Gilles Charles Verret

Gilles was born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and had vivid memories of moving to his family’s new homestead in Fairholme, Saskatchewan at the age of 2! (1932). As he remembered, his mother Marie drove ahead in her 1928 Essex to find places for them to stay at the end of their day’s travel, while his father Jean - Roland drove behind in their horse drawn wagon containing all of their belongings. He had many fond memories of this summer trip northward and may be why he always liked to get out into the country, whether camping along the Alaska Highway, trailering to Montreal with his family in 1967, or just going up to the lake for the weekend. Gilles gained many skills as a farm boy helping his father and younger brother Roland and the most obvious of these were his mechanical abilities. When Gilles was 12, his family moved to Battleford leaving the ‘dirty 30s’ and the farm behind them. In spite of their move to town, he always had fond memories of farm life.

For high school, Gilles attended College St. Jean in Edmonton shortly after WWII, making trips back and forth by train to see his family in Battleford for holidays. Soon after gr. 12, and with Edmonton in its ‘boom years’ as a result of the Leduc No. 1 strike, Gilles ended up coming back to the big city to live full time. He first gained employment as maintenance mechanic on seismic trucks and oil field equipment at Western Geophysical in the Faust/Lesser Slave Lake area. This included keeping all of the propane bottles that heated the camp buildings from freezing at -40 and below - as a result, he was able to work at these temperatures without gloves on for short periods! This camp job led to his main occupation as GM mechanic at the Jenner Motors dealership on Jasper ave. specializing in ‘tune ups’. During this period in 1956, Gilles went back to North Battleford to marry Olga Nykiforuk, bringing her back to Edmonton and within a year settling into their home on 116 St, where they would remain until 2009! Soon after settling into their new home they would welcome their boy and girl, Roger and Christine (in 1957 and 1958 respectively).

In the early 1960s, Gilles was approached by the Alberta Board of Education, to enter their then expanding vocational program, and in the fall of 1963 after terms at the U of A to gain his B. Ed., Gilles began his 30 year teaching career in Senior Automotives at St. Joseph’s High School. While Gilles’ career was definitely tied to the automobile, his many interests involved reading (he was always informed politically with a decades subscription to Time magazine), camping, home renovations, prayer groups at church, and membership in the Knights of Columbus. He had a great sense of humour, loved discussions and could talk on just about any topic.

After his retirement in the early 90s, Gilles and Olga began trips nearly every year to destinations including Portugal, the Holy Land, Ukraine, Alaska, and various cruises. But they always came back to their favourite summer escape, their little cabin in the woods on Mann Lake in the county of St. Paul. Gilles found his most recent joy in his grandchildren and now great grandchildren. He had a profound effect on nearly everyone he met including his students and was great at solving problems, giving advice and mechanically working through the daily journal crossword in short order. We will miss dad’s advice on all topics from engine building, to constructing a truss, or installing weeping tiles, to his active example of how he took care of and assisted his family.

Mass of Christian Burial
Friday, November 6, 2026, 10:00AM
St. Joseph’s Cathedral Basilica
10044 - 113 St, Edmonton, AB

Interment
Friday, November 6, 2026, 12:15 PM
St. Joachim Cemetery
10504 - 117 St, Edmonton, AB