Obituary of John Niles
We are saddened and in mourning for our dearest Dad, Grandpa and Poppa, John Niles. John, a long time resident of Dawson Creek, BC, passed away on Thursday, April 16, 2020, in Dawson Creek, at the age of 91 years.
John was the third child born to Robert Baptiste and Christina Niles (nee; Olson) in 1928, at home on a farm near Leross, Saskatchewan. The first child, Robert Eugene, and John’s only sister, Margaret Isabella, were born to the family in 1924 and 1926. Their mother had immigrated from Northern Sweden and landed in an outpost where many from Sweden and Norway had landed by train. John’s father, Uncle (Frank, youngest of 13 children), and cousin (Robert (Bobby) Ryan, son of their sister Amelia) left New Brunswick to work in Saskatchewan grain harvesting.
Robert and Christina farmed for a while in Saskatchewan until the winter of 1929-30, when they responded to ads for homestead opportunities in the BC Peace Country. John would also speak of when he and his siblings, their parents, and their mom’s mom and cousin Bobby traveled that winter, where there was very little snow, with a horse and cart that had been outfitted with skis instead of wheels.
They first landed in Sweet Water in 1930 where they worked to build a shack. They had to clear and break the land first. There they became friends with the neighbours living in the area; in those days, everyone helped each other. Patrick Lawrence, their youngest brother, was born in the spring of 1932 in the Pouce Coupe hospital. After a few years, the family began farming just north of the railroad tracks on what is now east of 8th Street in Dawson Creek.
John attended school until grade 8 at South Dawson Elementary School. His favorite part of school was playing team sports and track and field. He did well having received numerous medallions for his achievements. On one occasion, days prior to World War II breaking out, he won a contest in school to travel by train to meet King George VI in Edmonton. He had barely a few dollars that his Mom gave him for lunch money. It was a very quick trip but most memorable. He had no camera to record the event.
John left school to work at farming full time. He was sought after during harvest time for his hard work ethic. And in those days, all the neighbours formed work parties stooking and threshing grain to get everyone’s crop off.
John fondly recalled his first winter away from home in 1949-50 to spend it with his mother in Vancouver. He got to fly down to Vancouver that fall on a DC 3. This was especially important to him because of hearing from his oldest brother, his aspirations to become a commercial air pilot. Sadly, Robert was lost over in Holland just days after the D-Day invasion in June, 1944. This loss forever affected the family resulting in the eventual drifting apart of his mother and father. He would often mention arriving in Vancouver from the back country wearing a red Mackinaw coat while everyone else was dressed up in suits and fedora’s.
Other memories John lamented on were a couple of winters in his late teens when he ran a team of horses skidding logs in Monkman pass south of Beaverlodge, another winter working for a crusty old trapper running his trap line south of Lone Prairie. John was to eventually get a job delivering ice to peoples’ homes with a horse and cart in the winter and grain farmed in the summer.
John and Catherine were wed June 23, 1952 in Dawson Creek. By then, his father had partnered with Wes Harper to subdivide the land and sell lots to the town of Dawson Creek. Some of the proceeds went to John and Catherine to get set up with three quarters of land. One quarter, John referred to as Irvine’s quarter, the other two a mile north was known as Lee’s quarters. Eventually, Pat, his younger brother, joined him to farm. They tried a different venture of purchasing more land by Cecil Lake. Eventually they sold and purchased another property east of Lee’s which became known as Roy’s quarter.
Through these years, John worked very hard year-round either putting in crops, taking off crops, working construction for Braemer, or logging for Bill Gagnon in the Pine Pass behind Williston Lake or around Chetwynd. The summers where he was close to home, John very pridefully grew large vegetable gardens on Roy’s quarter. And when time permitted, during the height of season, John would go Saskatoon berry picking for days on end.
John remembered fondly when he and his brother, Pat, had the money to buy Roy’s, a new Case 630 cabbed tractor, a Case open cab combine and a self-propelled swather in 1958.
And of course, the arrival of his oldest son, John in 1953, his daughter Patricia (Pat) in 1956, son; Joseph in 1958, another son; Leslie (Les) in 1959, and Steven in 1966.
Pat left farming in 1975, and John carried on doing what he loved so much until 1986. The machinery was older, costs to operate higher, and farming became too difficult. In 1993, John decided to retire to an acreage in East Pouce Coupe and continued to garden in the summers and gather wood for the winters to stay warm.
John loved to travel and had a free spirit to see new things. He spent a lot of his time traveling with his grandchildren to swim meets, soccer and hockey tournaments. He enjoyed traveling to the coast to see his sister, and niece and nephews, the Island or Golden, BC to see more of his grandchildren. He had an opportunity to travel to see where the Niles’ family originated in New Brunswick in 1995, his oldest brother’s RCAF grave in Holland, and his birthplace in Saskatchewan in 2006.
John took great pride in his work ethic and his sense of duty and to give his best at everything he set out to toil at. People say he was a quiet, gentle, kind man that was always there to help his friends and family.
He is predeceased by his brother; Bobby 1944, mother; Christina 1974, father; Bob 1979, brother; Pat 1997, sister; Margaret 2003, nephew; Bobby 2003, wife; Catherine 2004, and sons; Joseph in 1958 and John in 2017.
He is survived by his daughter; Pat (Fred), sons; Les and Steve (Martina), daughter-in-law; Agnes Hendricks, grandchildren; Ben, Kaleb, Darra-May (Chris), Danielle (Mark), Jared (Kiara), Jessie, Corey, Eddy and Jason, great-grandchildren; Shelby, Nicholas, Thomas and Sophie, and numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.
John, until we meet again, you live on this side with tears of sadness and the peace that you are with your so long missed brother all those years ago. We love you John.
John was laid to rest next to his family, in the Rolla Cemetery on Saturday, April 25, 2020 and a celebration of John’s life will be held at a later date.
For friends so wishing, donations may be made in memory of John to the Rotary Manor Residents Council Fund, 1121 90 Avenue, Dawson Creek, BC V1G5A3.
Very Respectfully Reynars Funeral Home & Crematorium
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of John
Niles 1928 2020..
reynars funeral home & crematorium
Death notice for the town of: Dawson, Province: Colombie britanique