Obituary of Richard Towndrow

BIOGRAPHY TOWNDROW ~ Richard William Towndrow passed away in Blackfoot, Alberta Saturday, May 11, 2013 at the age of fifty-two years. Rick leaves to mourn his loving wife, Christine; four children: Tiffany, Jesse, Lindsay and Colby; three grandchildren: Luke, Bradlee and Hunter; mother, Joyce Towndrow; sisters: Diane Chamber, Chris Watson, Wendy Veer, Vicky MacIntosh, Sheila Ammundson and Selena. The Funeral Service was conducted from Paradise Valley Community Hall Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Lois Greenlay-Burwash officiating. Cody Hutchison gave the eulogy. The active pallbearers were Harley Dietrich, Cody Hutchison, Guy Willoughby, Jesse Towndrow, Jason Dalton and Mel Meyer. Interment was held in the Paradise Valley Cemetery. Donations in Richard's memory may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or to a charity of the donors choice. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. EULOGY Richard William TOWNDROW was born in Lloydminster on March, 31, 1961 to William and Joyce Towndrow. Rick was born between five sisters, growing up as the only boy in a home with five sisters would surely teach Rick patience and determination, qualities that would become very evident in Rick's character throughout his life. Rick would spend the first five years of his life living in Paradise Valley, where his dad operated a farming and trucking company…until one day Mr. Towndrow along with his brother Morris decided to start the family farm, I'm sure having a growing young boy to help out factored into this decision. For the next eleven years Rick along with his mother, father and five sisters would work hard to make a living off the land. At age sixteen Rick decided to branch out on his own and leave the farm….but as we will see the farm never really left him. After leaving home Rick would work a number of jobs until he took a job at Mobile GC, working at Mobile Rick would make more than money, he formed friendships that would last a lifetime. One of these friends, Harley, would go on to be the best man at his wedding and his closest friend to this day, but without a doubt though the most important person he would meet during his time at Mobile was the woman who would go on to be his wife and the mother to his children, Christine. Rick and Christine would date for 1 ½ years before being married on November 20th 1982 at which time they moved to back to the farm to set up a home and begin their life together. After Rick's dad passed in 1988 he decided to take over the family farm and make it his living. On March 16th 1989 Rick and Chris were blessed with their first child Tiffany Dawn Towndrow. Two years would pass and Rick and Chris's young family would continue to expand with the birth of his first son Jessie William Towndrow on December 4th 1991. Around this time Rick, like many farmers before him, he was faced with the difficult decision to move off the farm in order to better provide for his young family. As was the case when a younger Rick left the farm, the love of farming never left him, up and including this very year and for twenty-one years in total he has helped his friends the Oliver's at their family farm. This is a testament to the kind of man Rick was. Once in town Rick would take a job at Atco Electric as a meter reader, it was at this time he would apprentice to be and succeed at becoming a power line man. Rick left school at sixteen and had a young family that he was forced to move away from, this was not an easy proposition, but he did it, he did it for himself and for his family; though determination that's the kind of guy Rick was. On September 6th 2000 Rick became a father for a third time with the birth of his daughter Lindsey Heather Towndrow. Life as a family of five was busy and balancing home, work and hunting seasons can be a challenge, but Rick was a devoted father coaching hockey, soccer and always volunteering for the run to cure cancer. On March 17th 2004 Rick's family was completed with the birth of Colby Christopher Towndrow. … Families though never stop growing and never stop rewarding and Rick was able to experience this once more when his eldest daughter Tiffany blessed him with three grand children; Luc, Hunter and Bradley. As well as being a devoted father and husband Rick was also an avid outdoorsmen, on a nice day no matter what the season Rick could be found shooting gophers, quadding or ski-dooing but his favorite thing to do outdoors was to hunt. The crown jewel of the hunting season for Rick was always the annual moose-hunting trip. Hutch, Randy, David, Moe, Bob, Don, Russ, Gilles and the boys; over fifteen or so moose hunting seasons formed a brotherhood with each other and I'm sure they'll hoist a round in the bush to honor that bond for years to come. In closing I just want to say above all my uncle was a great ,great guy, some one you could look at and think that's the kind of man I want my son to be like or that's the kind of man that I want to be like and at the end of the days that's the best complement I think anyone could possibly receive . CARD OF THANKS Thank you to friends, family for their support and Paradise Valley U.C.W. for the wonderful luncheon, and to the hockey team and hockey Mom's. A Special Thank you to my girlfriends and my sister who have stood by me during this difficult time. I would also like to thank McCaw Funeral Service and Reverend Lois Greenlay-Burwash for the beautiful service. Chris Towndrow and Children