Obituary of Gilles "Gill" Fontaine

FONTAINE: Gilles (Gill) Felix Fontaine passed away at his residence, Hillcrest Place, on Thursday, July 4th, 2019. Gill was born in Farnham, QC on July 24th, 1941; the youngest of four children born to Hector and Yvonne Fontaine. He was pre-deceased by his siblings: Roland; Hervé; Sylvia and his son Wayne. Dad grew up on the farm in Storthoaks, SK; helping his Dad milk the cows and farm the land. He said he couldn't skate, so he became a goalie! For some reason, he was sent to the Catholic residential school in Wauchope, SK. At 16, he lost his Dad to a heart condition, which he seldom talked about. Gill left the farm for Regina, where he worked various jobs before upgrading his education and completing a Plumbing and Heating Certificate. While living in Regina, he enjoyed curling with his friends Tony Merchant and John Embry, prominent business men at the time. Gill met Geraldine Giesinger, a hot, young nursing student and they fell in love and got married in 1964. The fruitful union had its share of ups and downs and resulted in them welcoming three boys: Wayne in 1968; Daniel in 1971, and saving the best for last, exactly nine months and one day after Dan's first birthday, Michael was born in 1973. Gill was a journeyman plumber and sheet metal man and was self-employed in the plumbing and heating business on and off for 40 years; adding in air conditioning in the later years. He was also a rink attendant, owned a corral cleaning business, was a car salesman at Canadian Motors and Wilton's, Commonwealth Mobile Homes, Westank Industries, and Wholesale Heating. Gill even tried his hand at politics as a federal Liberal candidate under the first Trudeau governement for the constituency of Last Mountain Torchwood. His biggest and proudest achievement was most likely purchasing Rainbow's End Trailer Park on the No. 10 highway south of Brandon, cleaning it up, and changing the name to Brandon Hills Estates. In 1995 he lost his wife when they divorced, and then the trailer court when the family, then grown up, were going their separate ways. Dad spent the next few years cruising the vistas in his beloved Bronco II with his trusty dog by his side, settling in Brandon, Regina, Miniota, Oak Lake and then back to Brandon to move into Hillcrest. Dad always loved his toys and the boys enjoyed all of their cars, bikes, and trikes and horses. Dad enjoyed tunes by Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash, camping and long nature walks. He was also quite good at jive dancing in his younger days. Deep down Dad had a big heart; he loved his family, but was too shy or tough to show it sometimes. Dad was heartbroken by Wayne's passing in 2010. Those that knew him well knew that Gill had his share of health concerns and you have to look past mental illness in people and find their true selves. One thing everyone would agree on was that there was never a dull moment when Gill was around. He will be missed by his sons: Dan (Charlette); Mike (Diane), and his five grandchildren: Nathan; Carmen; Carson; Aiden and Jason…oh sorry, it's Christopher. Thank you to Dr. Bob Paulet, his good friend; all the staff at Hillcrest for their care and understanding and various law enforcement and first responders for keeping him in line and bringing him home! Prayers will be held on Thursday, July 18th at 7:00 p.m. at St. George's Anglican Church, 1011 5th Street, Brandon. Interment will be held Saturday, July 20th at 2:00 p.m. in Storthoaks Cemetery, Storthoaks, SK. Donations in memory Gill may be made the Heart & Stroke Foundation, 1379 Kenaston Blvd., Winnipeg, MB, R3P 2T5.