"Mr. Willard Gerhart Pilatzke"
May 1922 to June 1993
- Served in RCAF after volunteering for service age 18 during World War II.
- Married Vera Mosrae Powell while overseas (English War Bride)
- Children: Bruce (Deceased 1991) , Pam, Karen, Karl and Tina
His involvement with the Oldtimers was the most pure fun and comradery he had since World War II. It started when Charlie Spurr our neighbor told him to stop being so misreable and come out and have some fun with the boys. He promptly joined Oldtimers hockey at age 53 and baseball when that became available as well.
When I play hockey I still hear about his nickname Mister + - (Plus Minus) as he kept pretty close track about that statistic. He played infield and pitched for many years in BOSL as well and truly enjoyed all the friends and good spirit that was available participating in both Oldtimer organizations.
He very rarely missed any games and planned his social life around his Oldtimer Activities as he was not anxious to miss out on the fun. He got much good natured bantering going both on the diamond and at the rink and truly demonstrated the Oldtimers Spirit of good fellowship and sportsmanship with a heavy dose of fun.
I thanked the many Oldtimers for their friendship to him and in particular Charlie Spurr at his funeral for convincing him to get involved as I know first hand he had a great time and it was the highlight of the last 18 years of his life. He played right up to the week before his untimely death from leukemia which happened 4 days after initial diagnosis.
We were honored that he was chosen for a Oldtimer Special Award to Player in BOSL as there was no doubt in our mind that he had the "Oldtimer Spirit " in his heart and had the time of his life being involved.
Regards -
Karl Pilatzke
also see BOSL HISTORY
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