Louis Walbaum, late of Weyburn, SK passed away June 2, 2016, at the age of 86 years.

Louis was predeceased by his parents Peter and Caroline (Volk); brothers Andy, Adam, Joe and Peter ; brothers-in-law: Tom Daley, Louis Kennedy, George Cheater, Peter Katona, Ernest Mills, Bernie Tempke; sisters: Kay and Winifred; sisters-in-law: Millie and Lisa; his wife Olga (Weise), one son-in-law David McFarlane; one grandson Dawson.  He was the last of his generation on mom's side of the family. Predeceased by Rudolf and Bertha Weise, Gustov and Laura Weise,Tillie Weise, Edith and Garrett  (Dutch) VanDorp, Nan and Lloyd Clarkson, Benjamin and Louise Weise, Alex and Norrie Weise, Marge and Jack Burkart, Fred Weise and Joseph in infancy.

He is survived by his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and three sister;  Laurie (Lorraine) Walbaum of Weyburn [Derrick (Risa), Blayke and Cooper; Brett (Kyla), Havyn and Cohen,  Michelle Walbaum (Kirk Wenzell) and Rustin, and Garett (Chantal) and Kenley]; Diana McFarlane-Smood (Frank Smood) of Saskatoon, [Crystal (Chaunce Buniak, Cooper and Chase], Randy Walbaum (Cindy Campbell) of Stoughton [Anthony Campbell and Cory Walbaum]. Darrin Walbaum (Sue Green) of Winnipeg; sisters: Margaret Cheater, Francis Katona and Bernice Mills.

Louis was born at Glenavon, January 1,1930 - a New Year's baby. Sadly, after experiencing an accident where the cutter tipped over, the babies were born early but his twin brother did not survive. As small children we often heard the story of how dad spent much of that first, very cold winter in a shoe box on the oven door. Older sister Margaret was assigned the duty of making sure this tiny baby stayed warm and talks of constantly holding and carrying Louis when he wasn't bundled in his shoebox. Dad grew up in the Handsworth area and attended Hilhurst and Pilot Mount Country schools. He did not enjoy school and left early to begin farming.  He was never well read but could add, subtract, divide, and multiply faster on paper or in his head than we could with our first calculators.  He married Olga Weise in April 1952 and together they raised 4 children.  In the early days they farmed south of Forget but in 1963 purchased the Walbaum family homestead from his father and moved back to his childhood home. 

Dad had a love of nature including especially dogs and horses. When he farmed cattle each animal had a name and a stall in the barn. When he opened the doors they would make their way into their own stall and stand patiently waiting to be tied. He always had a dog and was often seen with his dog in the car or truck as he made his way to town or around the countryside. Horses too were treated more as pets than livestock and it was his wish that the final load of horses he sold in 2014 ended up in the rodeo and some of them certainly were wild enough to qualify.

In recent years he suffered a minor stroke which dramatically affected his memory but we knew there was something more happening. In 2014 he was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. That explained his forgetting to renew his license plates which ultimately lead to the loss of his driver's license. That was the turning point as the family insisted he move into Stoughton and off of his precious farm. Dad never fully recovered from that. He lost his zest for life and physical health problems started to escalate. He lived in Stoughton for just one year. In December 2015 he was admitted to Weyburn Special Care Home where he resided until his death.

A Service of Remembrance for Louis was held on Saturday, July 16, 2016 at 10:00am from Stoughton Zion Lutheran Church, Stoughton, SK with Pastor Virgil Anderson officiating. Interment took place at Handsworth Cemetery, Handsworth, SK.

Louis's daughter-in-law was recently in a serious motor vehicle accident prompting the request for charitable donations, in lieu of flowers, in memory of Louis, may be made to the Acquired Brain Injury Team, 2180 - 23rd Avenue, Regina, SK, S4S 0A5.

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