Tansi, my name is Angie Merasty from Pelican Narrows. I am a close friend of Jimmy and MaryAnn. It is an honour and a gift to be doing the eulogy today for the late Jimmy “Sugar” Custer.
Jimmy was born on January 11th, 1957. He was raised in Denare Beach, or Beaver Lake as everybody knew it and he was raised by Walter and Maggie Custer.
Jimmy is survived by his loving wife MaryAnn, his sons James, Jason, Levi, Justin, Walter, and his daughters Olivia, Stephanie, Jamie and Shanelle.
There are many fond memories that we all have of Jimmy. We have tried to capture many of them through the last few days, sharing stories of how each of us met him, where we met him, the photo albums and pictures we’ve looked at, and the beautiful powerpoint that was made to honour Jimmy’s life, we will try to capture some here today as well, in the celebration of his life.
Jimmy was living proof of how kind a person can be. He was a very good friend to many and a great colleague to those you who have had the privilege of working with him over the years.
It has been said that dog mushing was the mode of transportation for many of our people and it was no different for Walter, he raised Jimmy to run dogs, he taught him how to take care of a dog team, then when Jimmy entered the workforce, he stopped running dogs for a while.
Jimmy worked all of his life, he held jobs with Sask Environment, Tolko, First Nations Fire Crew, Winn Bay, McKeen’s Trucking to name a few. He met many people throughout his career and made lifelong friends with them. Some of you are here today - those of you who worked with Jimmy will know the impact he made in your life and in your hearts.
One year, back in 1984, he met MaryAnn, the love of his life, and he picked up the sport of dog mushing again, that was 33 years ago, in speaking with his son Walter, the last time Jimmy took his dogs out was about a year ago, until he got too sick and he was no longer able to do what he loved :(
Jimmy loved the outdoors. Anyone who met Jimmy for the first time knew he had a passion about being out on the land. He was very good at what he did, whether it was duck hunting, moose hunting, fishing, or running dogs, he did it all and he loved it. Many times, while he was racing dogs in communities all over the North here in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, he would enter King Trapper events, he had to set traps, make bannock, boil tea, dance a jig (and boy could he jig) and pack flour. Many people have heard that Jimmy carried close to 1100 pounds of flour…world record or not, that was a personal best for him.
As I’ve mentioned, Jimmy was raised by Walter and Maggie and he learned from a very young age how to hunt, trap, fish and run dogs. Some would say he mastered these skills, some would also dispute that, but how can you dispute Jimmy fileting a fish in 32 seconds??!! We have proof, there is a video, oh you should see the skill and the precision…I remember him saying, its all in the wrist!
Now he would never time himself when preparing a moose. This had to be done with respect, and I remember this one time we had Youth at camp and we saw two moose across the bay, his nephew Colin was there with us. When Jimmy shot that moose, all the girls at camp screamed and when he hit the moose, it didn’t go down right away. So, he and Colin jumped in a canoe with the shotgun and paddled so fast across the bay
and I remember seeing Colin jumping out of the boat, gun in hand and into the bush he went until we heard another BOOM. Just then, everyone at camp jumped into the other canoes and went across to see all the action, I think the girls almost tipped twice….anyway, that day Jimmy showed the youth how to respect the kill, how to properly prepare the meat and transport it back to camp. That was Jimmy, there was a teaching in everything that he did.
Jimmy also had quite a sense of humour, he loved to laugh, tell stories, jokes and he was even funnier when he couldn’t pronounce names of people, so he would just make them up and gave them a name he COULD remember! I remember a couple of youth in particular, one was Karly, he knew her Chapan was Elder Suzette from Pelican so he just called her “Suzy”, another young man named Austin, he named Edward…how you go from Austin to Edward, I don’t know, only Jimmy would know that…..even with my own sisters, in all the years he knew them but couldn’t pronounce their names, he would called my sister Vivian, ana ka-ki-nawn-skweet (the long haired one) or he would call my sister Cara, my lawyer, because he couldn’t say her name either. There was always something to laugh about when you were around Jimmy.
Jimmy and MaryAnn met in 1984, and they spent the next 30+ years together. MaryAnn remembers him as a hard-working man who always provided for his family.
Two of his youngest grandchildren, Mason and Brielle, were special to Jimmy. I remember on Christmas eve, we were visiting, his friend Barry was there and Jimmy was carrying Mason and Mason kept dabbing the table and Jimmy says to MaryAnn, who was cooking moose meat and kidneys, that Mason wanted to dip, so MaryAnn gave Mason some bannock and some moose grease and Mason dipped away! Another time when Jimmy was sleeping in his bed in the living room, Mason was standing there staring at his grandpa, MaryAnn watched as Mason leaned over and kissed Jimmy’s hand, that was such a tender moment. Another time, Jimmy was getting up from his bed and his ankles made cracking noises, as all joints do, and his granddaughter Brielle went over and kissed both his feet. Jimmy loved these two grandkids and they were a joy to have around the house.
Over 10 years ago, there was a plan was to build the WJ Wilderness Camp and that didn’t quite pan out, however not to be deterred, he then started to build Jimmy and MaryAnn’s Cultural Camp one cabin at a time….to the camp it is today, a place that is so welcoming and inviting where you just want to stay for days and days, and then when you did leave, you want to go right back!!
I don’t’ think Jimmy knew it but he was a role model for many people, especially young people. Over the years, I have noticed that he had such patience with the youth and he was willing to teach them anything they wanted to learn. It was a testament to his abilities to coach and train young dog mushers over the years, some who are still continuing their passion of dog mushing to this today.
Its been a blessing in our lives to know Jimmy and MaryAnn, my brother Ted introduced us many years ago and we became close pretty fast. Now our now family spends a lot of time out at camp, our grandkids love it out there. In the fall, their son Walter married our niece Starla, so now we are family. Funny thing is, we already felt like we were family and those of you who know Jimmy and MaryAnn will understand that….they were such a good team when running the camp and such wonderful hosts too, most people who left the camp became friends of Jimmy and MaryAnn, that’s just the way it was.
Just recently, there was a wedding at camp, first time too. Jimmy had shared his thoughts with me about proposing, so a few days before he proposed, I called him and asked if he had been thinking about our “talk” and he laughed nervously and said that he had been thinking about it non-stop….it was that day that they went to town and he made some excuse to MaryAnn about running an errand and that was when he went to buy the engagement ring. A couple days later he proposed. It was on November 12th 2016 when MaryAnn Olson, became MaryAnn Custer. It was such a special day and a wedding that was planned in only 12 days. There were so many people coming together to support this couple, from their children, their friends, the dog mushers and their families…..everything came together and it all worked out as it was supposed to be….afterward people were overheard saying, “not bad for a bush wedding”. Those are memories that will stay with us forever.
MaryAnn and the family would like to say to thank you to everyone who came and visited Jimmy in the hospital, those who called him and sent him and MaryAnn prayers. They would like to acknowledge the “Dog Mushing Family” who have been so supportive of Jimmy during his battle with cancer. A battle he never gave up on.
Even though Jimmy was sick, he was always thinking of others and asking about Kelly and May, who were battling cancer too.
The family would also like to thank everyone who traveled, near and far, to be here today. They appreciate all the calls, texts, flowers and cards, not to mention all the gospel singers who came to sing during the wake, and all those who cooked and cleaned, those who dropped off food for the wake, and just to everyone who came to show their support and of course to the Chief and Council also - Kwayask Nanaskimowak (with deep gratitude).
The character of the life Jimmy lived might be summed up in a few words: he was sincere, he was humble and he was kind…but he was also an extraordinary person with many gifts, caring and loving, very helpful to others and we can’t forget, with Jimmy there was always laughter. We will all miss Jimmy dearly and if I can end with a quote from one his good friends, Tommy Bird, “One of the greatest dog mushers, Jimmy Custer just crossed the finished line into arms of Jesus and the land of no pain” Rest Forever in Peace Jimmy ❤
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