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Obituary of Randy Reimer
On Friday, November 6, 2020, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost their biggest fan. Randall William Reimer was born on January 10, 1954.
He is survived by his wife of 30 years MaryAnne, his mom Henrietta Reimer, his siblings Bev (John) Schroeder, Don (Becky), his in-laws/outlaws, his nieces, nephews, aunties, one uncle, many, many cousins, three Goddaughters and friends. Oh did he have friends, way too many to name them all but Harv and Tracy and Mike and Lita you were so special to him; “top shelf” friends.
He was Predeceased by his father Bill Reimer who passed away on November 2, 2008.
I always knew Randy loved his mom more than me and I was ok with that; it made me love him all the more for it. Randy’s connections with his “people” were special to him. He had lunch with his Auntie Helen every Monday and enjoyed a secret salad, which the staff named for him, at Montana’s on St. Mary’s every Friday for lunch. Jamaica, Mexico, Sals or Uncle Jake’s it did not matter where he was, tables of strangers soon became friends.
Randy was that guy who “knew a guy” who could fix that, do that, or get it cheaper for you. If you happened to be a reeve or councillor in our area you could expect that at least once a month you would get a call about the state of the roads in our area. Randy worked for many years with UGG, starting out with his dad Bill Reimer in Ste. Anne and eventually working all over Manitoba at various elevators. He has many lifelong friends and customers from that time.
In 1990, a career switch was needed and it was suggested to him to become an insurance broker. He was not convinced that he could wear a shirt and tie every day but thought he could try it for a year or so. The night before he passed away he was still determined he was going back to work to look after his clients. Randy was an extremely loyal person and would still be working for the same insurance firm he started with but circumstances changed and he moved to different brokerages. His loyalty to his clients meant that they followed him to the new companies. Fast Insurance was where you would have last heard his big booming voice that no office could contain.
Randy loved to make people laugh. If I had a dollar for every time I heard him reply to a serving staff's offer of “ More water sir?”, I would be a wealthy woman. He would always say “ No thanks, I have to drive.” which got them every time.
Randy loved watching sports and played some of them like bowling, golf and shooting pool. He was also very proud of having been a drag racer at Bison Dragways. Randy thoroughly enjoyed watching wrestling live and on tv with his grandma Schalla, cousins and friends. “Menno Libre’s my name”, he would say to people. He spent much time at the Steinbach bowling alley till he switched to 10 Pin and then he became a regular at Chateau Lanes Friday night league in Winnipeg. Randy represented Canada at the Seniors Open in Reno Nevada and took great pride in that. Once he scored a perfect 300 game but alas he never got that elusive hole in one during a golf game. He was a proud Bomber season ticket holder in Section 126. Go Blue!
The last few years he couldn’t play his beloved sports anymore but that just intensified his armchair coaching skills. He was happiest when he could be watching his beloved teams and yelling at them. It either got really loud, really quiet or even a channel change happened right when it was getting tense.
Randy’s cause of death would say that he died of complications from diabetes but truly it was from a broken heart. Eighty days in three different hospitals with not being able to see his “ People”, smell fresh air, see his furry girlfriend Lucille and her annoying little brother Gustavo or the cats, is what killed him. Randy said “ Covid has us by the balls, MaryAnne”. No truer words have ever been spoken.
A private viewing has been held and until we can truly celebrate the life and times of Mr. Randy Reimer no service will be held.
Thank you to all the hospital staff at Bethesda, St. Boniface, and Ste Anne. The EMS and others that tried to make life bearable under the circumstances. Thank you to the people that called, texted, video chatted and when possible did window visits; you were his lifeline.
Till we meet again.
Donations in memory of Randy may be made to Donations to ROC Eastman Recreation opportunities for children by visiting the following link. https://www.roceastman.ca/donate/
