Obituary of Jim Bragg

Jim lived an exciting and adventurous life. Jim was born on September 28, 1939 in Starbuck, Manitoba. At age six, he moved to Stoney Mountain, then to Elmwood, Norwood. At the age of 17, he moved to West St. Paul with his Mom, Vera, brothers George and Geoff and sister Judy. He met his sweetheart Bev and they married in 1960. They made their home in West St. Paul where they raised their four sons, Jimmy, Dave, Russ and Gord. In June, 2021, they celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. Jim worked in many trades that included welding, boatbuilding, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, machine operator, and truck and tractor driver. He operated his own company, Bragg Construction for many years, building houses, garages and many other construction projects, building his own house in 1965 and later on building homes with Jimmy for his other sons. Jim could fix almost anything and would proudly wear his T-shirt that read “If Papa can't fix it, no one can”. Jim worked in Petersfield, Saskatoon, Regina, Gillam, and many northern communities. He enjoyed his flights up north on the RCMP plane when he did jobs for them. Jim traveled a lot with his wife and many times with his sons either working or for pleasure. He visited a lot of Canada and many of the U.S. states. He enjoyed going to air shows and especially enjoyed visiting the aircraft carrier in San Diego. In the 60’s, Jim coached hockey in West Kildonan then baseball at McNaughton. He helped build the rink at McNaughton and hauled water from the city by truck. He took turns keeping the skating shack warm by keeping the wood stove loaded. In 1980, after the recreation building was moved to McNaughton, he volunteered for many years as Mr. Fix-it. Grandchildren were a big part of Jim's life he enjoyed watching Cole, Parker, Teagan and Ryden play hockey, Marlee and Jade play volleyball and Payton dance. Cody enjoyed many weekends at the farm with Papa where they could fish, hunt, and visited the haunted house. When water fights went on at the farm, Jim was the biggest kid of all. Jim spent many good times at Jimmy and Chrissy's home where he worked and would visit with Brandon and Brooklyn. He liked to see pictures of his twin, great grandsons, Nolan and Nathan. Jim took pleasure in everything he did whether it was playing crib, hockey, curling, shuffleboard quading, snowmobiling, watching funny movies or listening to good music. His fish fries in the garage with friends were always great times full of laughter. Jim was known to many people as “Big Jim”. Jim is now at peace after a long struggle with dementia. He has left a great legacy to his sons and grandchildren. Work hard and you will accomplish what you set out to do. -------------------------- What is a Dad? A dad is someone to turn to When you need a helping hand He's someone you can count on To advise and understand A dad is someone to laugh with someone kind, who's smiling face Convinces you that no one else Could ever take his place. ------------------------- We would like to thank Holy Family Nursing Home, especially the St. Nicholas and St. Mary’s staff for the great care they gave Jim. We appreciate the phone calls that they helped with during pandemic, that allowed us to keep in touch with him, as he was not able to do so himself. Donations in Jim's memory can be sent to Holy Family home c/o Lubov, 1085 Main St, Winnipeg, MB R2W 3S1 or to the Alzheimer's Society