LYLE WILCOX

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LYLE WILCOX

March 16, 1924 - October 17, 2025

We were so fortunate to have had so many years with our kind-hearted, sweet Dad. We feel deeply blessed and grateful - and oh so sad to have said goodbye.

People often asked Dad his secret to living so fully for more than a century. He would say he was just very fortunate - and he was. But he also lived each day with gratitude, curiosity, and optimism. He loved people, always full of questions and genuinely interested in every answer. He enjoyed teasing, sports, and treats (a lot). With a twinkle in his eye, he would get the giggles - and when he did, we all did. Dad worked hard, served his community, and loved us deeply. We’ll always remember his outstretched arms for farewell hugs.

For 42 years, Dad was a dedicated Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) employee, moving our family 17 times across Saskatchewan and Manitoba. He and Mom turned old CPR stations into homes while Dad worked as the Station Agent. Some of Dean and Grant’s favourite early memories were tenting trips across Canada. Dad loved baseball and was thrilled when his team, the Plum Coulee Pirates, was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame. Always community-minded, he was later elected to Lac Du Bonnet’s Town Council and then as Mayor.

After 42 years of work came 43 years of retirement. “That can’t be right,” Dad would say. But when you live to 101, you get a long postseason. He used those years well: creating his Railway Memories video series for Shaw Cable and founding the Flashbacks seniors’ baseball team, playing well into his eighties.

Most of all, Dad had time for family. He was a constant in the lives of his grandkids - there for school pick-ups, sleepovers, and countless dinners, games, concerts, and graduations. Even as adults, the grandkids called and visited often. We’ll miss his familiar, “Tell me some news.”

Dad and Mom were together nearly 70 years. When they waltzed, they seemed to move as one - effortless and full of grace. Dad joined Mom on what would have been her 101st birthday.

We’re forever grateful to Dad’s friends who supported Dad after Mom's passing, and to Joan Baker, his dear companion of the past decade. Dad cared deeply for Joan.

Our family will celebrate this special man in November - and cheer for a Blue Jays win on his behalf.

We love you, Dad/Gramps.

Dean and June Wilcox (Wayne, Henry and Shasa; Steve and Lori and Ryleigh), Grant and Bev (Alana), Corene and Alan Aftanas (Kevin and Laurie), and Mike and Connie Walker (Matthew and Steven).

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 25, 2025