KENNETH ERWIN PEUTERT

Born 18th October 1946 on the family farm in Stonehenge Saskatchewan, died 10 September 2020. Ken was the first of three children born to Edwin Erwin Peutert and Ida Louise (Gilbert) Peutert. Born amongst the first of the Boomer generation he was raised by parents who had survived first the Great Depression and the dirty 30s of the Saskatchewan dustbowl, then the Second World War, and who never forgot the life lessons learned during those years. Ken grew up during the period when large parts of the farming areas of Saskatchewan were just being electrified and rural communities were cohesive, gossipy and often interrelated by marriage, blood or both.

He remembered a boyhood with both Gilbert and Peutert grand-parents and cousins of several degrees living in the area. The 1st telephones running on the barbwire fences, chores before and after school, riding a horse to the Stonehenge School, and later riding a bike 2 or 3 miles to the school bus pickup point to go to high school in Assiniboia. As many farm boys did, he had learned the ins and outs of farm finances, how to keep the stock in good shape and machinery running, and had some stock of his own for a financial start in life by the time he was finishing high school. He was in the air cadets and since there was a local airport that had a training program during the war this gave him the opportunity to fly. Ken did not go on to get his pilot’s licence though, he thought most cockpits were too cramped for a 6’ 2 farmkid. His father encouraged his children to go to University, and Ken went to the University of Saskatchewan to study agriculture. While there, he met friends that he kept for life, especially Terry O’Connell, and became interested in almost everything.

After university Ken indulged his interest in everything; working with combine crews on both sides of the border to see the country, living and working in Vancouver and walking the West Coast trail with his friend Jim, spending 12-18months in pre metropolitan Winnipeg as a member of the then much smaller Winnipeg police force, certified as an industrial painter and travelling with his crew to chemical plants and bridges to recoat the metal structures and prevent rust and deterioration, and working security in mining or construction camps in northern Manitoba. During this travelling time, Ken returned home to the farm when his father died to help his mother settle the estate. He then went on and travelled through parts of Europe with Alexandra, a trip he remembered fondly although the relationship later ended.

During all this travelling and changing, Ken stayed in close touch with his family, and in the early 80s came to Winnipeg to visit his sister Gretchen, who was married and settled in Winnipeg. This led to meeting Gretchen’s next-door neighbour Margret, and somehow the man who thought he would never settle down and certainly couldn’t put up with children, settled for39 years, and but for bad luck would have stayed longer. He never lost his feeling for the hills and short grass prairie land that he grew up in, although he liked trees well enough, just not all the way around.

Ken was a true romantic at heart, committed to old fashioned beliefs about the necessity of caring for other people and improving the situation you find yourself in. He found unkindness offensive, and was interested in, and would have a conversation with anyone he met.  He would offer help when he could, particularly to anyone he thought was having a hard time. Like most people, he didn’t always meet his own standards but he did his best. For someone who thought he couldn’t deal well with kids he did a remarkable job of dealing with ‘the guys’ Rob and Dominic for whom he was a father figure and Alicia, Anna, Tyler, and Al, all of whom he influenced at one time or another. He was prouder of them all than he ever let them know.

He will be missed by aunt Rebecca (Gilbert) Williamson and her children; uncles Don and Al Gilbert; cousin Glen Peutert and family; nieces Reena Thiessen and husband Will and Caroline Dickens; great-nieces Rayvin and Moira Spearman; brother-in-law (and in heart) Dave Bangart, Margret’s brother David Thomas and wife Charlotte, Terry and Marion O’Connell and family, friends in Roseisle; especially Ben and wife Lena, Abe, Marvin, and the coffee group at the co-op, friends from Winnipeg; Hubert with whom he shared the country raised conviction that everything could come in useful sometime, Jaskaran and Rose, Kieran, Gurpreet,  partner Margret and our acquired family; Rob and Michelle Jessup, Emma and Niklas, Dominic Contois and Carrie and their combined family, Samantha, Alicia, Memphis, Braden, Rileigh, Dylan, and Brianna. He was predeceased by his parents, and sisters Gretchen Peutert and Susan Dickens.

Cremation has taken place and Ken’s ashes will be scattered in the future; there will be no services held at this time. Ken’s family kindly requests that all his friends and relatives take a few minutes to honour his memory by sharing one's own photos, memories and stories of Ken using the comment area.

Family would like to acknowledge the kindness of the Headingly RCMP detachment; the St. Boniface Hospital, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner; all of whom were working under severe constraints, all of whom did their best to provide information and support in a difficult time.

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ETHICAL DEATH CARE

Cremation & Life Celebrations

530 St. Mary Avenue - Winnipeg

204-421-5501 - www.ethicaldeathcare.com

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