Mr. Robert (Bob) Colliar resident of Harwood Manor, North Battleford, SK passed away with family by his side on Monday, July 31, 2023, at the age of 93 years. A Celebration of Life was held at the Meota Community Complex at 11:00 am August 12, 2023. In lieu of flowers memorial donations in memory of Mr. Bob Colliar can be made to the Battleford’s Union Hospital Foundation or the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bob is remembered his children, daughter Roberta (Gary) Tebay, son Kelvin (Sharon) Colliar, son Gordon (Brenda Whitehead) Colliar, daughter Barb (Jody) Colliar- Brown.  His grandchildren: Brodie Tebay (Janelle Owens): GG children: Sadie and Hannah, Brennan (Chelsey) Tebay GG children: Cameron and Claire; Kristin (Joe) Lukan GG child: Jacob; Kyle (Jaira Ranger) Brown; Morgan Bowman and Cassondra Bowman: GG children: Aiden, Dante, Vaida, Lydia, Cambrie; Matheson (Braydon) Johnston: GG child: Myles; Amanda (Danny) Thepsavanah: GG children Charley and Franky, Sister- in-law Sylvia Colliar, Sister in-law Lillian (Kelly Kopp), Sister-in-law Marion Hrycyna, numerous nephews and nieces.

Bob was predeceased by his loving wife of 62 years Betty, his parents James and Jeanie Colliar, brothers Donald and John (Jock) Colliar, brothers-in-laws John, Walter, Peter Hrycyna sister in law Mary Kalinowski.

Robert ‘Bob’ Colliar was born on July 9, 1930, in North Battleford to James Colliar, who was of Scottish descent from Meadowhead Farm near the small hamlet of Cleish, in Fife Scotland and Jeannie MacDonald who was also of Scottish heritage being born and raised in Clydebank a suburb of Glasgow Scotland. James immigrated to Canada in 1919 and homesteaded three miles west of Meota.  Jeannie stayed in Scotland with her Aunt Bess while her father and his new family moved to Canada. In 1928 she joined her family in the Cavalier region where she met and married James Colliar in 1929.

The Meota community was joined by four boys in the next four years: three Colliar boys, Robert-1930, Donald-1932, John (Jock)-1934.   A fourth boy, Walter was born 1932 to Christina (Teenie) (nee Colliar) Tait.  Walter would become just like a brother to the three Colliar boys.

The boys grew up in the uncertainty of the depression but enjoyed the life of the Meota area with the summer joy of family picnics at the Jackfish Creek and Lake. The boys grew up with a strong work ethic created by a father with a farming and military background.  They also had the soft hand and heart of a mother who had lost the guidance of her own mother and had been brought up by her Aunt Bess and footballer Andy Rennie in Glasgow, Scotland. It was through her upbringing that she shared and nurtured a strong love for sport with the Colliar boys. They had a great love for baseball, hockey, and all sports in general, which they never lost.

In 1959, Jeannie took ill and she and James moved into Meota in a home paid for by her saved cream money, unfortunately her time in the house was short as she spent the next few months in hospital and passed away in May 1960, less than a month after her first grandchild Roberta Jeannie Colliar was born. She was denied two of her dreams; to enjoy the convenience of running water and to have one last look at her Bonnie Scotland that she missed so much. In 2004, Dad and Jock visited Clydebank; that day was an emotional experience for them both as they believed they were fulfilling their mom’s dream of returning to Scotland.

1962 saw another loss, as their beloved brother Donald passed away after a long battle with diabetes. In September of 1976 Jim Colliar passed away at the age of 82.

Life on the farm was full of adventure and Dad, being the oldest of three boys, was the lead when dealing with the horses alongside his dad and Uncle Willie Tait. Dad never lost that love for horses and kept horses in the yard just so he could feed them.  He always followed the chuck wagon and chariot race seasons and never missed the Kinsmen Rodeo.

Dad’s first school was Wing school (1936-1941); a one room grade 1-8 school about a mile away from the Colliar farm. In 1942 our grandfather, James Colliar reenlisted as a military policeman and the family rented the land and moved into Meota until the end of the war.  Dad attended Meota School until graduation. After graduation, Dad stayed in Meota to support his father on the farm and began his lifelong career as a diesel technician, originally working for the John Dart John Deere Dealership.  During that time (1952-57) dad also began his community service resume and served as player and manager of the Meota Monarchs hockey team in the Big Six and Big Four Hockey Leagues and was elected as the first president of the Big Four Hockey League back in 1953. From 1957-65 he then served on the executive of the S.A.H.A. Referee Association, and held the post of Referee in Chief and secretary-treasurer of the Big Four Hockey League for over 25 years (’57-83).

In the late 1950’s dad moved to North Battleford to begin working for the Gillen Brothers John Deere Dealership. Louis, Jerome and Vic Gillen were not just employers for him, but became lifelong friends.

In 1957 dad came into the hospital to have a piece of steel removed from his eye. He was interested in dating a young Lab Tech named Betty Hrycyna; for one year she refused his requests. Our dad was persistent, and our mom finally accepted his invitations for a date.  Bob and Betty were married on May 8th, 1959, in Notre Dame Church.

Early in 1960, the first announcement of a precious gift arrived for Mom and Dad; Roberta Jeanne was born on April 23, 1960. Bob and Betty went right back to work and on April 24, 1961, Kelvin James Walter was born.  On July 21, 1963, their third child, Gordon Donald arrived. Finally, on July 15, 1965, the family was complete when Barbara Lynn Elizabeth was born.

 

For the first 10 years of marriage we lived in the Boychuk apartments. Life was simple and money was scarce.  However, when money was spent Mom and Dad always put their children first.  Christmas was special and so too were birthdays.   From the earliest of ages Dad always taught us that we were loved and that we could be anything we wanted to be in life.  He taught us how to build and hold on to integrity, be honest, and be trustworthy.  He taught us to seek truth, one of his common sayings was “Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see”. There was no place in his life for gossip or negativity.   Dad taught us that we always needed to believe in tomorrow and it was our goal to make tomorrow better for ourselves and for others.  I’m sure he believed he was going to live to be 130.  He was so proud of us, our spouses, and his grandchildren in their life successes.  He will be looking out for his great grandchildren to cheer them on in their life endeavors.

Our parents had a short list of friends but shared a great deal of time with relatives.   Our childhood memories centered around visits to Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary Kalinowski’s home, visits with Uncle Jock and Aunt Sylvia, time with Uncle Walter and Aunt Mary Tait, Aunt Lillian and Kelly Kopp.  They also enjoyed their time with Steve and Doreen Rawlyk.

 

Mom and dad grew to love travel. In their early years together money was scarce so travel was only into Saskatoon and Regina where dad often had Baseball meetings.  Then in 1973 our first real trip; we took the train to visit Uncle Jock and Aunt Sylvia on Vancouver Island. After that trip we would travel to Kamloops on the Easter weekends. After the kids had left home they traveled to Las Vegas twice, several times to Duncan to visit Uncle Jock and Aunt Sylvia, Quebec City, Poland and the Czech Republic. However, Hawaii was their favorite destination; they visited 3 times.

In 1969 Dad moved from Gillen’s to manage Robinson Diesel Injection, a job he held until 1986.   He then ventured into Real Estate for a few years and gradually gravitated back to the diesel repair business, starting his own company, Colliar Diesel Service.  He also began another career as a school bus driver working for Jordan Bus Lines.  This was a career he enjoyed and in speaking to many young people on his route they liked him too and often showed their gratitude at Christmas with many gifts, including bottles of Scotch. From the 1960’s until 1992 Bob farmed 400 acres, including the original home quarter.

After dad’s major health scare in 2010, he returned to his business and picked up where he left off; he was a fighter.  In 2015 after a second major health scare he closed his business in the old Meds Farm Equipment building and sold fuel conditioner out of his garage.   His last invoice was written to Ed Cadrin in the summer of 2018 at the age of 88.

Mom and Dad loved their home in Meota. Right up until his passing he continued to express his desire to GO HOME. Today we are delivering on that promise. Dad served on Village council from 1985-2006 and again from 2012-2016, retiring at the age of 86.  From 1992-2006 he served as Mayor.  In that time, he delivered on a new hall, a new waste transfer station, and the huge legacy of a trusted water system.  He was instrumental in the formation on the Pine to Prairie Regional Economic Development corridor, not only supporting his community of Meota but every community along Highway 26.  He was involved in the formation of WYRA waste management in the north West as well.  He loved to support Northwest Saskatchewan on the Zone 7 Sports council, TransCanada Trail, The Terry Fox Run, and Meota ADRA. For his efforts he was named the North Battleford Citizen of the year in 1993.

Dad’s biggest contribution to community came from his involvement in Baseball: Coach and Manager of North Battleford Junior Beavers – 1958-1998; Saskatchewan Baseball Association 1965-78 – President 1973-1978 – Lifetime Member; Western Canada Baseball Association – President 1976-1986 – Lifetime member; Led North Battleford to National Championship Competition in 1967, 1971, 1973, , 1978, 1979, 1985, 1986 – Collecting 5 Bronze and Silver medals; 2 time Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame as inductee – Player Coach and Builder. Although this resume is a legacy in itself, his true measure of achievement was always the successful men he helped to mentor and share lifelong friendships with.

Dad was a smoker from what we understand from his early teens to 1980. He also dealt with grain dust, chemicals from his job as a diesel mechanic but he remained healthy until his early 70’s.  In 2002, dad had his gall bladder removed and suffered a pulmonary embolism, nearly taking his life. For the next 8 years he would suffer when he had attacks in his bile duct.  This became a serious issue when in 2010 at the age of 80 dad contracted Guillain Barre Syndrome from the H1N1 vaccine.  He was paralyzed from his shoulders to his ankles. He was in RUH for two months, then transferred to City hospital to learn to walk again. In the spring he was back fixing tractors.   In 2015 he had two heart valves replaced and a new knee installed again, he had near death experiences. In 2017, while working in his yard, he tripped and fractured his hip and had it replaced. If you add it up he was more expensive than Steve Austin.   It was not until mom had a serious health scare that they left their beloved home in Meota and moved to Caleb Village in North Battleford.  Through it all he smiled and laughed and continued to make sure everyone else was ok.

Although Dad left a huge legacy in the sporting, political and volunteer world; his true legacy lies in his family. As children, we did not always have the most peaceful and affluent lifestyle; however, what we did have is the knowledge from our parents that we were always loved and the faith that we could do anything we set our minds to. We grew up stubborn, ready to challenge the status quo, understanding that nobody criticizes people who do not promote and try to make the world a better place. He would have rather faced the criticism of people who did not like change than to do nothing. We learned from our dad through our upbringing there needs to be balance in your life; helping others in your community is important, but not foregoing your family needs for your time, treasure, and talent.  The time dad invested in his grandchildren and great grandchildren’s lives will not be forgotten and will always be treasured.

Our family would like to send a huge thank you to: all of you who attended dad’s Celebration of Life; to everyone who sent condolences and love over the past weeks; to all the staff and residents of Harwood Manor and Caleb Village who cared for our parents over the past 5 years; to Reverend Jo-Ann Hills, Jim Ramsay, Jaki Esquirol  Wayne and Gary Wappel, the Meota community members who prepared lunch; to Vanessa and Eternal Memories Funeral Home; to everyone who has shared in our dad’s life journey-thank you all.

Dad please know that we are who we are because of your love and kindness.   It will always be with us and it will transcend time and touch the future through our children and grandchildren.  To you Dad rest easy, enjoy your time once again with mom, with your mom and dad, with your brothers Jock and Don, all your sporting buddies, and farmer friends. Watch over us, be at peace, celebrate a life well lived! Cheers dad, we love you today and always.

 

Condolences for the family can be made at www.eternalmemoriesfuneral.ca Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Eternal Memories Funeral Service & Crematorium – Vanessa Macnab Funeral Director.

• Date : 2023-08-01
• Location : North Battleford, SK