Obituary of David Stuart Nicol

NICOL: David Stuart Nicol, December 10, 1942 – July 5, 2019. The saddest moment is when those who gave you the very best memories, become a memory. It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of David on Friday, July 5, 2019 at the age of 76 years. David was predeceased by his parents: James (1896 -1966) and Mary (1900 – 1959); brother Jim (Liz); brother Jack (Marge) and sister Lynn (Jack). David is the last in his family; other than lots of nieces and nephews. David passed away at the Brandon Regional Health Centre after a long battle with cancer that spread throughout his body and lastly he had a stroke that really slowed him down; up to that, he loved to go to work and farm. For more than two years he kept going, only missing 26 days at work and that was because of surgery, other than the last stay after his stroke, he hadn't done well, that was really hard, a man that just wouldn't stop. He sure can't say that he didn't leave a big mark on a lot of people, which he really enjoyed to the end. You've heard the saying that you can't keep a good man down and he was really proof of that. The most important part of David's life was in 1961 when he was 18 years old and he was hired on at Wheat City Concrete. He drove the mixer truck and at that time there was three mixer trucks, a batcher, and a manager, who was Bill Cumming. In 1976 Bill bought Zenith Paving and asked David to take over as manager, which, to this day, David has been very grateful to Bill and they have always stayed friends. The shareholders of Wheat City are a great group and it was always a happy time when we were together and we have many great memories. David has always been one of the guys who just loved his job and put his heart and soul into it. As the years went by, you would see that Wheat City grew from one plant to seven concrete plants and started trucking their own cement and fly ash, they also bought gravel pits and did their own screening and crushing. Now they have 43 cement trucks, 26 semi-trailers, 10 tandem gravel trucks, 14 sets of tankers, 7 sets of grain trailers and 2 wash plants and more than 73 employees. The different concrete plants they bought were: 1980 - Virden MidWestern; 1984 - Prairie and Minnedosa; 1988 - Melita and Deloraine; 1993 - Foxwarren and Souris and in 2002 Elkhorn. David loved what he did and was honest and respectable and, for sure, hardworking and would not expect anyone to do anything that he would not do. Between Wheat City Concrete and farming, he was a happy man. He always said he did his best thinking and planning while on the tractor, out in the field. In his younger years, he loved to downhill ski with family and golf was always there. He loved most sports and was also a great pool shark and card player. We traveled lots when we were young and it's a good thing, because for someone who talked about retiring at 55, he was just getting started in becoming a workaholic and he loved every minute of it. We had many wonderful years together; with family just a phone call away, as they have been a great help over the years. David leaves to mourn his loving wife of 38 years, Shirley; his son Clint (Rhonda) and granddaughters Jordan and Hailey; his daughter Brenda Mae (Lee); stepson Brian McGillis; Ken (Sue) and grandsons Darren and Dori McGillis; stepdaughter Brenda Marie (Michael), grandsons Adam and Eric Bilowus. Step great grandson Isaac, and step great granddaughter Madison. We were very lucky to have our family close by, we were able to spend time together and watch our grandchildren grow. Over the years, David taught them all a lot. In the farming part, it took Clint, Michael, Eric and Adam, all of whom played a big part in making it all possible, and that's how a family works together. David was never a person for big crowds; he wanted a small private funeral at a later date. He kept things quiet throughout his illness and now doesn't want any fuss.