George Moro 

Dave Milligan's step father

George Moro

January 13 1900 - January 21 2000
 
(click picture enlarge)

Eulogy

On January 21, 2000 the life of George Moro came to an end.  He died eight  days after reaching a milestone, his 100th birthday.  It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the death of George.  He was a man who played so many important roles, he was a husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

George was born in Somerpol, Estonia on January 13, 1900.  At the age of  four,  he came to Canada with his father Karl and mother Marie, along with two brothers, Oscar and August.  They traveled in a covered wagon in a journey that took them to the Eckville area where the family filed for a
homestead beside the Medicine River.  While living on the homestead, a sister Leida, and another brother Otto were born.  In 1924, George lost his mother in a car accident. In 1927 George, Oscar, and a neighbor decided to go to the Peace River country to go homesteading.  So they headed out in a Model T and ended up in the Three Creeks area.  He obtained land at Three Creeks but discovered that the land was covered with very heavy bush and at that time, it was beyond his means to clear it.  Because of this, he moved into the town of Peace River, and then started up a sawmill in the Weberville area.  George met Sylvia Ferguson who was helping her mother with the cooking at his sawmill.
They were married in 1931, and were blessed with three children, Anne, LaVerne, and George, Jr.
In 1937, he separated from his wife, and went to the Flatbush area, starting another sawmill.  Here he met and married Mildred, only to lose her shortly afterwards with cancer. In 1940, George moved to Jasper Place in Edmonton, and set up a planer mill with two partners.  The business was called West Lawn Lumber.  At this time, he met Anne Milligan and acquired three stepchildren, David, Doug, and Helen.
Then in 1958, George sold the planer mill and started a machine shop to rebuild sawmill equipment, calling it Progress Machines.  In 1960, this business was sold and George decided to go homesteading in the Valleyview area.
After moving to the homestead near Little Smoky, south of Valleyview, he again started a sawmill, working with his son LaVerne and son-in-law George.  His favorite pastimes when not working at the sawmill were to hunt and fish.  He enjoyed guiding American hunters in the fall and in the spring, he enjoyed trapping with his grandsons.  When he wasn't fishing or hunting he kept busy building inventions to aid him in his fishing, hunting, and trapping adventures.

At the age of 74, George retired and with Anne moved to Summerland, B.C.  Four years later, in 1978 George again lost his partner when Anne passed away.   He lived in Summerland for many years where he continued to hunt and fish. A lot of his time was spent working in his yard where he thoroughly enjoyed working with his fruit trees, cherries, apples, and grapes and working in his strawberry patch.  He was always so proud of his cherry crop and so generously shared his harvest with his neighbors and anyone who came to visit.
In 1995 George sold his home in Summerland and bought a condominium in Kelowna. Soon after in 1996, unable to properly take care of himself, he moved close to his son LaVerne in Valleyview in the Red Willow Lodge. When LaVerne moved to Mayerthorpe in 1998, George also moved and resided in the
Mayerthorpe Extendicare Facility until his death on January 21.   As you can see, by any standards, George lived a very full life and was an inspiration to us all.   He was an honest, hardworking, man who always had the motto that there was no such thing as "You can't ".  He demonstrated this in his own life during his years before retirement and after retirement by always actively keeping himself busy.  One activity that he truly enjoyed
that was probably a significant contributing factor to his longevity, was his daily walk.  If you asked him to join him for a walk, his response was always, "Why certainly, I'll join you!"

George was a man with a lot of wit, a wonderful sense of humor, and he was full of one liners.  "Why certainly!" and "Now listen here!" were a couple of his favorite expressions that usually suggested that he had a strong idea about what he was telling you. He said what he thought and even if those around him didn't always agree with him, he almost always left you chuckling.

Other attributes displayed by George were his fondness of living creatures, human or otherwise.   George treated his friends and everyone fairly and his pets were well loved and well cared for. He was a man who never complained about life or any of his problems.  He maintained such a positive, carefree attitude and never seemed to allow anything to give him stress.  If we all could learn from this, perhaps we could all achieve the longevity that he experienced.

All in all, George has left us with a lot of wonderful memories and he holds a special place in our hearts. He will not be forgotten by anyone who knew him. God bless him and may he rest in peace.

If you would like your email address post here email dave.milligan.ab.ca

  Grand children

 Anne Irwin al_irwin@hotmail.com

   
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