Douglas Oliver was born on Thursday, April 11, 1929 in Chesley to Oliver Wesley and Lila Corinne (Amacher) Hallman. His father was born September 19, 1893 in Hanover and died February 22, 1993. Doug’s mother Lila was born November 10, 1902 in Shakespeare and died March 6, 1997. Oliver and Lila were married October 16, 1921 in Stratford.
Doug was the middle of three children: Raymond, Doug and Ruth C. The Hallman children attended both public and high school in Chesley. Once out of school, Doug went to work as an ambulance attendant. After several years Doug decided to go into the funeral business. In fact, in those days, the ambulance was often operated by local funeral homes, so this transition only made sense. He originally started off in Toronto before moving onto Woodstock. In time, he obtained his Funeral Director’s license and went to work at Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Home in Kitchener-Waterloo. A few years later another local funeral home, Schreiter Sandrock in Kitchener became available and Doug and two business partners jumped at that opportunity.
Arthur Sandrock joined a furniture-funeral business located on Benton Street in 1928 and subsequently bought the business from the Schreiter family. It became known as the Schreiter-Sandrock Funeral Home in 1939. Three local men, Jerome Futher, Douglas Hallman and Ed Piwowarek, bought the business from Mr. Sandrock in 1967. By the late 1970’s Doug sold his stake in the business to his partners and left the funeral industry. Soon after he purchased the Schweitzer Shoe store in downtown Waterloo. He continued to own and operate his shoe business in Waterloo until his retirement in 1994, at the age of 65.
Douglas Oliver married Mary Joan Bechtel on September 25, 1959. Joan was born January 24, 1930 in Kitchener. Together they had four children: Brian Douglas (born in 1960), Barry Raymond (1962), Bradley Gordon (1964), and David Paul (1966). Sadly, Joan died at the young age of 63 on January 26, 1993.
Beautiful stories are told of their family’s time at the cottage located in Penetanguishene and then in later years in Howdenvale on Lake Huron. There are endless stories of the great times Doug and his families had at these cottages. In truth, these cottages were the family’s summer homes. Here Doug loved to fish, boat, and relax. Doug also had an incredible wood shop where he produced a myriad of treasures; clocks, tables, coasters, barometers, and even dabbled in stained glass. However, it was truly the grandfather clock that drew his fascination of which he had many. He was always “fixing” things and spent a great deal of time woodworking.
In time Doug met Shirley Marie Hornung (Smith) and the two dated for awhile before they married at a private ceremony in 2000. With the support of their two families they moved back to Doug’s childhood hometown Chesley in 1998. If you were to ask Doug, Shirley was a great cook and made the best pot roast. The two formed an amazing duo together. Once again, Doug became a widow when Shirley passed away March 31, 2012. Misty, the couple’s cockapoo, soon became Doug’s constant companion before being replaced by his current four-legged friend, Charlie. Over the years Doug also maintained a close friendship with his childhood friend Jim Siegrist and his long time friend Terry Sudder, who was there for him in his time of need. He was considered to be a respectful and honest man with a good circle of friends. He was thoughtful, caring and loyal and yet at the same time quiet and private. Doug truly appreciated all of his friendships.
In his spare time Doug enjoyed reading magazines, watching sports on TV, especially baseball, golf and curling but really any sport would do. He also listened, non-stop, to music. He loved Neil Diamond and what his children call elevator music… in other words, easy listening melodies. As it was mentioned earlier, Doug loved his clocks and would want us all to move forward remembering, “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
Sadly, after a brief illness, Douglas passed away at South Bruce Grey Health Centre, Chesley on Sunday, November 26, 2017 in his 89th year.
Loving father of Brian of Waterloo, Barry of Winnipeg, Bradley (Amy) of Cambridge, David (Julia) of Ayr and step-father of Scarlett (Roy) Klinkhammer of Cambridge and Paul (Margo) Hornung of Waterloo. Cherished grandfather of Andrew, Sarah, Lauren and Amber, step-grandfather of Amber (John), David (Nicole), Lisa (Danilo) and Roxy as well as great step-grandfather of Tyler, Sienna and Emerson. Doug was predeceased by his first wife Joan (1993), second wife Shirley (2012), brother Raymond and sister Ruth (Robert) Shoemaker.
Friends are invited to join Doug’s family for a celebration of his life at Rhody Family Funeral Home, Chesley on Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 1 – 3 p.m. Cremation will follow.
Memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.
