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A tribute to Wally Twa narrated by his eldest son Les at the occasion of
his funeral Monday June 28th 1999 at the Saltspring Island
Baptist Church. As we all sat around the table at home thinking of that past, it was mostly laughter about the good times; altho I'm sure there had been some unhappy times but they were not remembered as such. My dad was a very special person. We'd like to share with you some of our memories of him. I've tried to lighten this up a little bit because there was a lot of humor in our family. He was born in Vancouver in 1912. His Christian name was Trueman Walton Job Twa. True-man was what he was. If he gave his word he did his best to keep it. Honesty and integrity were his strong points and he expected the same from us. Walton was simply changed to Wally. Job was biblical for patience. Well, we all know him... Two out of three ain't bad. He grew up in Coombs and in Agassiz with his younger sister Violet. Altho dad left school after grade eight to go to work he never stopped learning. He was a well read man. I can even remember him reading the encyclopedia in the evenings. He was a whiz at crossword puzzles and had an excellent memory and loved to debate. He started off working on a dairy farm delivering milk with a horse and buggy in Ladysmith. There he met his wife Effie, our mom. Being born on February 14th Valentine's Day must have made dad very romantic as the next thirteen years produced eight children; four boys and four girls. They were married on Hallowe'en night in 1932. I think sometimes mom wondered whether it was a trick or a treat. After sixty six years it's obvious they were meant for each other. Dad had a dairy farm in Victoria and also worked at various sawmills on Vancouver Island from Port Alberni to Victoria and finally to Saltspring Island. Thru the years he became a head sawyer, a log scaler and a lumber grader. He was one of the few persons allowed to scale his own logs, cut them, grade them, and tally the lumber for domestic and export markets. From his mill on Saltspring there are still houses in the United Kingdom, South Africa and various places around the world built with lumber from dad's sawmill. Also many local houses were kept warm and cozy with firewood produced and delivered to them. In 1947 the family moved to Isabella Point road where he managed and ran a sawmill at Fulford Harbour. We lived right on the beach about three miles from the head of the harbour. For us kids this was utopia. We could catch crabs, dig clams and go fishing. By today's standards the living was not easy without electricity or running water but it didn't seem to bother us. The local one room school was allowed to stay open as we doubled the attendance. After a few years we got a cow, chicken and pet pig so dad had to build a barn. While clearing the hillside to expand his garden he used stumping powder to remove a tree stump. He used a little too much powder and the stump flew out of the ground and landed and hit the barn. But he quickly learned from his mistakes and the rest of the land clearing went without any more incidents. After nine years they moved to their present location on Blackburn Road. He operated a sawmill on Ganges road, but due to a falling lumber market the property was sold. The workshop on that site later became the Gospel Community church. Next he started the Saltspring Garbage Service and ran it until his retirement in 1974. His grand children thought he had the best job in the world. They always found numerous treasures to take back to their homes. We still share many humourous stories about dump scrounging. Many of our houses were furnished in early Sally Ann. In his retirement dad enjoyed fishing and golfing. Mom and dad were fortunate to be able to travel to the various places he had read about like the Mediterranean, Alaska, Canada and the USA. He thoroughly enjoyed the morning coffee meetings at Dagwood's with his friends. He was an avid gardener and took pride in his crops. When the crops were ready we would have a feast of corn and a contest to see who could eat the most cobs. Obviously Norman won. Dad even canned pickles and some produce himself. The kitchen looked like a war zone when he was finished with beets and tomato juice everywhere. He left the cleaning up to others. He liked to cook and experimented with recipes. We all remember the famous "Flaming Christmas Turkey" that came out of the oven in flames because dad read that wrapping a turkey in a greased bag would make it come out tender; instead it came out crispy! He couldn't resist buying the latest kitchen gadgets. One time the pressure cooker blew up and splattered beets all over the ceiling. When dad built something he made it to last. When the barn on Blackburn Road was being built we suggested dad put in cement footings to make it last longer. Dad replied "the barn would outlast him"... and it has. Dad was a strict disciplinarian with his children. We remember one incident when Dad picked up a slipper to throw it at an erring child. Alan ducked to avoid the missle and it sailed right thru the livingroom window. Then Alan was in bigger trouble for daring to duck. Dad liked to play games with the family around the kitchen table. He enjoyed monopoly, stock ticker and card games. He was an expert scrabble player. Even after his stroke mom and dad played scrabble every evening. He continued to keep track of the wins and loses. Dad always enjoyed family celebrations with as many of his twenty one grandchildren and forty two great grand children as could be there. Every year he took trips to visit his children who lived away. A week ago many of his children were over for Father's Day and to celebrate a family birthday. We all said our goodbyes at the end of the weekend. That Sunday night he took a turn for the worst so we all came back to the Island. Dad was puzzled at our sudden return and asked "What's the celebration?". Well Dad, this celebration's for you. We're thankful for all you taught us and the influence you've had on our lives. You will be missed. |