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 It was a fitting end to a life well lived. On the night of March 26, Dad went to sleep as was his routine around 11 pm, he did not wake to see the new day. He was 99 years and 8 months. Dad was born near Havelock, Ontario on July 28, 1910 to Bessie Jane and Ernie Spinks. He was the eldest of 6 children. He was especially fond of his little brother, Freddie who died at the age of 8 in 1920. Even 80 years later he still had tears in his eyes whenever he spoke of Freddie. Dad survived all of his siblings. His earliest memory was of his mother hitching up their horses to the wagon and taking him on a visit to a lady friend. He was only three. The woman had two boys who chased Dad with a snake in hand, scaring the daylights out of him - the result, a lifelong hatred of snakes. Later, he remembered hearing his Dad tell Grandma that Canada was at war, this was 1914. His memories included his first sight of an automobile, and an airplane, he remembered the day that the family home became electrified and the first time he heard the radio. Living in the early years of the twentieth century must have been a magical time for a young boy. He was a very bright boy in school. He skipped two grades and at the age of 13 he finished grade 10. At this time, his mother pulled him out of school to help with the little family dairy. He never really forgave that as he loved school and learning. Indeed, until well into his nineties he was still pursuing knowledge. I used to love hearing him recount the stories of his boyhood and especially about some of the high-jinxed things he and his friend got up to. In 1928 or 29, he went to the Niagara Falls area to work on the well and canal upgrading project. He was joined by his father and they worked on the canal for 2 seasons. Just a few years ago he and I went to see the canal and renew and acquaintanceship with a friend from those days. In 1936, he ventured out to the West Coast to seek employment. As was the practice during those dark days of the Great Depression, Dad like so many young men got to the coast by illegally ‘riding the rods’ – free passage in box cars. Cheap but frightening as the rail road companies employed brutal measures to stop the men. He was caught once by the RCMP near Kamloops so he told the officers that his cousin lived in Kamloops and they told him to walk the remaining distance. Well, he did walk to the other side of town where he hopped on a boxcar and rode the west of the way to Vancouver. During his journey westward, he worked on a threshing crew near Lacombe, Alberta. My favorite story of that era was the time when to avoid the railway cops, he hid in the floor of the box car surrounded by a bunch of sheep going to market. He loved Vancouver and vowed to move back there one day. Although he tried to volunteer for the army during the war years, he was rejected because of his bad feet (thanks Dad for those genes). He took a job in the Dehaviland plant near Toronto and worked on the Mosquito Project for the duration of the war. The mosquito was a fighter plane made of wood and cloth and his job was to set up the instruments before the planes went to Europe. He met and married our mom in 1943; they met in June and Married in September. I was born in October of 1944 and Don came along in 1946. He used to make my mother so mad because he would take me to the neighborhood store and buy chocolate ice cream cones and return home with a rather messy kid who’s cloths mom had to scrub. After the war, Dad was a mechanic at the GM dealership. He eventually was the service manager of the biggest dealership in Toronto. Everyone who knew Dad knew how much he loved sports. He was in the stands of Maple Leaf Gardens when it was a brand new rink. He loved especially loved baseball and took his dad to see Jackie Robinson play ball the year before the Dodgers took him up to the majors. Before he and mom married, they had agreed that at some point they would move to Vancouver and we did in 1954. This was not an easy decision as it meant leaving all family behind. After a year in Burnaby, they bought an unfinished house in Surrey. As a family, we finished the interior and it stayed as the family home until 1976, when they moved to Dawson Creek, so they could be near to the grandkids, Sam and Sara. For the last 20 years of his working life he had a very successful career in real estate. When they moved to Dawson Creek the Senior Citizens’ Association had just begun building their new hall so Dad joined the building crew. He was really proud of the hall and participated in some of the many activities that became a big part of his life. In 1977 our family tree was expanded when his last grandchild, Shannon was born; Mom and Dad where a major part of her early life as she stayed with them when I was at work. After 43 years of marriage we lost our mom. Dad often said the smartest thing he ever did was marry her. Dad loved to travel and his memory of trips around North America, Australia, and Britain were remarkably detailed. At the age of 89 he toured Britain on a guided tour and then left the tour and travelled by himself on the railroad system to the home area of his father, Norfolk and specifically the town of Swaffen. This fulfilled another lifelong dream. When at the age of 96, it became apparent that he would need the services of a care facility, he first moved into the facility at Pouce and then to Rotary Manor. He really liked it at the Manor and often said what a wonderful and beautiful place it was. Our family will forever be grateful to the outstanding caregivers at both facilities. As did our grandfather on my birthday, Dad passed away on the birthday of his oldest great grandson, James. The circle of life continues. A funeral service was held for Roy on April 6, 2010 followed by an interment at the Dawson Creek City Cemetery. Expressions of sympathy in memory of Roy may be made by way of donation to the ‘Salvation Army’ 1436 – 104 Avenue, Dawson Creek, British Columbia V1G 2J8 or the ‘Dawson Creek and District Hospital Foundation’ 11100 – 13 Street, Dawson Creek, British Columbia V1G 3W8. |
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Dawson Creek: (250)
782-2577 Serving Fort St. John |
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