Howard Wayne French
Howard Wayne French was born in Lethbridge
Alberta, July 1, 1938. He was the second son born to
Leonard William French and Barbara Dorothy Reid.
Wayne was predeceased by his parents and his brother
Gordon. Wayne grew up around the McGrath area of Alberta.
At 15, Wayne’s Mother moved to BC leaving him herding
sheep for room and board. At 17 his buddy Bryan Crookston
and Wayne decided to ride the freight trains going throughout southern Ontario and into the Buffalo area of New York.
Wayne looked back on that experience as some of the best times of his life, although they missed many meals and had to work for the ones they did get. Wayne returned to Alberta and drove truck delivering sugar beets to the sugar factory and asphalt in southern Alberta. He enlisted in the Air Force for 3 years and decided not to reenlist as he found it too regimented and besides they didn’t ask him to stay. Wayne moved to BC and worked on Vancouver Island for the Forest Service. There Wayne met his first wife Fran and they were married on Oct 24, 1964. They had two daughters, Corrina born Feb 8, 1966 and Susan born May 27, 1968. They moved to the Chilliwack area where Wayne worked for Cattermole Timber running heavy equipment building roads. Wayne and Fran divorced and Wayne would say later that he should not have married the bosses’ daughter.
In 1971, Wayne met Glenda and they married on Sept 2, 1972.
Wayne took on the role of stepfather to Kevin and would tease
Glenda that he married her because Kevin would make him a good son. Leonard was born Dec 9, 1973 and Richard followed April 11,1975.The family moved to Chetwynd in Aug 1975 and Wayne started work for for his brother-in-law falling. Over the years he worked for Lorne Dalke, Jim Westgate, Pat Houde and Kevin Steward to name a few. He also worked on forest fires around Chetwynd and had numerous stories to tell. Some of his favorites were the jokes Ron Bremner and himself played on fellow fire fighters.Wayne looked forward to retiring at 65 enjoying his yard work and the garden. Retirement did not come easy as he was restless and bored and after a year and a half he went back to work part time.He worked part time for Brian Roberts, Maple Leaf Loading at the Coal Mine and for Enersul removing the sulphur block. He finally retired permanently in the spring of 2010.Wayne had a triple aneurysm operation in January of 2010 in Edmonton and his recovery was slow and he lacked energy. He was diagnosed with cancer at the end of October 2010 and lost his battle on Feb 18, 2011.He lived his life simply and loved his wife of 39 years, 5 children and 11 grandchildren. He took and gave much enjoyment. Like any marriage there were enough speed bumps along the way to make it interesting and to build character. Boy, some of us sure received a lot of character. Wayne enjoyed fishing, camping and gardening. One of his favorite things was to share a meal and play canasta with Wanda and Dale Tremblay and Renda and Sig Shreve. Wanda and Glenda would tease Wayne and Dale about acting like Waldorf and Statler , the two old men in the balcony on the Muppets. Wayne was Statler and Dale was Waldorf.Wayne loved his quiet talks with the grand children, riding the lawnmower with one on them on his lap or checking the peas in his garden. Later when his health got poor he would sit and play cards. He shared their fun times and took pride in their accomplishments.
He often told Glenda that he was very proud of his children and
grand children and it made him a content man. Life was good.Wayne is survived by his loving wife Glenda ( or as he called her Ruthie) Son Kevin (partner Jenny Viloria) grandchildren Jesse, Chelsee,Sierra and Hunter
Daughter Corrina (partner John Weber) grandson Austin
Daughter Susan (partner Dave Spencer) grandchildren Mitchell
and Anya Son Leonard ( wife Melissa) grandchildren
Jamie and Georgia Son Richard (wife Maryann)
grandchildren Denise and Hanna
Wayne will be fondly remembered as a husband, father,
grandfather and a good friend to many who passed his way.
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