Weldon Lawrence “Laurie” Taylor

Weldon Lawrence “Laurie” Taylor passed away the morning of April 11, 2024, at the age of 97. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on February 20, 1927 to Weldon “Bud” and Jessie Taylor, and was the middle son of three boys. The family moved to Regina, Saskatchewan when Laurie was young, and his father, holding a prominent position in the Canadian Pacific Railway, got Laurie a job at the age of 15. When CPR was called out to clear a wreck, and they couldn’t find a cook's helper for the crew, Laurie’s dad volunteered him to be the cook, and when nobody wanted to climb the tall light poles in the railyard to change out the lightbulbs, Laurie accepted the challenge, much to the anger of his father. He was then moved to the welding shop to keep him out of trouble, and excelled in his unofficial welding apprenticeship, surpassing the welding abilities of all the other welders in the shop, and received his welding certification.

Laurie‘s family moved back to Winnipeg, and it was there that he met his wife of 70 years, June.  They married on March 7, 1952. Laurie worked for Bristol Aerospace in Winnepeg but was offered a job with Air Canada in Vancouver, Bristish Columbia, so he and June and their two small children moved across the county to start a new adventure. The family moved into a brand new house in Richmond, BC, where they added three more children to the bunch, and where he continued to live until his passing. Their home was always a hub of activity, and Laurie was very involved with his family and all of their various activities; taking the kids swimming and skating and watching them play sports. Laurie transferred to a job at CP Air, which later became Canadian Airlines, and he worked there until his retirement in 1992. While working there he developed a way to recapture freon from airplanes, a design which was acquired by the US Government and Boeing, and is still used today.
 
Upon retirement, Laurie and June decided to do some world traveling, and spent time in England and Turkey.  Laurie had his pilot’s license, and spent many hours flying, working on his plane, and tinkering in his workshop.  Family was important to him and June, and their house was always open, and they welcomed anyone who happened to drop by, at any time of the day or night.
  
Laurie is preceeded in death by his parents, Weldon and Jessie Taylor; wife, June Taylor; daughter, Nancy Taylor; and brothers, Russell and Frank Taylor.  He is survived by his children, Bruce (Cheryl Dupont) Taylor, Cathie (Kim) Cousins, Sharon Askew and Gordon (Sandy) Taylor; grandchildren, Cameron Miller, Natalie (Justin) Aase, Nick (Kayla) Askew, Stuart Cousins, Dalton Taylor, Jackson Taylor and Izabel Taylor; and great-grandchildren, Elijah, Jonah, Ben, Viola, June and Reid.