VERNON BUFFEY

A life resident of Manitoulin Island, Vern Buffey passed away peacefully, after a short illness, at the Manitoulin Health Centre, Little Current on October 6, 1980 in his 91st year.
Vern was born in Meldrum Bay on May 25,1890, the son of William and Elizabeth Buffey. He spent his life working on or around Manitoulin Island and probably knew the Island better than almost anyone. He loved this area and enjoyed the life of the outdoors that it offered him; he was an avid gardener, fisherman, hunter and trapper.
On October 10, 1923 he married Nancy Lillian Aelick of Sandfield and they moved to Little Current. His wife Lillian predeceased him on March 3, 1976. Vern is survived by one sister, Miss Olive Buffey, of Rochester, New York, by several sisters in law and brothers in law: Mr. & Mrs. Clifford Varey, Mr. & Mrs. Elias Aelicks, Mr. & Mrs. Albert Aelics and Clare Aelicks and by numerous nieces and nephews.
Vern's body rested at the Eagleson Funeral Home in Little Current. The funeral service was conducted from the funeral home by Rev. Brian Wheaton, Pastor of Grace Bible Church, assisted by Mr. A.E. Gray, Mr. Stan Williams sang a favourite hymn of the deceased.
Pallbearers were nephews of Vern: Rodney, Elmer, Dwight, Clifford, Carl and Bob Aelick. Honorary pallbearers were Elgin Aelicks, William Cousins, Dan McDonald, Doug Mitchell, Alf Paddon and Elwood Stephens.
Interment was in Mountain View Cemetery at Little Current. Floral tributes and monetary donations to funds showed the high esteem in which the deceased was held.
To W. Vernon Buffey ... from his family -
We have come full circle you and those of us you've left. You shared in the celebration of our births and we share in mourning your death. We have shared a lot of years and in those years we have laughed in the pleasure of one another's company, talked whispered plans and ideas in the secrecy of friendship, held hands and wept in the closeness of shared sorrow. You are a part of us all.
We were the children you never had. All of us were sons and daughters when we needed help or sought advice or came to talk...or needed a fishing partner. You were there in those growing up years, never mushy, rarely sympathetic, but always constant and strong. Your strength is a part of us.
You were a man of the earth, a man who cherished the outdoors, the woods, the lakes, the fresh air, the flowers and these provided your real home. Nature strengthened and sustained you. You were one with the earth because you worked with it and encouraged it to yield its best, you were one with nature because you wrestled with it on the traplines and in the lumber camps and understood its power. The oneness you knew as you roamed this island calmed your fears and soothed your doubts and worries the beauty and the quiet of snow ladened trees, the aroma of spring the warmth of summer and the fire-blaze of autumn all became your chapel and there you met with your God. Now the earth has claimed you as its own you body and your soul have both returned to friends.
We have come full circle you and those of us you've left. We enter the world alone, not yet knowing what love awaits us and we leave the world alone, not yet knowing what love lies beyond.
But the aloneness of death must not seem as great if you have shared the living and the gap between us is narrowed because you have left your wisdom and your strength and your faith behind for others to use. We are part of all that we have met and your family thanks you for the gifts of self you gave to us all.
Manitoulin Expositor, October 22, 1980