Good Morning I’m Donna Clarence’s daughter usually introduced for most of my life as this is my baby. I feel truly blessed to be giving this eulogy. Clarence was born in 1927 in Birch River MB. He was predeceased by his on Larry, mom, dad, brother Al and sister Edith. Clarence is survived by his brother Glenn and sisters Betty and Linda. Clarence resided in Birch River until 1951, in 1951 he moved his wife Norma and his son Larry to Flin Flon where he began working as a miner for HBM&S. Three years later his daughter Cheryl was born. They lived in the house that Clarence built until the family moved to Snow Lake in May of 58, in August their 3rd child Donna was born. They often joked that they discovered what caused these babies. Moving…every time they moved they had another baby so they decided to make Snow Lake their forever hone. No more moves no more babies. Snow Lake was the perfect place for them to live. Dad loved hunting fishing, hockey and more. Mom and dad enjoyed 68 years of marriage. Throughout their married life I am sure they had differences but we never knew about them until dad left mom. Yes he did. They were on their way to Winnipeg on a cold winter day when he left her stranded, without her coat, purse, or phone. They stopped at Grand Rapids for gas and a bathroom break. Gary Zamzow was traveling with them and he was sleeping in the front seat so he didn’t realize they had stopped. Dad got out filled up with gas and used the washroom. He got back in the car and drove off not knowing mom wasn’t here. She too had gone in for a bathroom break. Gary woke up and realized mom was no longer in the back seat. Just imagine the surprised look on dad’s face as he drove like crazy back to Pelican Landing, only to find mom standing there in shock saying to people as they walked by “he left me “he really left me, .Boy did that take a lot of sweet talk to get forgiven and a lot of ribbing by all who heard the story. Over the years mom and dad celebrated many great moments including the birth of three children, a daughter in law, a son in law, 6 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren and several step and foster grandchildren and their partners. Bev his daughter in law’s favorite memory of dad was being teased about being of Ukrainian decent until the day she told him she was pregnant. His joking response was I guess you’re not so bad after all you have a little swede in you now. Clarence was a man who loved and was well loved in return. As most of our know Clarence was a “little” bit of a talker. He was always willing to engage in a conversation with anyone who was willing to listen to listen, friends , family and perfect strangers were often pulled into conversation with him about anything he could think of to talk about. His stories ranged from personal experiences {like getting shot in the shoulder by his cousin when he was fifteen years old} what no one got told that one, to last night’s hockey game, to the one that got away, his experiences when with his dad in their saw mill and then as a miner for HBM&S, the good old days and more. But most of all Clarence loved talking about his family and what they were up to. Dad loved people young or old if he got the chance he would have a conversation. This gift of being a people person has been gifted to my sister Cheryl. This legacy of friendliness and interest in people will forever live on through Cheryl. She is her father’s daughter. Dad’s passion for hunting fishing and hockey continues to live on through his grandchildren. Each one carries a special memory relating to dad’s passing whether it is watching game of hockey or football, sitting in aa boat with a fishing rod in their hand or out hunting for moose or deer. Those passions were also shared with friends, Millie remember the 25 cent Montreal Toronto bets where the quarter stayed with the person whose team won…sorry dad but its Millie’s now. Larry I am sure dad has already spotted a herd of moose and Martin you can eat your lunch without having to wait and wait for the next catch. Oh the stories we grew up on regarding the hunting/ fishing trips he and his buddies had. Audrey always could get a smile out of dad and was his personal chauffeur the last few years he was in snow Lake. Dad began to show signs of early dementia around the age of 85. He remained here in Snow Lake with mom until May of 2018 when it became clear that he need more help than was available here. With a lot of conversation and prayer mom decided to have him move to Pembina Place where his granddaughter Sherilee is a nurse. The hone was 7 minutes away from where Cheryl and I live so it was an easy drive to go ad visit dad daily. It took a little adjusting for him to settle in but soon he was the love of staff, residents and their families. He gave them no choice to listen to his stories challenge them in an arm wrestle or follow them around until they stopped and visited. Dad quickly became what we call the collector. He collected everything from clothes, glasses, jewelry and more. A favorite story of ours is the one where dad kept going into another resident’s room and borrowing her pearl. Each time he would show them to us and say mom. We would return the pearls to the rightful owner but as soon as he could he would borrow them again. Finally one day I realized the he wanted to give mom the pearls. I called mom ad asked if she could bring them down on her next visit. Mom brought her pearls and we replaced the borrowed pearls with moms and the rightful owner received her s back. Mom came to visit dad, he immediately went to his drawer and pulled out the pearls and said here mom. That was the last time dad borrowed someone’s pearls., his mission was accomplished now that is love. The staff at Pembina Place were fantastic and each one had their special way of interacting with dad and he with them. He was known as grandpa to all. There were those who danced and sang with him, those that share stories and those who engaged in daily arm wrestles… oh those pipes he was so proud of. A lot of love was given and received during his tie with them. He was safe, comfortable, loved and spoiled (they soon learned they could get him to do pretty much anything if there was ice cream available. Today after the service please join us for a final ice cream with dad. Dad gently passed away surrounded by his family. Each one of us who loved him will forever carry a fond memory of times spent with him. Mike will miss reading to dad from his Birch River book. Cheryl and I will miss the daily visits, the nightly foot massages and his warm hugs and the we’ll see you tomorrow as we left for the night. As he slipped away, it seemed only fitting that Addison his 1st great grandson was there as he drew his last breath. Addison’s first cry and breath was heard by grandpa over the phone when Addison entered this world. Mom jokingly says he hung on so long as he was enjoying the stories laughter and love that was surrounding him at the end. He did love attention. Dad our minds still talks to you Our hearts still looks for you But our soul knows that you are at Peace