The Weyburn Airport board hosted family members of the late George Steer as they dedicated the new security gate for the airport in his memory, and the memory of former airport manager Tom Kerr.
With the rumbling of thunder from an approaching thunderstorm, Coun. Dick Michel welcomed the small crowd at the gate. “This is a great day for the Weyburn airport. This security gate has been on the radar for a long time.”
The George Steer family and Tom Kerr family donated towards the cost of installing the new security gate. Michel noted Steer was involved with the airport for 28 years, and was on the board for four years, while Kerr was the airport manager for about 20 years.
Steer’s daughter Shari Adams spoke on behalf of her family, telling the airport board members, “This was one of Dad’s favourite places. Sometimes he would just quietly disappear, and we knew that he’d be here.”
She said later that her father would have been very pleased that this improvement to the airport facility was dedicated in his and Kerr’s memory.
“When Dad passed away, we decided to make a donation to the airport, and we trusted the board to put the money into something that would be well-utilized. Usually we’d be at a family gathering, and he’d come here to the Weyburn airport. If he wasn’t flying, he’d be shining his plane,” said Adams.
Asked if any other family members followed him into aviation, she noted her brothers Blaine and Allan took training as pilots, but neither one got their licence. George began taking flying lessons in 1978, and in 1985 he purchased a plane, and flew up until a couple of years before he died. He passed away in October of 2013 at the age of 86 years.
“He and Tom were a fixture out here,” said board member Dennis Mainil.
