William (Bill) Stadnick was born on Section 27, TP. 1, RGE. 16, W.2 (or the home place in Beaubier) On May 4, 1921. Willy was the middle child of 10. He attended Lorraine School until the family moved into Beaubier.

He had a quick wit and a sharp tongue and held many fond endearments such as Wild Bill, Slippery Willy, The Gouge, WG, Grandpa Grouch, Squeak and more.

After serving in WWII as a military policeman, Willy custom combined in the United States for a number of years and broke many an acre of land with his 1530 Case tractor and built many roads in the Qu’appelle area before he bought the farm 1 mile north of Brooking in 1949.

Willy met Evelyn at a dance in Radville and it was love at first sight. They were married October 4, 1952 in Qu’appelle, Sask.

He took great pride in farming, especially his Black Angus Cattle. He then raised Charolais for many years. He was a successful and initiative businessman. He loved his antique tractors, his rumbley and was an avid collector. For many years they were displayed at the Radville Rodeo. One of his most successful years was in 1986 when he was called the Flax King of Brooking. He grew 41 bushels per acre and sold it for $12.50 a bushel. He continued farming with Art and later Tim until his semi- retirement in 1992.

He was president of Brooking Rural Telephone Co. and was the proud “Mayor of Brooking”. He was an avid curler in his younger days and was an Umpire for the Saskatchewan Curling Association. Willy really loved his curling and the many nights of sitting around the table at the farm reminiscing with his avid curlers on the blown curling shots. One of his proudest curling moments was when Willy and his teammates counted an 8 ender in a tournament in Regina. He also loved baseball and coached for many years. Willy loved to watch ball games on TV right up to his passing.

Once settled on the farm, Willy and Ev began raising four beautiful children. Art, Cathy, Tim, and Perry. Each has many memories of their Dad. One that they all share was the weekly Tablespoon of Cod Liver Oil followed by one chunk of chocolate. Sunday Night we would line up like four suckers for that little bit of chocolate and wondered why our dad found this so funny.

Tim was the hero all along and never knew it until one courageous move. Each of the kids felt the bite of the strap known as the “Governor”. Some of them more than others. The governor hung on the side of the medicine cabinet in the kitchen in plain view but always out of reach. Then suddenly it disappeared. The house was turned inside out and ripped apart looking for “the governor”, Willy even offered a reward (probably two bites of chocolate).

It remained a mystery until about the mid eighties when a piano tuner was called to the farm to repair a very bad note. The top of the piano was lifted and stuck in behind the piano strings hidden very deliberately and in excellent health, but a little dusty was the Governor!!!!!! Thanks Tim!!!

Cathy remembers growing up, how she and Tim always felt so hard done by. Art was the oldest so he had special privileges and Perry was the baby of the family so he got away with murder. She and Tim always seemed to get the “dog jobs”. There was always lots of work to do on the farm and some of it wasn’t a lot of fun. Picking weeds was a great opportunity to come up with new ways of taking our frustrations on the baby brother. However more times than not working in such close proximity to each other escalated in to very heated arguments. Our continuous bickering drove the family crazy and it got so bad that Dad actually bought us boxing gloves, set up a make believe boxing ring in the middle of the living room and let us duke it out. But Willy did instill a strong work ethic and taught them to be proud of themselves when they did a good job, whatever that may be.

Being the avid rodeo fan that he was, Willy would instigate a mini rodeo for the city cousins by putting them on the cows and pigs for rides and screams much to the dismay of our aunts. Willy told Harold, his nephew, that the only way to stop a pig from squealing was to get right down there and bite its tail. Harold, always up for a dare would comply as Willy and the uncles would encourage him and laugh themselves silly. Willy took full advantage of the cousins at the farm by getting them to pick rocks, listen to stories about the fox road and the chief Sockemswitch. One of the great mysteries that now may never be solved is Willy’s involvement as a musician. Now with Ev it was evident, she was very talented on the piano and a lovely singer. Willy, however owned a French horn, banjo and accordion and also claimed that he could or used to play these instruments. The mystery is the only instrument ever witnessed being played is the accordion & that sounded like a tom cat with its tail caught in the door. It sent all the kids and cousins running for the hills

Willy’s favorite son in-law Doug would help out on the farm at harvest time when Willy was still active in farming and in particular occasion there was problems with an auger. Doug was assigned the task of going to Bourassa’s in Radville to pick up a part to repair the auger. In no uncertain terms , the wording used with the request clearly defined the urgency to get this part & the auger back up and running so Doug used Willy’s new truck with about 30,000 km on it, gunned it to town, made it about 2 miles from the farm and the engine up and died. Upon further investigation, Willy said the GM dealer told him they took the engine apart and found a footprint on the oil pump!!!!

Anne, Willy’s oldest sister remembers how he and Deloris Larson had so much fun together as children. Anne & Willy exchanged birthday cards and letters every year always remaining in touch with each other.

Rosie also remembers what a good little boy Willy was. Brother Ted called Willy “My Champion” as an older brother; Willie always came to Ted’s aide when there was a scuffle or disagreement. Ted said there was nobody as strict on cleanliness. How he vigorously stressed proper posture and etiquette and the wits of drinking and smoking. He will surely miss his big brother!

Willy’s granddaughter Erin’s most fond memory of her grandfather is the way his eyes lit up when he smiled!

He also loved to argue politics and is the only person we know who has an 8X10 photo of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. So in ending coming from Willy’s mouth "Smile and vote Liberal".

A Funeral Mass was held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 21, 2004, from the Holy Family Catholic Church, Radville SK with Father Prince presider. A Prayer Service was held at 7:30 p.m. Friday February 20, 2004 from the Holy Family Catholic Church, Radville, SK. Interment to follow in the Laurier Cemetery. Flowers gratefully declined, donations in memory of Bill may be made to the Radville Marian Health Centre, Radville, SK. Arrangements in Care of Assurance Funeral Services, Weyburn.