William Howard DELL

November 29, 2020 Sadly, the Dell family announces the passing of Bill Dell. Our Father spent the last 14 months in the Veteran's Centre Resident Care unit at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. He passed away peacefully in their excellent care. CARE needs to be spelled in capital letters. We will be forever indebted. Dad was the consummate family man, devoted to his wife and children. He is predeceased by his remarkable wife and soul mate, our wonderful Mother, Joy. Dad is also predeceased by his two elder siblings, Evelyn (Richards) and Jack with whom he had a strong and enduring relationship. He is survived by his three children and their spouses: Mike (Debbie Campbell), Dan (Kathy Lewis), Debbie (Ted Zak) and eight loving grandchildren plus eleven adoring great-grandkids. Dad was a WWII veteran. After the war he attended Queens University and while there he played on the varsity football team. He then returned to his hometown of Oshawa where he married his high school sweetheart, Joy Campbell and began a career with General Motors of Canada. He eventually became the divisional plastics buyer for G.M. of Canada's Purchasing Department. After retiring from General Motors, Dad, capped off his automotive career with the Dow Corning subsidiary, Canadian Fiberfill as a Regional Vice President of Sales. Our Dad was a humble and talented, all round athlete. He never pushed us in our sporting endeavors; rather, he patiently guided us. Because of Dad, we were a ski family. He was an avid skier and a formative member of the Oshawa Ski Club in the days when they boarded the train bound for Ragland and then climbed the hills using the Herringbone method. Later, when the club moved to Kirby and the new- fangled technology rope tows were introduced, we developed into perennial skiers. In the late 1960's Dad somehow found out about a fledgling ski resort in Quebec's Gatineau area called, Mont Ste. Marie. We started travelling there on family ski holidays and loved it. The scenery and the hills were Fantastic! After staying in a local icebox motel for a year or two we graduated to renting a chalet right at the base of the mountain. To our delight Dad decided to buy a lot and build a chalet on it. This whole process took a few years but has given our Family and many of our friends an untold amount of pleasure. Through various progressions of ownership the chalet remains in our family today and the views are still magnificent and the skiing splendiferous. Thanks dad! We would be remiss if we did not pay tribute to Dad's second career as a referee in the Canadian Football League the CFL. He started on the sidelines carrying the downs box and the yard markers then steadily progressed up the ladder to Field Judge, Umpire and ultimately Head Referee. Dad achieved these goals through sheer determination and hard work (look up the word determination in the dictionary and there is a picture of Bill Dell). He reached the pinnacle of his CFL career when he was chosen to be the Head Referee for the 1977 Grey Cup. As such, he was inducted into the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame. A fine tribute indeed for a good old Oshawa boy! Never the less, in our hearts, #25 will evermore be in the "Family Hall of Fame" and we will be forever proud. Among his many accomplishments, Dad was an award winning gardener and later in life he became an avid amateur photographer. Each year, for Christmas, he compiled three separate photo albums unique to each of his three children's' families. This was the highlight of the, Dell Family Christmas, celebrated at Mom and Dad's house on Woodlea Crescent for 25 yrs. Pouring through these albums was a much anticipated pleasure for us siblings and a pure delight for the grandkids! What an absolutely priceless legacy and treasured family heirloom to be left with each year for 25 years. Our Father was a special man and a very religious man. He loved God, his Family and his Country. On behalf of our extended family and friends... We love you William Howard Dell. That is cast in stone and will never change. You will be sorely missed, but never ever forgotten. As per dad's wishes there won't be a formal funeral. Please consider a donation to either the Alzheimer Society of Ontario or Sunnybrook Veteran's Centre Resident Care.