short time and the courtship of his wife. We never got tired of hearing his wonderful stories. Even though we had heard some of his stories a hundred times over, as time went on the stories seemed to get funnier. He’d remember something else, or tell it in a different way. He had a way with stories. Bill had many different jobs over his lifetime, including sawyer, millwright, welder, farmer, cooking in oilfield camps and log hauling. But he was probably best known for operating the grader, where he was always willing to go the “extra mile”. Bill enjoyed playing the fiddle, and played for many dances around the area. He also enjoyed woodworking, building windmills and wishing wells. He was also an excellent welder and was always looking for something new to create or modify. He often said the only thing he couldn’t fix was a broken heart and even then he would give it a try. He was known by all as hardworking, honest, kind, a good neighbour, a good friend and an excellent family man. He showed all of us the importance of family and a hard day’s work. In turn, we looked up to him with the utmost respect. Bill was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, always finding time even when he was very busy. He loved to visit with family and friends and everyone was greeted with a warm smile and welcomed into his home. He was our hero, not only our war hero, but an example of a great man. Bill is survived by: his loving wife, Mary; his two children, Nancy and James (Agnes); six grandchildren, James Junior (Jamie), Apryl (Lorne), Leslie (Gina), Kristel (Flarry), Virgil (Carla) and Valene

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