Obituary of John Doull

B I O G R A P H Y DOULL: John Doull passed away on Sunday, June 12, 2005 at the age of 89 years. The funeral service for John Doull was conducted from the Marwayne Community Hall, Marwayne, Alberta on Thursday, June 16, 2005 at 2:30 P.M. with Reverend Bob Aldrich officiating. A eulogy was given by Gordon Hancock. A solo “You Should See Me Know,” was sung by Shelley Johnson. A solo “Amazing Grace,” was sung by Yvette Barnett. The hymn sung was “How Great Thou Art,” accompanied on the organ by Donna Eyben. Honorary pallbearers were Lawrence Perks, Gordon Hancock, Bill Meiklejohn, George Lowrie, Barbara Franklin, Dennis Bacon, Mina Pierce and the Islay Healht Center Staff. Active pallbearers were: Kerry Doull, Brent Doull, David Doull, Bryce Doull, Brant Carson, Doug Ford and Skip Fairbairn. Interment followed in the Marwayne Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster administered the funeral arrangements. Eulogy by Jeannette Hodgson John Doull of Marwayne, Alberta passed away in the Islay Extenda Care Residence on June 12, 2005 at the age of 89 years. John, the eldest of seven children, was born November 20, 1915 in the homestead lodge home of his parents John and Helen Doull of Leighton, Alberta, each of whom had previously emigrated from Scotland. John was nine years old when the local school (Crown Hill) was built. At a young age his help was needed on the farm and so his formal education was cut short. However learning didn’t take a back seat. John was self-taught through extensive reading on a variety of subjects. Blessed with an inventive intuition and a great capacity to fix almost anything, he started the “Fix-it-Shop” in Marwayne in 1938. Over the years John put his mind and hands to many things from welding to selling Philco radios, Panasonic TV’s, and much more. He set up and operated a coin laundry for many years. John and Kay Hillaby were married in 1961. John was a devoted husband in caring for Kay throughout her illness. He took up the study of Reflexology, Acupressure and Touch for Health in an effort to help her. Among his many interests John enjoyed nature, outdoor photography, gardening and beekeeping. With his remarkable talent for building and rebuilding, he restored antique tools, farm machinery and a Model T Ford. John is survived by Kay’s family of Bodnar, and by Kay’s daughter Shann (Jim) Carmichael of Mayo Landing, Yukon, and Kay’s son, Larry (Elfie) Hillaby of Edmonton. Also surviving are brothers: Alex (Ruth) Doull of Edmonton, Norman (Melva) Doull of Lloydminster, sister Jeannette Hodgson of Calgary; sister-in-law Janet Doull of Marwayne, and brother-in-law Doug Campbell (Gerry) of St. Albert. John was predeceased by his wife Kay in 1984, and also by his sister Ella Doull-Campbell in 1991, brother George Doull in 1995 and sister Vivienne (John) Boyce in 2002 and 1987 respectively. The family is particularly grateful to the staff at the Islay Extenda Care Home for their caring help to John throughout his time there. A History of John Doull by Gordon Hancock In being asked to give some additional brief history of the “John Doull Fix-It-Shop,” the family has honored me. You might say that I grew up in business beside Johnny for approximately 45 years. Over the years we were blessed to have such a talented man who, on many occasions, helped to repair or remanufacture equipment, or equipment parts of our own work, or that of our agriculture customers. You would find John working late at night and often long into the night - with no such thing as overtime charge - and sometimes very little charge. My first recollection of John was when my father bought the Oliver equipment and BA Oil business from Fred Fredrickson in 1941. John had a ship set up on one side of the old Campbell store between the butcher shop and what is now a hairdresser shop on Main Street in Marwayne. Cliff Pinsent had a Bake Shop on the other side. Bill Ashworth and Frank Wheat were living upstairs with a poker den in the back. John’s living quarters were in another room - no power, only a gas engine on a line shaft-driven grinder, etc. Later John constructed another shop north of the railroad tracks beside where Highway 897 is now. He later purchased the building my father was in, which for years was his shop with living quarters in the back. He moved that shop to the location beside the building he had purchased from my father and built walls between them to join the two buildings. John had his own 32V power plant when he moved. He then proceeded to build a foundry, which, after some time he did fire up, but it was never put to work. About this time History had changed. Besides being on constant call for repairing any kind of machine, John also tried making a new patent for Philco radios, improving efficiency on the Coleman oil stove, and various other inventions. He also tried his hand at growing mushrooms. As well, John enjoyed curling and other sports. During World War II years, you might say John’s Fix-It-Shop kept the country in repairs. A couple or three times a week when you would hear the train whistle blowing, John would drop everything he was doing and jump in his old Durant truck (now that was a vehicle that took the hard knocks), and he would be down the tracks to shovel coal ahead for the steam engine. Over the years John constructed a large lathe. This gave him the opportunity to reconstruct almost anything - any part - to make a new repair. His favorite saying when you presented him with a piece to repair was ... “Just a damned piece of junk!” ... but the more challenge there was to it, the more you could be sure he would repair it. Many of you probably purchased your first oil burner stove, radio, fridge, etc. from him. After the war years, John kept up with his shop, welding, etc. Canadian Utilities brought power to the Marwayne community about 1950. Along with John Spence, John Doull was our first electrician for wiring our homes, and John Doull probably installed your first forced-air furnace, sold you your first black and white television and then your first colored one, and perhaps your first washing machine. In later years, John ran a very successful Laundromat. I am reminded of this because of all the change we handed out for the laundry machines. John was always on call for our many furnace repairs and would never turn you down - even if it was late at night - he always came through. I could continue for hours as over the years we learned a lot from John, which was put to good use in our lives. We had many hours of laughs and chit-chat. Most time he would be serious, sometimes comical, and sometimes boring, but we really enjoyed all of this. John was really health-food conscious. He raised bees for honey and pollen, grew wheat sprouts, and ate lots of garlic and created other potions to improve health. This must have kept him fairly healthy over the years as he seldom missed a day of work. John Doull was a scientist, engineer, machinist, inventor, mechanic, photographer, gardener, health researcher, businessman, and a true genius. As time changed so did many things, but our community owes John Doull our greatest gratitude for his many services ... and, if Heaven has a Wall of Fame, Johnny’s name will already be up on it. God Bless you, John! Card of Thanks Thank you to the Islay Health Center Staff for the loving care you gave John. Thank you to Glenn, Dale and Dave for your kindness and compassion; to Reverend Bob Aldrich; to Yvette Barnett, Shelley Johnson and Donna Eyben for the wonderful music; and to the ladies for the lovely lunch. Special thank you for the flowers, donations and cards in memory of John. The Doull Families Shann & Jim Carmichael Donations may be made to The Marwayne Cemetery Fund, The Canadian Cancer Society or Charity of Choice.