Derek Raymer

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Derek Mark Lionel Raymer on April 25, 2018 at Brampton Civic Hospital, aged 93 years.
Born in Sholapur, India to the late Edith Maud Nailer and Eustace Edwin Raymer on October 22, 1924. His mother died when he was three years old and as his father worked as a train driver on the Great Indian Railways, he was sent to Barnes boarding school in Deolali. Derek was one of 6 children, namely, Derrice, Esther, Nesta, Mavis, Hector and Phyllis, all of whom he outlived.
Derek finished school at the age of 18 and went straight into the Army as part of the British Army in WWII.
The end of WWII and Indian Independence saw most of his siblings leave India, however Derek decided to stay back and instead joined the Indian Railways. He later transferred his love of all things mechanical to a private company where he worked on large industrial machines.
He met his wife Marie Teresa Conn at a Railway Institute social gathering at Parel. Together they raised four children, Lorraine Heather Mary (Michael Highmoor), Richard Lloyd Gerard, Lesley-Anne Elizabeth (Dion D’Mello) and Lindsey Margaret (Arthur Raberts). He was a loving Grandfather to Robyn-Ann, Meagan and Sheldon.
He will be remembered for his humbleness, amiability, sense of humour and zest for life. He loved the outdoors, especially fishing and took every opportunity to spend a few hours with his fishing rod and reel, using weights he made himself with a homemade wooden mould and lead melted over a kerosene stove. He excelled in swimming, loved playing sports including boxing, badminton, football, hockey and cricket.
He loved reading especially “Westerns” written by Louis L’Armour, jigsaw puzzles, cross word puzzles and word puzzles. He also loved going to the cinema and watching John Wayne movies.
He arrived in Canada 14 years ago and quickly came to love this country. The many friends he made, both young and old, will remember “Pop” as they called him as cheerful, playful, with a love for dancing and singing (Jim Reeves was his favourite).
He was blessed with natural good health and proudly maintained his independence right to the day of his passing.
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