Obituary of William "Bill" Hammond

William (Bill) Harding Hammond passed away March 20, 2024. He was born June 19, 1936 in the Brandon General Hospital to Frank and Maggie Hammond (nee Armstrong). Bill lived with his parents until the age of three when he was then placed in The Maples Orphanage (now the Daly House Museum.) He was taken from there by his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Armstrong and uncle, Bill Armstrong. He grew up on their small acreage just north of the Brandon Research Station. Bill attended Bloomsbury School in the Municipality of Elton, but left school at 15. When he was 16 years old and with 12 cents in his pocket and a beat-up old C.C.M. bike, Bill went looking for work. His first job was at MacLeods Store on the 600 block of Rosser Avenue. The manager at the time put him in the paint department which turned into a 40-year career. Bill went from salesclerk to a district manager for a national company and he held for five years the title for most sales per capita of any trading area in western Canada. Bill specialized in industrial coatings serving the mining, manufacturing and chemical industries. Bill represented companies such as Canada Paint, Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore and The Paint Warehouse. It was a warm and beautiful afternoon on November 11, 1954 when Bill met the love of his life, Evelyn Williams in Deloraine, Manitoba. They were married on May 17, 1958 in Deloraine United Church. Through this union they had two sons, David who retired from the RCMP and lived in Parksville, Vancouver Island until his sudden death in 2021, and Dean (Lisa) and their boys, Ben and Matt. Bill enjoyed his sons very much and spent many hours enjoying motorsports, camping and travel. He was very proud of his family. Bill and Evelyn covered most of North America with their various vehicles and camping trailers and recently enjoyed a trip to Cuba. Upon retirement Bill and Evelyn moved to Wawanesa where Bill built his dream shop, using it extensively for the next ten years. Bill and Evelyn took great pride in their beautiful park-like yard. Son Dean and bride Lisa held their three-day wedding celebration in the shop and yard. Bill was active in Wawanesa where he became an EMR driving both the town ambulance and handi-van.  Bill belonged to many service clubs through his life. Bill taught snowmobile safety for the Provincial Government for 20 years. He taught firearm safety for Junior Rifle for 15 years. He taught ATV safety for 5 years. He was chairman and a director for the 1975 Wally Byam trailer convention in Brandon. Always passionate about snowmobiling, Bill received the prestigious International Snowmobile Industry Association “Canadian Snowmobiler of the Year” award in 1982.  Bill was an avid big game hunter and held many awards for his trophy heads. Bill was always very grateful for his devoted wife and family, his customers and his friends. Bill would like to thank everyone for giving him the opportunity for a life well lived. Special thanks to dear friend John Purych of Edmonton as well as to the late Dick Hean, Bill Evans and Gerry Anderson. Cremation has taken place and no funeral service will be held. As per Bill’s wishes, donations in his memory may be made to the Riverbank Discovery Centre, #1 - 545 Conservation Drive, Brandon, MB, R7A 7L8.