Sunday, October 15, 2023
As a 10 year old growing up in Chinook, I first met Dennis at the original Cereal Kingdom Hall, where no more than 15 of us would gather on cold winter days, waiting for the old floor heater to make the place warm enough for us. Dennis was the "coolest" adult I had ever met. He was a suave, stylish man, hard working, clever, intelligent and very funny. Over the decades, Dennis took me under his wing and treated me with the greatest respect. He often created opportunites for us to spend time together, whether it was Sunday lunch with he and Tammy at the farm or us visiting after the meetings in Cereal twice a week. Once when I was pioneering, I ended up stranded at a district convention in Edmonton, and somehow Dennis heard that my ride had cancelled, so he altered his plans so that he and Ron could take me with them to Oyen where I stayed for a few days. I can't seem to find my photos of us, or I would post one here. My friend Dennis treated me as a family member. I remember one weekend he and his family took my family out for a full day of activities in Medicine Hat, and he paid for it all. I deeply appreciated him. I recall that when I was was newly married and struggling financially, Dennis hired me to work with him and his father Wes. He didn't actually need me on the farm, but he wanted an opportunity to teach me some of the skills he thought would be helpful to get work in the future, and to learn from Wes, his father. During supper one night Dennis finished a call with Wes, and laughingly told me that his dad couldn't stop talking about me, and probably liked me more than him. That comment made me so very happy and I will never forget that kindness. Wes was very proud of his son. Dennis lived by Jehovah's example, and often did good things even when no one would ever know. For example, during my mariage breakdown, I was having a crisis of faith and traveled to Cereal so that I could discuss my anguish with Dennis. He was understanding, non-judgemental, very kind, and gave me excellent advice as always. Weeks later to eleviate some stress I wrote some personal notes to myself, wondering if it would be beneficial emotionally to take a break from being one of Jehovah's Witnesses, the meetings and the preaching work. Unfortunately my notes were taken without my knowledge and misused against me, quickly being shared with members of the congregation, something that I had no intention of doing. This started a chain reaction rumor that spread fast among my spiritual brothers and sisters that I had rejected the faith, which degraded into a tale that I had been "disfellowshiped" or "disassociated", though there was never any such action taken by myself or the congregation. I wasn't in a state of mind to defend myself or provide explanations. People who I thought were "friends" started to reject me, so I let them believe whatever they believed, false or not. Much later I found out that Dennis would not stand for anyone disparaging me, and clearly told this to many, many people. More than one person told me that Dennis rebuked them concerning me and said "There is more than one side to a story." I never explained what happened to Dennis, but he defended me anyway. I loved the man for that. He was so incredibly honorable. That's who he was to his core. An honorable man. He was one of my truest friends in every sense of the word, and proved it repeatedly, especially when I was absent. Dennis is, in my heart a brother to me, a mentor, a teacher and one of the best role models I ever had. Dennis was also a deeply devoted family man. Occasionally if I was present when personal issues arose in his household, I would go to leave, but curiously he would ask me to stay. We would then go outside were he would tell me how hard he was trying to be the best example he could be to his young daughters, and his wife, but as an imperfect man, he sometimes doubted himself. I would be honest with Dennis, reminding him of how much he meant to me, that he was a very honorable man, had given up his profitable livelyhood for one more condusive to mariage and his faith, was widely admired by all who knew him, and how I had always hoped to grow up to be just like him. I didn't have any advice for him, nor could I suggest any changes. He was simply doing his best, but that his best was better than any other person I knew. I was so happy when his children grew up to be like him. His first child was born at a time when Dennis and I spent the most time together. I witnessed his entire world change, and I've never seen a more proud father. I miss those days very much.
Though I wasn't notified of his passing until weeks after his memorial, I wanted to write this tribute to the man, as his friend, as one of his employees, as a man who shared his faith and someone deeply affected by his goodness and his example. He was there during my most formulative years, and though he didn't have to, he spent his valuable time with me. I just want to remind all who had the priviledge of knowing Dennis Byler that we lost one of the most special men on this earth, and he will not be forgotten. I am so sorry for his family's loss, and I can't imagine the pain you are all going through right now. I just needed to speak about my friend, and his worth to us all.
