Our beloved husband, father and grandfather passed away peacefully on June 4, 2015 in Sidney, British Columbia, surrounded by the love of his family.
Left to cherish his memory are his loving wife of 38 years, Cheryll; children Mark (Christine), Susanna (Rob), Dianne (Ken), Chris, Kurt (Christina), and Sarah (Josh); grandchildren Brian, Jared, CJ, Megan, Nicholas and Willow. He is also survived by his sisters Alice, Gertrude, and Marlene; Cheryll’s brother Marty and sister Jennifer and their families; five step-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents Herman and Maria, sisters Louise and Doris, and brother Herman.
Bill was born March 27, 1932 in Winnipeg to Herman and Maria Wehrle. He grew up on the family farm near Lockport, Manitoba and in the early 1950’s, decided to pursue a career in aviation. He learned to fly at the Winnipeg Flying Club where he became Chief Instructor. In 1959, he established his company, Perimeter Aviation, which grew from a one-person operation to a vibrant organization with more than 500 employees. Along the way, he logged more than 30,000 hours of flying time.
His vision, determination, and intelligence enabled his company to grow and prosper over five decades. He was very grateful for and proud of the people who worked with him, many who made life-long careers at Perimeter. For others, Perimeter provided the foundation to launch them into aviation careers across Canada and around the world. He loved flying, and piloted his Duke EUJ until just a few years ago. He loved nature and the outdoors, and so enjoyed the beauty of Vancouver Island after moving here in 1997. His greatest joy was his family, with whom he shared much laughter. He led by example, lived his values of hard work and integrity, and shared his good fortune with many others. His kindness and caring inspire and sustain us.
In accordance with Bill’s wishes, a private family memorial will be held in the future.
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
Sequoia Gardens Memorial
www.sequoiagardens.com
12 Responses
We were saddened to hear of Bill’s death. Our sincere condolences to Cheryl and the Wehrle Family. Bill and Cheryl were our neighbours for a number of years. Bill was always positive, full of energy, and considerate. We enjoyed his sense of humour. He was a great neighbour. During the three day blizzard of ’97, Bill had had enough, so on the third morning he was bound and determined that he and his Pontiac van were going to get out of the cul-de-sac and onto Mayneview so he could go to Sidney for supplies for the neighbourhood. It took a neighbour’s tractor with a snow blade and all the men in the neighbourhood with shovels to dig a four foot deep trench from Bill’s garage door to Mayneview – a distance of over 400 feet. When Bill turned onto Mayneview, the Pontiac was smoking’ hot. Bill was a determined man who knew what he wanted to do.
My condolences to all. I will miss Bill’s visits to the shop and his talks of family. I will remember.