Weldon Murray Fehr

WELDON MURRAY FEHR was born on December 19, 1933, in Gladstone, Manitoba to Darline and Ralph Fehr. He was the oldest of 4 children – Bev, Bid (Daphne) and Jim (Sheridan). The family lived northeast of Gladstone along the river on what was called the Grantham farm. They then moved to the Palestine District in 1942 to what was known as the Hawkins farm. Weldon’s schooling was obtained at the Palestine Country school and then the old brick school here in Gladstone. The early years at Palestine Weldon would ride his horse west to meet the Mustard boys and they would continue to Palestine where their horses would be kept in an old barn and fed and watered during the day. As the years went on Weldon would drive a horse and sleigh or buggy so that his sister Bev could get to school as well. Once he moved into the town school, he drove an old Model T to get them there.  

Weldon spent a fair bit of time at his grandpa’s place (Newton Fehr) helping on the farm. He was 16 when his grandpa informed him that he would be the one driving the truck into Winnipeg that day. That was the first of many trips to Winnipeg with pigs or other livestock. He was a regular at the still existing Nick’s Inn for a cup of coffee or a snack as many of the trips were made during the night hours. 

It was during his high school years in town that Weldon met Shirley Ann McLennan, a girl from Helston west of town. After graduating from high school, he left the farm and headed to the big city where he spent two years obtaining his Agriculture Diploma at the University of Manitoba. During this time, many trips were made to the girls nursing residence where Shirl was taking her nurses training.  

Weldon and Shirl were married in June of 1957 and bought the Clayton farm a mile from where his mom and Dad were living and continued to work with his dad and later younger brother. There was an old house on the place where they started their family. It was cold in the winter and Shirl and the kids were forced to hide in the up stair southeast bedroom with a space heater. In 1969, they built a new house near the old one and everyone was more than happy to move.  

When Weldon was 40, they decided to start farming on their own. Machinery had to be bought, and the pig barn was expanded. Weldon had a 40-sow farrow to finish operation and farmed 5 quarters of land. He was known to say that there wasn’t much on the farm that the pigs hadn’t paid for. 

Weldon said that you should always have time to get away fishing, and every summer that is what they did. The place of choice in the beginning was north by The Pas, Cranberry Portage and Flin Flon. Even the year the house was built we went to Minot for a weekend. In 1974 Weldon and Shirl took all 4 kids and headed to the west coast. They had a pop-up camper and stayed in that every night for 3 weeks.  

The years quickly flew by on the farm and in 1998 the farm was sold, and they were on to more adventures with their life in town. After moving into town, they continued to camp, fish and travel. The pop-up was replaced with a smaller 5th wheel and boy did the miles add up. They drove to Texas three times stopping in Arizona to visit Weldon’s sister Bev and her husband Lorne. They drove to the east coast as well as Alaska when Shirl’s sister Marie and husband Grant went with them. They also visited family in Calgary. Other trips they were on were to Bahamas, Jamaica, British Isles, and Australia. 

Weldon spent most of his life playing, coaching, or refereeing hockey. The hockey rink was a big part of his life until he turned 65 when he hung up his skates. Many, many stories can be told about his life around hockey.  

By that time, the grandchildren were involved in various sports. Both Weldon and Shirl loved travelling around watching volleyball, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, and rodeo. 

Grandpa and Grandma also took the grandchildren camping and fishing at Oak Lake for a few years. The grandchildren would help Grandpa with chores and when they were done it was coffee time, and he would take them for ice cream of course. Grandpa and Grandma attended graduations and saw their first grandchild get married. Grandpa was fortunate enough to see the second grandchild married as well. 

In February of 2017 Shirl passed away after almost 60 years of marriage. Weldon tried to keep himself busy by going for coffee, fishing with friends, driving the Handi Van, playing pool and visiting with neighbors and family. He made several trips out to Calgary to visit family.  

In 2021 after 23 years of living in town, Weldon moved to Country Meadows in Neepawa. He was a popular guy there making friends with residents and staff. He celebrated his 90th birthday in December of 2023 and enjoyed every minute of his celebration.  

Weldon is survived by four children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren; Terry (Loreley) Gaelen and Keiana; Wendy (Francis), Kyle (Jess) and Carver; Lacey (Tyler) Nash and Lita; Layne (Jessie) and Hallie; Heidi; Noreen (Eric), Mandy (Jeff), Jared (Justina), Aidan, Harrison, and Elizabeth; Cam (Gwen) and Sydney. 

Also survived by his sister Bev Papiz, brother-in-law Len Termeer; brother Jim, brother-in-law Don McLennan (Gail), several nieces and nephews. 

Weldon was predeceased by his loving wife Shirl, parents Darline and Ralph, parents-in-law Archie and Milda McLennan, sister Daphne (Bid), brother-in-law Lorne Papiz; sister-in-law Carol, sister-in- law Marie (Grant)McRae 

We would like to send a special thank you to Amy, George Pugh, Frank Porada, Allistair Scott, and everyone else around town for watching out for Weldon, taking him fishing, bringing him delicious home cooked meals.  

Many thanks to the staff at Country Meadows Care Home in Neepawa for caring for Weldon these last few years. 

Donations can be made to a charity of your choice. 

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