Send off for Lloyd Whitley, full of laughter
Family, friends and neighbours packed into Avening Hall Feb. 18 for a farewell to Lloyd Whitley, one that would have suited him just fine.
About 400 people came through the old hall that day, beginning early in the afternoon and going into the night, feasting on triangle sandwiches and sweets, the bar open.
A eulogy read by daughters Lynda Jeffery, Jennifer Whitley, Clare Oster, and son Greg outlined Lloyd as a kid-at-heart who loved his family and life on the farm, with the exception of his nemesis, the silo unloader.
“Dad always said that he didn’t want a funeral, especially one where they sang a whole bunch of hymns,” said Lynda. “What he did want was for us to have some sort of celebration, so that’s what we are going to do… tell some stories that we feel truly celebrate the life of Lloyd.”
She said after marrying their mother, Ellen McEachern, the love of his life, they settled on the farm in Avening
“Dad was a farmer at heart and as he liked to say, a jack-of-all-trades but master of none,” said Lynda. “To those of us who knew him well, I think we could almost agree with that statement, except in one area, for Dad, Lloyd, was a master comedian. He made people laugh with his stories, jokes, one-liners and Lloydisms as we refer to them…”
Lloydisms: Eat your carrots. You’ve never seen a rabbit wearing glasses; When you’re going somewhere, take long steps, it won’t take near as many and you won’t wear out your boots; Comb your hair before going out so that you don’t look like the north end of a horse going south with its tail up; When you ride in an airplane, get a seat near the back…you’ve never heard of an airplane backing into a mountain; It’s good enough for who it’s for; The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.
Jennifer talked about her father’s love for hunting and fishing, skills he learned from his favourite uncle, Howard Gallaugher, a founding member of the Shelburne Hunt Club. Lloyd was a proud member of the hunt club and the annual moose hunt was one of his favourite times of the year. She said both her parents loved fishing and enjoyed many spring fishing trips with friends.
“As long as Dad could go fishing in the spring and hunting in the fall, he was a happy camper,” said Jennifer. “But if something came up like a wedding or a special anniversary celebration that coincided with his fishing or hunting trips, it really ticked him off. He ranted to anyone who would listen… ‘Why the hell would someone ever even think of getting married on that weekend – don’t they know that the hunt starts then?’ Or, ‘That has to be the Godarndest time for a party – that’s when we’ll be away fishing.’”
Clare talked about her father’s rig, “a full crew cab truck with an eight-foot box – not one of those half-assed short boxes that wouldn’t hold a loaf of bread – to which he attached a 28 foot fifth wheel trailer, to which he attached another eight-foot trailer to carry his four-wheeler. His fishing boat perched over the cab of the truck on another home built rack.”
A man who wasn’t afraid to take that rig the opposite way through the Tim Hortons drive through, after all Mom was paying.
“If there ever was a woman who deserves a medal for sainthood, it has to be our mom, Ellen,” said Clare. “She was always there for Dad and our family, through thick and thin. She knew all of his little quirks and somehow developed a special knack for dealing with him, often without him ever being the least bit aware of what was going on.”
She explained that her father was not “a fan of ‘foreign food’, especially Italian food”. But the family loved Italian foods and enjoyed them while Lloyd was away hunting.
“Mom eventually worked out a way for us to enjoy lasagna even if Dad was at home. She would make a big pan of lasagna and we were given strict instructions to call it “meat casserole,” said Clare. “With a big grin on our face, we loved to say, “Pass the meat casserole” and wink at each other across the table when Dad wasn’t looking, and I honestly don’t think Dad ever caught on.”
Greg talked about his father’s love of children.
“In many ways, Dad was like a big kid himself,” he said. “Always joking around and teasing. His favourite kid joke started with “Pull my Finger”, anything to make kids happy and laugh.”
The grandchildren also paid a tribute to Grandpa Whitley, who teased that he would catch Santa and cut off his beard and encouraged them to try new things, like cereal with orange juice.
Grandsons Brian Jeffery and Blaine Whitley performed his favourite song, Oh Lord its hard to be humble.
