Dad was born and raised on a farm near Hilda on July 5th, 1933. He was the first of 12 children. Right from an early age Dad loved farming, helping his parents in all aspects of farm living. At the age of 16 he left home and for a brief period made his living in the city. It was here he met his wife of 61 years Olga. They married on April 20, 1957 and a year later they had their first of three sons Darcy, then Keith, Gordon and then their daughter Cheryl.
Dad was a jack of all trades, he worked several jobs, farmhand, welder, seismic and oil rig worker, cement mixer driver, milkman, UGG elevator manager, but his dream was to farm. As he would often say, you can take the boy out of the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the boy. After six years of marriage and moving from town to town, they settled in the small community of Fairview, AB. It was here that he started farming, first just on the weekends while working as a UGG grain elevator manager. Finally, in 1973, 9M Northview farm was purchased and he moved the family from the town to the farm. Not a lot of families can say that they lived in a log house in those days, we did. We moved into the existing house which was actually built using logs and covered over to look nice. It was quite the experience, including the outhouse out back. It didn't last long, and we were moved into a warm cozy double wide mobile home. (except Darcy, he had to wait for an extension to be built on so he could move into his room) In the beginning, Dad wanted to do it all, mixed farming on 6 quarters of land, raising cows, chickens, pigs you name it, we had it. Later on, he downsized to 3 quarters and focused on grain farming.
Dad loved being on the farm, he did not have a lot of money and loved that song ‘Poor Poor Farmer’ but he would not have changed a thing. How happy he was that the children were raised on the farm. Teaching not only his kids, but his grandkids how to drive a tractor, or a trike, or a truck or a cement mixer... oh man he loved that, even when you had a bit of an ‘accident’ he never got mad or held a grudge. He just laughed it off and took it to the shop to be fixed. One time he even got run over by someone driving the tractor and stooker, he may not have laughed that one off, but he definitely walked it off … The tractors gave him great joy, the old Deutz, the 44 Massey, the 4020 and perhaps his favorite was the Fordson. How he loved to show the kids how to drive the little Fordson. October long weekends became the traditional family get together, all who could, would come to the farm, hay rides were a must, and not only did he ensure his own kids / grandkids had rides but also the neighbor's kids. If the kids wanted a horse drawn ride, off he would go and find a neighbor to not only give them rides, but at no cost. Often the day would end with card games which he loved to play anytime..whatever you picked he would play, 100 rummy, joker rummy, wizard; he was in!
During many of these years, Dad was actively involved in the community, coaching hockey, participating in local politics, school boards and at one time was the director of the North Peach Gas Co-op and appointed to the Peace River Health unit by the ID #21 Counsel.
He was a generous man, generous of his time and money. He was an honest man, he could never sell anything, be it a piece of farm equipment without first telling the buyer all the little faults it had, even if it cost him the sale. If a neighbor needed help or assistance Dad was on his way, never thinking twice about his time or effort, just dug in and helped out... that's just who he was.
Dad loved to talk on the phone, called his sisters, brothers, sons every day or every other day just to hear their voices, chat about weather, or the news or just 'what did you eat today?'…it was his way of staying connected. Staying in touch was important, even after the move to the city, he stayed in contact with his friends from Fairview just to ensure they were doing ok, or how the old farm was doing, and how their farm or work was doing.
When we think of Dad, one of the first things that comes to mind is how much he loved and how proud he was of his children, his grandchildren and great grandchildren. No matter who you were or where you were, there would be Dad telling some stranger about his number 1 son, or this is my second son "Keithy boy", or my third son Gord... and this is my precious daughter Cheryl. He would tell them all about you and chuckle when you would say "Dad they don’t need to know that"…In fact, just before he passed, at the hospital, he would point out to the nurses or anyone who would listen that this was his first born or his only girl, or his number two or third son. We may have not always liked it, but we always knew he was proud of us, and how much he loved us.
Dad loved life, loved his family, grandkids and great grandkids, his brothers and sisters, his friends near and far, and with that, we are sure he would want us to remember the good things in life, and treasure every moment.
We love you Dad and we will miss you.