MacNeill, William “Bill” - Passed away peacefully on October 19, 2011, at the age of 78. He was predeceased by his parents Daniel MacNeill and Marion Peterson.Taken far too early, he will be sadly missed by his wife, Georgette (Arseneau), his children; Ann Brady (Dirk) and Ken (Stephanie), his grandchildren, Emilie, Laura, Sophie, Julia and Sidney. Bill is survived by 1 sister, 3 brothers, 1 brother-in-law, 4 sisters-in-law, as well by many nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. He was predeceased by one sister and 3 brothers. The family will receive relatives and friends at Heritage Funeral Home, 2871 St. Joseph Blvd., Orléans, on Saturday, October 22, 2011, from 1 p.m. until service time in the funeral home chapel at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Condolences and donations may be made at : http://www.heritagefh.ca/
Ken's Eulogy:
My Dad William Francis MacNeill, or known down east as Billy Danny John D. MacNeill, was a husband, a father, a brother, a grandfather and my very best friend. A true jack of all trades who could build or fix just about anything he put his mind to, and he did.
Above all else, Dad was a teacher.
My Father once said to me... "Anything anyone has ever done, you can do. And anything anyone has ever known, you can learn." This was his motto, his lesson which he instilled in us throughout our entire lives.
I remember the mini bike he bought me when I was about 8. I didn’t get to ride it until I overhauled the engine. My first car was one that I built from a collection of three, under his expert guidance. I remember hours he and my sister Ann spent in the basement working out the solutions to crosswords. He would call out the clues and she would provide the answers. Ann very successfully has followed in his footsteps and she too has become a natural teacher whom he was so very proud of.
Dad was not a heavy handed disciplinarian and he had an incredible gift of teaching us integrity and honesty by modeling it and giving us the opportunities to do the same. I remember him and Mom going away for the weekend and despite being told not to touch the car, I took the liberty of borrowing it. A week had passed after they had returned and nothing was said. I thought I was in the clear. Then on our weekly trek to the Emond's house, dad asked me "Ken, would you ever lie to me?" This took me by surprise and I answered the obvious "NO!" Dad then calmly asked me "Did you take my car last weekend?" I knew the only answer was "Yes dad". He calmly proceeded to tell me that it's not that he didn't trust me or that he was afraid I'd damage his car, it was simply that I wasn't insured on the vehicle and should anything ever happen, we could lose all that we had. Then with a slight smirk on his face, he told me the next time I should put the seat back to its original position when I was done. Dad was a tall man.
Mom and Dad were about to celebrate 50 yrs together. After some of the summer road trips we took as a family, I am amazed they still loved each other as much as they did! Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of fun family adventures like being in Seattle when Mt. St-Helen erupted or a snowball fight in the middle of summer at Lake Louise. But we certainly had our trials and tribulations on the road and dad being a masterful mechanic always found a way to Mcgyver his way out of trouble. Dad had lots of mechanical skill but he also had some MacNeill luck on his side. One of the most memorable trips I want to share was the one we took out east with Dad's sister, Deloris. Leaving Ottawa, we were arriving in Montreal when a tire on our trailer ignited. Dad went to the closest Canadian Tire for a replacement tire only to find he left his wallet back home on his dresser. This was not a good start to our trip but Dad found a way (Thanks you Deloris). Next thing that occurred was when we were coming into New Brunswick and the trailer hitch gave way. Navigating safely off the highway into an abandoned pulp yard, Dad decided to level off the trailer before heading for help. Dad had no way of knowing Mom had made a break for the bathroom in the trailer and he pulled the car ahead to make the minor adjustment. Almost instantly the trailer door flew open and out ran Mom, yelling, with her pants around her ankles thinking the trailer was rolling down the hill. Dad laughed at that story every time it was told.... sorry mom (wink). That night dad found a garage willing to lend him their welding equipment and by the morning we were off once again. We made it about 20 ft before running over a couple of beer bottles and blew two more tires. There were other issues on the last leg of the trip but we finally made it to Grasscove. Deloris never traveled with us again but Mom stuck with him to this day! Dad was a lucky man.
To the grand kids… I have never seen dad's eyes twinkle the way they did when he looked at his granddaughters. They were Dad's greatest joy! He loved you girls so much. It really struck me when I watched the slide show we prepared for this memorial. If you pay attention you'll notice he is smiling in all the pictures with his grand kids, not missing a moment with all his girls. Dad was often strong and quiet and one to contemplate his responses but seven years ago when I confided in him that Steph and I were thinking of having a child there was no pause at all. He immediately answered with "I think that’s a great idea!" Dad was such a family man.
Dad was also a true MacNeill! MacNeills have been known for their tenacity and as the battle cry states "Conquer or DIE!" When they didn't have anybody to fight with, they would fight with themselves, however, some of the best times Dad had were the nights the MacNeill's gathered at the cottage in Cape Breton. Howls of laughter rang through the cove night after night till the early hours of the morning. Tall tales were told getting greater and greater as the evening progressed. One of my greatest memories as a child was quietly sitting on the side lines listening to all the stories. I cherish these more today than ever before.
It’s funny how things become clear with time. I once accused dad of not knowing how to just play. I realize now that though we have much in common, we come from different worlds. I was brought up in a world of TV and emerging video games. Dad was brought up fighting with his brothers to see who would get to use the new saw his dad had brought home. As he once said to me, the MacNeill boys worked so hard as young men that they would shit muscles.
From that upbringing came an incredible work ethic and a drive to accomplish any task presented to him. I realize now that work was his fun. The sense of accomplishment was what thrilled him.
Dad was most definitely a hard worker.
In the last few years, dad lost his license and his ability to work. Even surrounded by family, his life had lost meaning. He faded fast. On his death bed, I told him that he had one last job to do and then he could finally truly rest. He looked up at me and gave me a wink of acknowledgment. He completed this last task with all the traits he had displayed throughout life. Dad, as always, Job well done. We love you, we’ll miss you, but you will never be forgotten.
Eulogy from Bill's Son in Law, Dirk:
Hi everyone,
If you don’t know me, I’m Dirk Brady, Bill’s son-in-law. I’m married to his daughter Ann. We live 5 minutes away from Georgette and Bill and I’ve been lucky enough to spend a fair amount of time with him over the last 15 years.
Have you ever wondered what Bill’s grand children think about him? Well, I asked them the other day and this is what they said;
he’s a good grandpa
he’s very nice
he has big muscles and is very strong
he’s not very loud
he’s really smart and knows how to figure things out
he looks like Elvis Presley
he likes to play games and puzzles
he once caught a shark
he has a big heart and loves us very much
From these responses, it is clear that they knew him pretty well.
Bill was a quiet person who enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. He was not ‘the life of the party’ or a ‘social butterfly’ but preferred having one-on-one conversations, doing cross word puzzles, reading books, playing cards or fixing anything mechanical. He was very smart, hard working and extremely handy around the house or cottage.
Bill loved to tell stories about times growing up in Cape Breton and it was very obvious that this beautiful Nova Scotia Island was his favourite place on earth. He often spoke very fondly of his family and friends in the Maritimes and I sensed that he wished that he been able to spend more time with them.
Bill was very proud of his children, Ann and Ken, and loved them very deeply. There was always a twinkle in his eye when ever he spoke about them.
He adored his Annie and would do anything for her. Sometimes, she would take advantage of this. She new that if ever she wanted something done around our house, all she had to do was casually mention it to Georgette. The very next morning, like clockwork, Bill would show up with his tool box and get to work. He loved to help out especially when it was for a member of the family.
It was obvious to me after the first time that I saw Bill and Ken together, that that they had a very close relationship. Bill had a tremendous amount of respect for Ken. He loved spending time with him working on challenging projects that most people would be afraid to start. When Ken was young they built a high performance professional go-cart. More recently, they spent hundreds of hours working together to build an actual airplane that Ken plans to fly one day. If you’ve ever been out to Ken’s you’d know that it is quite incredible to see what they have done.
Bill loved his grand daughters very much and referred to them as his “grubby little kids”. All five of them had a very special relationship with him. He was extremely kind and patient with them. He listened to their stories and paid attention to them. Although, I must say that he did have one fault. He didn’t know how to say ‘NO’ to his grand daughters. On one occasion, while Bill was baby sitting Sophie and Julia, all three of them decided to play hairdresser. Sophie and Julia were the hairdressers and Bill was the client. Normally this would not be a problem. However, this time, they wanted to play with real scissors. When we got back from dinner, we were shocked to see that Bill had much of his hair cut off and his face was made up like a movie star. - This was the last time that we asked Bill to baby sit the twins.
Bill et Georgette ont été mariés pendant 49 ans. Au début, la communication a du être très difficile car ils ne parlaient pas la même langue. Ils ont vite appris à communiquer quand Georgette a appris à parler anglais. Cela a toujours été évident qu’ils avaient une relation spéciale et unique. Ils avaient des intérêts très différents mais ils partageaient les même valeurs et avaient tout les deux un respect pour la famille et pour eux même.
Bill savait qu’il était très chanceux d’avoir une femme forte, chaleureuse, et intelligente comme Georgette et il l’aimait de tout son cœur. Ils n’étaient pas toujours d’accords mais ils étaient toujours la, l’un pour l’autre.
Pour ceux d’entre vous qui font parti de la famille de Georgette, j’aimerais vous dire que Bill vous aimait beaucoup. Même s’il ne parlait pas français, il se sentait comme s’il faisait parti de votre famille et il avait beaucoup de respect pour vous tous. Il parlait souvent des bonnes qualités de votre famille et des bons moments qu’il avait passé avec plusieurs d’entre vous au Iles-de-la-Madeleine et a Montréal.
Bill was very brave during the last year of his life when he realized that he was suffering from dementia and then during the last week of his life when he understood that he was very ill. It was very difficult for all of us to say our last goodbyes.
Bill lived a full life and was a very lucky man to have been surrounded by people who loved him and cared for him. I hope that we will all continue to share stories about him for years to come.
Bill, today we are here to celebrate your life. You will always hold a special place in our hearts and we will never forget you.
The following is a quote from Albert Einstein:
Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life.
Thank you for listening to me. I would now like to introduce Bill’s five grand children. They would like to recite a short poem on his behalf.
A Gaelic Farewell by Unknown
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
May the rain fall softly upon your fields until we meet again,
And may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.
The service was Saturday and the family was surrounded by love. So many people came to say goodbye, share their condolences but mostly to remember Bill. Some people traveled to the service and some were only able to share their love and thoughts from afar. Both were equally appreciated and heart felt. The family is grateful for the show of love and support. It helped to make such a difficult time easier and it was truly a celebration of Bill's life.
Bill you had such a strong positive impact on so many lives, as a husband, father, teacher and friend. You will be missed.
