March 21, 1929 - July 2, 2023
It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of George Reiter on July 2nd, 2023 at the Shuswap Lake General Hospital.
George was born on March 21st, 1929 to Olga and Gustav Reiter in Enderby, BC. He met his wife Iris Murrell in 1948 and they were married on June 30th, 1951. In 1953 they made their home on a 45 acre farm on Fortune Road where they raised their three children Barry, Ron and Donna.
Times were tough in his early life but as a hard worker he always had a job and provided for his family. He worked on a dairy farm in Brandon Manitoba, travelled around with Crescent Shows, drove taxi in Enderby, picked apples in Oyama, and fought fires around the Enderby and Mabel Lake area. George then spent the rest of his career in forestry where he first logged in the bush with a team of horses alongside his brother Dan, brother in-law John Kral, and good friend Ronald (Bunny) Gardner in Trinity Valley and Hidden Lake area. He then worked in local sawmills which included the Grindrod Lumber Company in 1945 and Jack Smith (Armstrong Sawmills) in 1949. In the early 1970's the sawmill moved to Armstrong where he retired from the log division with Crown Forest in 1987 at the age of 58 years old.
George loved being outdoors. Hunting and fishing, particularly salmon fishing on the Shuswap River, camping and many back road travels always made him smile. George kept in shape by walking up the Quilakwa mountain behind his home on an almost daily basis. George was known as a hard worker, good provider for his family, and a no-nonsense guy who took life as it came and accepted the outcomes. He never complained about a thing as he felt fortunate for everything he had around him. George always allowed time for his family and enjoyed coming out to watch his grandchildren at hockey games, ringette games, soccer, and piano recitals.
George is survived by his loving and devoted wife Iris of 72 years, three children - Barry of Grindrod, Ron of Armstrong and Donna (Randy Czepil) of Enderby, three grandchildren - Nicole Reiter of Castlegar, Vanessa (Chris Gowing) of Armstrong, Jeffrey Czepil (Kristy-Anne) of Enderby, four great grandchildren - Brooke and Brynn Czepil, Adam and Ellis Gowing, and sister Joyce Phillips of Edmonton as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was pre-deceased by brothers Dan and Leslie, and sister Martha.
He was a wonderful husband, father, uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He will be greatly missed and long remembered by his family and friends.
No service will be held as per George's request. A family gathering will be held at a later date.
Expressions of sympathy may be forwarded to the family at www.cypressfuneral.ca