Obituaries: James Glen Bews

1935 ~ 2021 (age 85)

The Family of James “Glen” Bews, sadly announce his passing on Sunday, April 25, 2021 at the age of 85 years.

Beloved husband of Trudy Bews, and father of Perry (Lore) Bews, Dean (Karen) Bews, Pamela (Keith) Bevill, Michael (Loralie) Wagner, and Tyron (Kim) Wagner;

Grandfather of Dion (Erin), Nicole (Devone), Dorian, Danica (Chris), Josh (Tori), Zoe (Tanner), Tamera, Tania (Matt), Tori (Justin), Brooklynn & Kodi;

Great Grandfather of Yarrow, Mila, Parker, Sami, Everley, Isabelle, & Dalyss.

Brother of Kenneth (Lorraine) Bews and Fay (David) Richardson.

Glen was pre-deceased by his parents James and Gladys Bews

Because of Covid restrictions, there will be a private family service for Glen at a later date, and a celebration of life when we all can gather together again.

Glen was born on June 19, 1935 in Eatonia, Sk to Gladys Annie Elizabeth and James Duthie Bews. His brother, Ken, was born in 1938, followed by his sister, Fay in 1941.

Glen attended school in Eatonia, and in spite of not liking school graduated in 1954, with encouragement from the principal, Jim Baker, whom Glen had a lot of respect for. Some of his classmates in high school were Eunice Kushner (Theaker), Pat Taylor (Barnes), Leonard Dahl, Melvin Olson, Edwin Mathews, Annette Humeny, Shirley Woodrow, Brian and Gordon Jones, and Joe Gibbs. After school he spent most of his time with cousin Wayne Adams, Arden Niles. And Dale Cooke.

During school years, Glen was in the school drama program, joined Scouts, and played trombone in a local brass band under the direction of Jim Adair. Glen and friends built some things on the farm, such as a snowplow for the front of little tractor, and a paddle wheeler driven by an air cooled engine for a raft which they used on a slough! Unfortunately, what was a great idea, had limited success and broke on the first try!!

Jim and Gladys Bews and family lived in a house on 3rd Ave West in Eatonia just behind the Catholic Church.

Glen married Patricia Margaret Henricks in 1956, and they had two sons and a daughter, Perry in 1957, Dean in 1959, and Pam in 1964.

Glen and Pat lived one winter in a trailer on Main Street, then moved into the basement of his mom and dad’s house as they were building it. The new home was two doors west of the Catholic Church. When Jim and Gladys’ house was finished, Glen and Pat moved into the house right behind the Church and that is where Glen grew up.

He started to help his dad with farming when he was young, and would spend after school and weekends on the farm. Glen and Ken took on the job of caretaker for the arena and curling rink in the winters. After high school graduation, he worked for a plumber in Eatonia.

Then he, brother Ken, cousin Wayne Adams, and friend Leonard Dahl, attended Technical school in Saskatoon taking Farm Machinery Mechanics. Glen went back home to farm…it was all he ever wanted to do!

Glen and Ken, along with their dad, purchased a seed cleaning plant in Eatonia from John Jackson and Sons in 1961, and named it Bews Seed Co. They became pedigreed seed growers in 1962, and eventually Select Growers. They also bagged and exported seed to Saudi Arabia in 120 lb bags during the 1960’s and 70’s. They designed and built an upright bulk plant for fertilizer, behind the seed plant. It was basically the first in Saskatchewan, so was an asset to Eatonia and surrounding area. Soon they branched even more into chemical and fertilizer sales and built another shed for storage as it was mandatory to meet strict regulations.

During the winter of 1965-66, Glen built a new home at the corner of Main Street and 6th Ave in Eatonia.

Around 1978, Ken who had three sons of his own, decided to continue to farm, and by 1981 Glen and his sons decided to expand their business. Bews Agri Service opened an outlet in Kindersley for fertilizer and chemical sales. Demand from customers triggered that outlet to also sell Ammonia (NH3) fertilizer and rental of applicators.

1996 brought further expansion, with an outlet opening in Plenty.

Throughout these years, Glen and his two sons, continued to farm and were now growing Pedigreed seed, which they marketed themselves.

Like most people who live in small rural communities, Glen was very proud of, and very involved in his town of Eatonia. He played senior hockey for Eatonia for 12 years, starting when he was much younger and smaller than the other players. He was Boy Scout troop leader, Assistant Cub leader, coach for Minor hockey, sat on the Board of Stewards of the United Church, was a member of the Eatonia Recreation Board, served on Eatonia Town Council for 10 years, and was a Director on the Chamber of Commerce.

Camping was a big part of their lives, and Glen and Pat and family spent time at Jackfish Lake and Dilberry Lake. Even though Glen was a “prairie boy”, he bragged about holidaying almost every summer for over 50 years in BC! He loved to travel through the mountains, initially pulling trailers to Shuswap Lake when Perry, Dean, and Pam were young. Boating on the Shuswap became an annual fun time. Traveling gravel roads to get to the Prov Park was a challenge in those days but when they got there, it was all worthwhile. Often Glenn and Gerda Woodrow and family travelled with them to Shuswap Lake. Glenn became a life long friend, and over the years they spent hours reminiscing about people and good times.

In 1984, Glen and Pat were divorced. Glen had moved to an acreage 1/4 mile west of Glidden on highway 21/44. He enjoyed being just two miles from the farm shop where he spent many hours repairing machinery as well as working long hours cleaning seed in Eatonia.

In 1987, Glen married Trudy Patrice Wagner (Standen), and he helped to raise Trudy’s two boys, Michael (born 1975) and Tyron (born 1979). Glen, Trudy, Glen’s dad Jim, and the boys spent the next years planting and watering trees and landscaping the yard west of Glidden, and renovating their home. They have wonderful memories of all that hard, but rewarding, work.

In 1996, Bews Agri Service became Phoenix Ag Service and remained that until it was sold in 2001 to G’Mac’s Ag Team. Bews Seed Co was sold to Stan Fitzpatrick in 2003.

Glen still loved the farm, and continued to help his son, Perry, on the farm until 2009 when Glen and Trudy moved into Kindersley. They were progressive in their farming practises over the years, transitioning to continuous cropping, minimal to zero till seeding, diversifying to include peas, lentils, canola, canary seed, as well as durum wheat in their seeding plans.

Glen received many awards over the years, including being an Accredited Seed Establishment, a certified Grader of Seed for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, a Long Service Certificate for 40 years with Canadian Seed Growers Association, received the prestigious Canadian Seed Growers Association Robertson Associate Award for services to Canadian Agriculture, and a Longstanding Member of SeCan Association.

Glen and Trudy enjoyed many winter holidays in warmer climates, including Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Barbadoes, Jamaica, and Bahamas. Glen, Trudy, Michael and Tyron spent 10 summers in a cabin on the shore of Mara Lake, where more memories were cherished. When the boys were out of school and out on their own, Glen and Trudy continued making their own memories when they started travelling in a Motorhome. Glen loved driving his motorhome!! They spent summers in BC, 8 winters in Yuma, Arizona in Sundance RV Park, where they met many special friends. Health issues eventually prevented them from travelling out of the country, but they still spent several weeks in Osoyoos and Victoria, and in BC in the summers in their Motorhome. They drove it all across Canada to PEI one summer, and down the Oregon coast another summer.

The move to Kindersley was quite a change from being on an acreage, and being close to the farm shop where Glen loved to tinker on machinery. To fill in the time, he would drive all over town and ‘supervise’ all the building projects. He would walk laps at the Walking Track from Monday to Friday and made some new friends there, as well as reconnecting with people he knew from his business. He loved watching trains, and always wished he had a home right beside the railway track! Camping spot requests were never an issue as no one else ever wanted the ones beside the tracks!

Glen — loved to study maps, ‘drove” all over the world on Google earth on the computer.

—always loved cats and had several over the years, really got attached to Mink who travelled with them in their Motorhome and walked on a leash like a dog.

—had pet names for people, especially grandchildren, like Dyon, Dorkon, Cole, Donkey, Zoodle, Mary Mary Quite Contrary, Joshasnot, Lamish, (dont ask!), Zog, Pork, Little Pork or Kodiferous, Nia, Toriadore, Dullas, Mila Mulrooney, Parker Posey, Sam the Man…..

—passion for trains!! He was obsessed with their power, especially diesel locomotives. It was a tradition to spend a few days at Field, BC in their Motorhome watching trains as the powerful engines started their climb eastward through the Spiral Tunnels.

—loved the rain!! A true farmer!! You would never hear Glen say “that’s enough rain!”

—loved cats!! a special cat named Mink travelled with Glen and Trudy every where they went. He loved the motorhome and was leash trained so would walk the “streets” in the RV park in Yuma just like a dog!

—Loved to make the grandchildren and great grandchildren laugh! He always brought out his Fart Machine, his Whoopie Cushion, Pete the Repeat parrot, crazy hats or wigs.

–felt he could NEVER have too many tools!! The Flea markets in Arizona were so hard to resist!!

–was full of mischief when he and Ken were young! An example was when margarine was white and came with a yellow food coloring packet. Gladys (their mom) would ask the boys to mix the margarine and they would knead it and throw it back and forth to each other, of course ending up with a hard throw splatting against the wall!!

—when they had corn on the cob, he and Ken would run out the door and down to Mrs Wallis house at the corner and back to cool off the cob so they could eat it!!

—A miracle that their house didn’t burn down as Glen and Ken were found branding their names, etc. in a post in the basement with a hot poker!!

Everyone will always remember the twinkle in his eye and the mischief that he was conjuring up in his mind!

He had an amazing ability to accept change, and move on. Health issues over the last 40 years were a stumbling block along the way, but he always picked himself up and moved on.

Donations in memory of Glen can be made to Eatonia Oasis Living at the contact information is below.

Services
PRIVATE SERVICES

Donations
Eatonia Oasis Living
Box 217, Eatonia SK S0L 0Y0
Tel: 1-306-967-2447
Web: http://www.eatoniaoasisliving.com

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