Obituary of Edward Trautman
Ed was born to Frank and Mary Trautman on the family farm, the oldest son of 6 children.
He was predeceased by his wife, Lillian; father Frank; mother, Mary; sisters, Delores and Jenny; and brothers, Frank and Carl. He was also predeceased by numerous brothers and sisters-in-law.
He is survived by sister, Josie; son, Steven (Flo) Trautman; and daughter, Leah (Tom) Fraser.
He is also survived by grandkids, Jeremy (Leanne) Twordik and their children Kailey, Dylan, Jamison, Mykala, Jackson, and Gracie; Scott Twordik (Cynthia) and their children Avery and Madden; Shelby (Alan) Williams and their son Owen.
He is also survived by sisters-in-law, Carol Albers, Marion Trautman, and Grace Paulsen; and brother-in-law, Elwood Larson.
Ed went to Cherrydale School and moved with the family to Loreburn. After school he eventually entered the work force and after a short stint with the CNR he went to work for UGG as a grain buyer. He met Lillian at the neighbours place (Roy and Hazel Hagen who later became in laws) and he and Lil soon married. They took up residence in Loreburn and Steven was born shortly after. A daughter, Leah followed about a year later.
In 1962 the family moved to Beechy where Ed’s job with UGG took him. He stayed with them for a number of years until he was offered the job as manager for the feed mill for Beechy feeds. Dad in those days had more than a few of what would now be called ‘side hustles’ to make extra money for the family. Among them were buying a disc blade sharpener, selling World Book encyclopaedias, and working for farmers in the area to help out at harvest or seeding time.
He still found time to take the family for day trips to the river to fish or to Loreburn, or Strongfield for visits with relatives. Nights playing cards with family friends Vivian and Bruce Unger or Pat and Norma Esson were also enjoyed.
In 1973 a new opportunity to won his own business presented itself, so Mom and Dad took the plunge and bought a service station and café and rechristened it Ed’s Esso and Lil’s Lunch, so back to Loreburn it was. The side hustles didn’t quite disappear and one of them was raising and selling Siberian Husky pups. Ed at one time had over 20 dogs and he bought a dog sled which he would hook up a few dogs to go for a spin. The business did well in the beginning but as times changed the business slowed down and in 1989 they closed the doors and moved to Saskatoon.
There Ed went to work for Prairieland Exhibition doing maintenance (outworking guys half his age) and later he went to work for his son-in-law and grandson at Roadex Services. At Roadex, Gramps, as everyone would call him there, hauled travel trailers from factories in Indiana to dealers in Western Canada. It wasn’t easy work but he was able to partner with his brother-in-law Johnny Carlson and they made a great team driving down together and then hauling a trailer and a motor home back. Ed eventually tired of life on the road and retired. He spent his last years enjoying his time and his grand kids and great grand kids.
When Dad’s health began to fail he eventually ended up at Samaritan Place where he received great care but he couldn’t beat Father Time.
Dad was a worker and always one to just do what had to be done without a lot of fanfare or complaint. He never took a sick day or seemed to get sick at all, through most of his working life. Though he wasn’t highly educated, he had good Saskatchewan common sense and could fix anything. He also had a saying for everything and had many axioms about the weather. My favorite was “scaly sky not 3 days dry”, which was the only one that seemed to have any accuracy. A favorite saying was if something was about to happen he would say “like the dog said when he caught his tail in the lawn mower, it won’t be long now.” Or if you asked him how he was he said, “just the way you see me.”
He greatly admired our Grandpa Carlson and said he was “a prince of a man.” The same could be said about our Dad. Rest easy Dad.