Submitted by Christine Whelan

Dec 16, 2021, VOL. 3 ISSUE 9

Memories of the Celebration of Life for Fort Erie’s Wayne Minor are now carried around by many who were blessed to have known him. And now we face the first anniversary of the day friends and family lost him, Christmas Eve.

Wayne’s sister, Terri-Lynn, spent some time with me, sharing stories about the man who impacted so many lives in so many ways. I took her back to the beginning of her memories.

Childhood

“All three of us, my two brothers and myself, were adopted. We know we were born in Niagara. We were always told we were adopted. We were told we were special. We always said we had the best parents and we were the luckiest.”

The three siblings were four years apart. “Larry was the oldest. Wayne was in the middle and then there was me. Wayne and I were the closest. Larry was eight years older than me. Wayne and I shared a couple of teens years together.”

When they came together as a family, they lived in the country. “We lived on House Road, on a farm, just off Highway #3. Our dad worked at Hardrock Paving so he didn’t farm full-time. He sold down to ten acres.”

We talked about their lives, growing up in the country. It was great in one sense, but when reaching a certain age, country living felt quite isolated. “That’s why the neighbourhood kids were so important to us. Because that’s where we could go, what we could do, without having to get into a vehicle and travel. We had fabulous neighbours, the Krieger’s. Mind you, they were about a mile away, but they were still our neighbours.”

Terri-Lynn added that they also spent much of their time with their cousins during their early teens years, through adulthood.

As each of them became high school age, “We had a choice, which school we wanted to go to. My brothers both went to FESS and I went to Ridgeway High. The boys went to where there were more trades classes offered.” And so it began.

Into Adulthood – And Trucks

“As Larry and Wayne got older, they followed in Dad’s footsteps, into trucking. And part of the farm was converted into a garage where they could work on their trucks.” Terri-Lynn was referring to transport trucks, at this point.

“Larry worked at Hardrock Paving with Dad. Wayne went to Grade 10 and then went into the trucking part of it. The two brothers later went into business together, Minor Brothers Trucking, on Pettit Road. Those were dump trucks.”

Terri-Lynn continued, after a brief pause. “Unfortunately, that’s where we lost Larry in 1992 suddenly, in an accident while he was working.

“Wayne did keep Minor Brothers going a little longer.” But he had to eventually close the business.

“We used to kid Wayne, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ because he would flip from transport to dump truck. He finally did settle into transport. He worked for several different companies.”

Family

Wayne married the love of his life, Barbara, in November of 1989. “She, along with all of us, misses him so much.”

When they got married, Wayne became the father of three stepchildren. “They were like his own. Emily, Rebecca, Baughn. Wayne and Barb then had a daughter together, Katie.”

And together, they have seven children. “Wayne treated all the children like they were his grandchildren, all equal.” The first granddaughter, who Wayne and Barb raised, was a big part of Wayne’s life.

Diagnosis

Wayne was diagnosed with cancer ten years ago. “He began treatments, which I became very involved in. I took him for all his chemo treatments.

“It wasn’t a life-threatening cancer. He could live for decades and it probably wouldn’t be what got him in the end,” the doctors had said to him. “He went into remission. A few years later he was diagnosed with stomach cancer.” Just last November, he started treatment again.

“It was December 24th, he was taken by ambulance to the Welland hospital. It was just a matter of hours.”

Christmas Eve and Pumpkin Pie

Terri-Lynn took a deep breath and began to recall, “Past Christmas Eve’s have been spent with his family, his children and grandchildren.” Emotional now, “We always spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with each other.”

That night, Christmas Eve, he was at home not feeling well. His family was having dinner at Rebecca’s.

The Minor family have a tradition. There have been adjustments when needed, but without ever losing importance. And it began with Wayne. “For Wayne’s birthdays growing up, our mom made his pumpkin pie. He loved pumpkin pie. All he wanted was pumpkin pie. If he was going on the road, he would take it with him.” Pause, “So, I carried on that tradition, for every birthday, for every Christmas.”

And last Christmas Eve, “I had it in my car. I was on my way to his house with it when he was taken to the hospital.”

I asked Terri-Lynn how she has felt about pumpkin pie since that day. “I just made my first one this past October, for Thanksgiving. I just couldn’t before that.”

Once there is more healing, Terri-Lynn agreed that pumpkin pie will, moving forward, be forever made in Wayne’s memory. “My stepson’s love pumpkin pie as well. I will definitely be carrying it on.”

Terri-Lynn then shared a special story. “I met my husband, Chuck, in 1990. I had been married previously and I was telling him, on our first date, that I was in the process of going back to my maiden name. He asked, ‘Oh what’s that?’ And I told him, Minor. ‘Minor? Do you happen to know Wayne?’ he asked. I told him Wayne was my brother. He told me he bought his first truck from Wayne, and he had the receipt still in his wallet.” Coincidence?

Chuck and Wayne became tight as if they were brothers themselves.

Timmies, Of Course

“Tim Horton’s coffee was huge. I would take him for his treatment. I would ask, how was it? He would answer, ‘Let’s go for a Timmies’.'”

Wayne lived in Ridgeway in his later years. “He would go to the Crystal Beach Tim Horton’s every day. Even when he wasn’t working and was going through treatments, he would go out to the beach, by the old Palmwood area and meet up with a couple of old friends. They would have their coffee and chat.” He developed really good friendships by meeting up there with friends and coffee.

Terri-Lynn described her brother as the kindest, most helpful person. He had a way of letting people know he was genuinely interested in knowing them. From his cheery hellos to, “He remembered people, their names. He could run into them years later and he would know their names. He was a well-liked person. One of those people no one could say anything negative about.”

At the celebration of life, there were stories to reflect this. “There were guys there he helped get into trucking. Weeks before he passed, he set up another trucker with his last truck.”

Celebration Of Life

Wayne Minor’s Celebration of Life finally took place on September 11, 2021. “During the pandemic, Chuck told Barb, ‘I will make sure a celebration of life happens because he deserves it.'”

It was held at the racetrack property. “And it was incredible, absolutely incredible. So many brought their trucks. There were people from throughout his career who showed up.”

And many stories were told.

“Wayne liked to switch up his trucks, a lot. We laughed during the celebration of life, if we had all his old trucks, we would have a whole field of them.”

There was a theme among the stories told. “He was well-known for this. He was immaculate in keeping his equipment. He was always out washing and polishing. The guys who came to the celebration of life said, ‘Our trucks have got to be top-notch.'”

The family ordered pens with Wayne’s name on them so that people could sign their names in the guest book and take a pen with them. “We thought it was a good idea because there were a lot of truckers and they could do their paperwork with the pens, and remember him.”

They served Tim’s coffee and donuts at the celebration of life, of course.

In life, what did Wayne stand for? “He was the role model for kindness. Always lending a helping hand. And for Wayne, family was number one. Yes, family, then trucks.”

Life carries on, in sometimes bittersweet ways. “His daughter, Katie, was going to get married.” This was during the pandemic so it had to be postponed. “He was so looking forward to that wedding. They were finally able to get married outdoors this past June. It was a beautiful day.” Wayne was there, in everyone’s minds and hearts.

So, during these holidays, if you happen to be offered a piece of pumpkin pie, imagine a Timmies in hand, and raise it up, to Mr. Wayne Minor, a man who has left his mark in this world by impacting the lives of all who were blessed to cross his path.

PHOTOS provided by Terri-Lynn Minor