William Cornelius den Brok was born August 20, 1921 in Schaijk, Holland; son of Reinier and Maria den Brok (nee van Hintum). On April 16, 1952 William was united in marriage to Francisca Waltera (Frances) van der Ven. William's education in Holland consisted of apprenticing in 5 trades - electricity, plumbing, masonry, blacksmithing and mechanics. "Wim and Cisca" emigrated to Canada in 1952 by ship and set up their home in Saltcoats, SK. They moved into an old blacksmith shop and renovated it into their family home, with a small shop at the rear. William ran a welding and blacksmith shop. Six children were born to William and Frances from 1953 to 1968. In 1967 he built the present shop in Saltcoats and his sons joined him in the family business repairing vehicles and farm machinery. William took great pride in his work. He especially enjoyed solving unusual repair problems that others were unable to fix. He was also devoted to his church donating time, money and his talents for numerous church projects. He was a long-serving member of the Knights of Columbus. He retired from working at the shop in 1984 and began to build a house for their retirement. Each detail was crafted by hand with his amazing skills, down to kitchen cupboards made from old oak church pews. William, Frances and Mary enjoyed this home until the loss of Frances in 2002. William also built a workshop where he spent his days on woodwork projects, and crafting inventions to make life easier. He took pride in his yard work, and spent many hours gardening right up until his death at 90 years of age. His last project was putting a new roof on his deck which he finished last Thurs. He died at the end of Friday afternoon working out in his yard. William was predeceased by his parents, Reinier in 1976 and Maria in 1954 and his eleven siblings. He leaves to cherish his memory his daughter Mary (Saltcoats), son Theo and Lenore (Saltcoats), son Gordon and Shelly (Saskatoon), son Paul and Angie (Saskatoon), son John and Lori (Yorkton) and daughter Wendie (Vancouver), and grandchildren Anika (Chris) Â鶹ÊÓƵam, Carla (Brian) Earl, Jessica, Shona, Janet, Neil, Gregory, Marissa, Chelsea, Alicia and Theodosa, as well as his many other relatives and friends. The prayer vigil was held on Tuesday evening, November 8 from St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church. Rev. Father Francis Hengen led the vigil, the lay-readers were Theo and Wendie, and Gordon gave a family tribute. Pianist, Lorraine Lysak led in the hymns 'Precious Lord, Take My hand', 'Psalm 23', 'Holy Mary, Full of Grace', and 'Though the Mountains May Fall'. The Funeral Mass was held on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 from St. Gerard's Church with Father Francis as the Celebrant. The crossbearer was grandson Neil, the sacristans were Orest Machushek and Tom Pasloski, the readers were family members Paul and Wendie. Pianist, Pam Yaremko led the Parish Choir and congregation in the hymns 'How Great Thou Art', Psalm 145, 'Eye Has Not Seen', 'Be Not Afraid', 'Song of the Angels', and 'Amazing Grace'. Members of the Knights of Columbus, Council #2031 attended the service and formed an honor guard. The interment took place in the Garden of St. Luke at the Yorkton Memorial Gardens with family members Theo, John, Paul, Gordon, Wendie and Gregory serving as the casketbearers. Arrangements were in care of Bailey's Funeral Home. baileysfuneralhome.ca
