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Hundreds gather to mourn Tim Guilbault

Former Red Deer city councillor Timothy Guilbault was remembered by his brother at a funeral service on Wednesday for his thoughtfulness, generosity and a sense of responsibility that could be traced back to his childhood on the family farm.
Tim Guilbart.jpg
Timothy Guilbault

Former Red Deer city councillor Timothy Guilbault was remembered by his brother at a funeral service on Wednesday for his thoughtfulness, generosity and a sense of responsibility that could be traced back to his childhood on the family farm.

Edmund Guilbault delivered the eulogy at CrossRoads Church and spoke of Timothy’s upbringing in a house with a wood stove and no running water on a small farm southeast of Red Deer.

Timothy, 58, of Calgary was found dead on Nov. 5 at his Red Lodge Estates acreage near Innisfail.

His son, Aaron Guilbault, 31, has been charged with second-degree murder in his death.

Edmund, who spoke to the Advocate after the private service, said about 250 people gathered at the church located on the western outskirts of Red Deer to remember his brother. They heard stories about the family, in which younger brother Timothy was the sixth of eight children, and meal times could be lively.

“It was kind of a rambunctious sort of an affair, but everybody sat down to their meals together. We talked about politics and the importance of education and those sorts of things,” recalled Edmund.

“Timothy had that as kind of a grounding for the life he was going to lead.”

As a teenager, Timothy started raising pigs to make money for university. But when his older sister married and began a family and needed money for a house down payment, Timothy stepped in and loaned her his hard-earned savings.

Later, he went to Red Deer College, serving on the college’s board and student association.

He also helped organize, and participated in, the college rodeo, despite being raised on a farm with no horses and limited experience.

“I would come home to the farm on the weekends and I never forgot how Timothy was limping around the farm, he was so sore after being bucked off the steers.

“But that’s just the kind of guy he was. He threw himself into life fully.”

Timothy later went on to get a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and a Masters in Communication Studies at the University of Calgary.

When running for alderman in Red Deer, he and his buddies boosted his name recognition by giving away helium balloons with his name to children at a local mall, a tactic that worked. He went on to serve on council from 1986 until 1995 and was respected for the thought he put into his work.

“When he spoke, people listened to him.”

In his professional life, Guilbault worked for a number of companies, including major oil industry players Nova Chemicals, Union Carbide and Halliburton.

Most recently, he worked as a vice-president at Calgary’s Brookfield Residential Properties. A group of his co-workers travelled from Calgary to pay their respects and the company’s Alberta chief operating officer Trent Edwards spoke at the service.

Edmund said as a father his brother was always there for his children, attending hockey games and gymnastics events, and coaching baseball.

He had a daughter Caroline, and Aaron who was adopted as a baby, from his first marriage. He also had two stepchildren, Sebastien and Katharine from a second marriage.

All of Timothy’s siblings were at the service, as well as many other family members, including Timothy’s two grandsons.

Sadly, it was the second funeral in less than a week for the Guilbaults. Hildegard Guilbault, 87, mother of Timothy and his siblings, also passed away on Nov. 5. A funeral service was held for her in Red Deer last Friday. His father, Severin, died in 1992.

pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com