Obituary for William "Bill" Dumas
Passed away peacefully on January 16, 2023 at South Bruce Grey Health Centre in Walkerton at the age of 101 years old. Beloved husband of Florence Dumas. Father of Paul, Pauline, Larry, Debbie, Dianne, and Denise. Step-father of John and James. Proud grandfather, great grandfather, great-great grandfather and great-great-great grandfather to many. Predeceased by his daughter Darlene.
Bill was born in Bristol, Quebec to Myrtle Gwendolyn Dumas (Shepherd) and Louis Dumas. At a young age Bill and his siblings were separated and put into foster care. Growing up, Bill worked at various farm hand jobs until he found his way to Ontario where he married Elsie and worked as a firefighter in Waterloo for a short period. Making his home in various places such as Elliott Lake, Blind River and Spanish, working in the mines before he married Ella in 1965 and moved back to Fergus where he worked for most downtown businesses such as Mary Thompson’s Funeral Home, Black and White, Triangle Discount and Broderick’s. He was very well known as the man to contact if you needed your snow shovelled or a building torn down. In 1976 Bill and his family set out to build their own home on South Street in Elora. Evenings and weekends were spent building brick by brick from scraps and take aways that he could salvage from previous tear downs. He continued to do odd jobs while also working for Don Stumpf and Jim Keating in construction for many years. After a devastating fire in March 1993, Bill and his wife Ella (deceased in 2011) retired to Walkerton, Ontario. This is also where he married Florence and celebrated his 100th birthday with his family and friends from near and far. Bill was a Private in WW2 and a proud member of the Elora Legion Br. 229. He had a great passion for working with his hands, building birdhouses and helping others as well as hunting, fishing and camping. An amazing proud moment for him was when he was reunited with all of his siblings at his daughter’s wedding in 1992 (after a fire in Quebec, where records were kept, it was difficult to find siblings). Many friends in the community will remember him as a hard worker with a friendly smile, a great sense of humour with a free spirit. Cherished family memories of his include many miles travelled north, without ever following a map, our proud home where we spent many evenings on the dance floor in our basement, his talent for decorating at Christmas, endless card parties and numerous celebrations held with friends and extended families. He left us with the ability to remember friends he met throughout his life and stories of the past with his amazing memory at 101 years of age.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday January 29th from 12pm till 2pm at The Elora Legion with a legion service being performed at 12pm sharp. Donations in his memory can be directed towards the Diabetes Association of Canada. Arrangements are entrusted to The Graham Giddy Funeral Home, 280 St. David Street South, Fergus, On. (519)843-3100 www.grahamgiddyfh.com
Bill was born in Bristol, Quebec to Myrtle Gwendolyn Dumas (Shepherd) and Louis Dumas. At a young age Bill and his siblings were separated and put into foster care. Growing up, Bill worked at various farm hand jobs until he found his way to Ontario where he married Elsie and worked as a firefighter in Waterloo for a short period. Making his home in various places such as Elliott Lake, Blind River and Spanish, working in the mines before he married Ella in 1965 and moved back to Fergus where he worked for most downtown businesses such as Mary Thompson’s Funeral Home, Black and White, Triangle Discount and Broderick’s. He was very well known as the man to contact if you needed your snow shovelled or a building torn down. In 1976 Bill and his family set out to build their own home on South Street in Elora. Evenings and weekends were spent building brick by brick from scraps and take aways that he could salvage from previous tear downs. He continued to do odd jobs while also working for Don Stumpf and Jim Keating in construction for many years. After a devastating fire in March 1993, Bill and his wife Ella (deceased in 2011) retired to Walkerton, Ontario. This is also where he married Florence and celebrated his 100th birthday with his family and friends from near and far. Bill was a Private in WW2 and a proud member of the Elora Legion Br. 229. He had a great passion for working with his hands, building birdhouses and helping others as well as hunting, fishing and camping. An amazing proud moment for him was when he was reunited with all of his siblings at his daughter’s wedding in 1992 (after a fire in Quebec, where records were kept, it was difficult to find siblings). Many friends in the community will remember him as a hard worker with a friendly smile, a great sense of humour with a free spirit. Cherished family memories of his include many miles travelled north, without ever following a map, our proud home where we spent many evenings on the dance floor in our basement, his talent for decorating at Christmas, endless card parties and numerous celebrations held with friends and extended families. He left us with the ability to remember friends he met throughout his life and stories of the past with his amazing memory at 101 years of age.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday January 29th from 12pm till 2pm at The Elora Legion with a legion service being performed at 12pm sharp. Donations in his memory can be directed towards the Diabetes Association of Canada. Arrangements are entrusted to The Graham Giddy Funeral Home, 280 St. David Street South, Fergus, On. (519)843-3100 www.grahamgiddyfh.com