Tribute

Surrounded by the love and presence of his family, Milt passed peacefully from this life on September 15, 2021 at the age of 85 years and 51 days.

Milt was born July 26, 1936 in Rush Lake, Saskatchewan. He lived in Rush Lake with his grandparents until 1943 when they moved to Swift Current. He attended Ashley Park school and was their star quarterback. At age 16 he went to work in the oilfields. In 1957 he met Vi Koehn and in November of that year they were married. Their
son Michael was born in 1959. After Milt and Vi separated in 1960, Milt moved to Carrot River then spent several years working the rigs in Fort McMurray. In 1969 he married Winnifred Miller and adopted her 7 children. Winnifred died in 1975 and in 1976 he reunited with and re-married Vi. Milt left the oilfields in 1974 to work with Prudential Steel, where he stayed until 1981 when they made the move to Edgewater. Once in Edgewater he started a waste disposal company called JR Enterprises, which kept him quite busy. It didn’t take
long after moving to Edgewater for Milt & Vi to became very involved in the community. They worked hard at raising money to refurbish the ball diamond which later became known as Wittman Field. Milt was also a long-time member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #199 and served as Vice President and Sergeant at Arms for
two terms each. When he retired from his operation of JR Enterprises in 2001 he started a local recycling business which he continued to operate until 2019 when poor health forced him to slow down.

To say Milt loved fishing is an understatement. He spent countless hours on the banks of the Bugaboo and Spillimacheen Rivers angling for whitefish. He also loved golfing, snowmobiling, quadding, camping and just floating down the river, beer in hand. Milt made friends easily and would carry conversations on with complete
strangers as though he had known them for years. His love of animals even superseded his connection with people – in the 40 years he lived in Edgewater, there was never a shortage of animals (dogs or cats) in their home.

Milt was predeceased by his wife Winnifred, mother Emma, stepfather Robert McCartney, aunt Alma, aunt Linda and uncle David. He is survived by his loving wife Vi, son Mike, granddaughter Michelle (Fraser) Elrick great grandsons, Teigen and Dayton and sister Maureen Kish. He is also survived by his adopted children, Bill, Blaine (Julie), Dennis (Linda), Linda (Rob) Woytonek, Donna (Ed) Taylor, Kathy McLean and Tracie Maione, his grandchildren, Riley, Kendra (Dale), Thomas (Katherine), Alana, Elise, Kayla (Aaron), Tyler, Melissa (Michael) and Peter, and his great grandchildren, Klara, Mia and Axel.

Per Milt’s request, a family only graveside service will be held October 2, 2021. In lieu of flowers a donation may be made to the BC Heart & Stroke Foundation.