George "Wes" Wesley Archer

George Wesley (Wes) Archer

November 10,1933 – April 11,2024

Wes was born on November 10,1933 on the family farm northeast of Dauphin, Manitoba in what was called the “Old Dauphin School District”. He was the youngest of three sons born to Alvin and Mary Archer.

Wes grew up on the farm helping with barnyard chores (feeding chickens and milking cows) and helped with the seeding and harvesting. He attended a one room country school for his early years’ education. He also attended one year of school at the McKenzie High School in the town of Dauphin. Wes then quit school to help on the family farm and to work at the hardware store in Dauphin.

In the spring of 1952, Wes started working for Manitoba Hydro helping to bring electrical power to northern parts of Manitoba. It was in the fall of this same year that the crew he was on came to the Swan River Valley. Wes loved the valley with its forests and many lakes. He hoped to come back some day.

In the fall of 1952, Wes met the love of his life Nellie Bogoslowski. Wes and Nell were married on October 2,1953 in Dauphin where their first daughter Sharon was born on November 24, 1955.

For the period from spring of 1952 to the spring of 1959, Wes worked on various crews taking him from the valley to the southern border of Manitoba, then east to the Ontario border and west to the Saskatchewan border.

Early in the spring of 1959, he was able to obtain a position with Hydro in Swan River where their second daughter Beverley was born on May 26,1959.

Wes enjoyed being outside. In the winter he enjoyed going for rides on his snow cruiser and towing the girls behind on the toboggan or sliding down Taylor School hill with them. He even made rinks in the garden area and taught them how to skate. After moving to Minitonas in 1969, he liked blowing snow in the winter and cutting grass in the summer, even for some of his neighbors.

On the weekends during the summer, you could find Wes’s camping and fishing with Nell and the girls and sometimes with his brother Stan and his family. After the girls were married and had children of their own, Wes would organize camping seasons for the whole family to treasure!

Wes was pre-deceased by his mother and father, Mary, and Alvin Archer, in-laws Mary and Joseph Bogoslowski, both of his brothers and their spouses, Stan and Florence, Lawrence and Wilma, all of Nell’s siblings and their spouses and some of her nieces and nephews.

Left to cherish Wes’ memory are his wife Nell Archer of 70 years, his daughters Sharon (Bill) Cocks, Beverley (Doug) Alford, his grandchildren Tracy(Dane), and Kylie; Clinton (Nancy), Addison, Sadie, Harper, and Devyn; Jackie (Brian), Zack and Dylan; Stephanie (Jay), Kinsley and Hailey; Darren (Alice) and Ben; Ryan (Ashley), Kaycee and Harlynn; Trenton (Leah) and Nicholas.