Obituary of Harold Almond

ALMOND ~ Harold Robert Almond passed away in the Lloydminster Hospital on Friday, July 12, 2013 at the age of 72 years. Harold was born November 25, 1940 in Edmonton, AB to Magdalena and Henry Almond. Harold will be remembered and missed by his loving wife, Iris; sons Perry (Janet) of Chestermere, AB; Jason (Gina) of Lloydminster; grandchildren, Madison and Mia, Zachery and Nicholas; sister Diane (Al) Popoff of Lloydminster; sister-in-laws Elaine Lacusta, Lovette Dove and Anna McCormick all of Lloydminster; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Harold was predeceased by: his father and mother Henry and Magdalena Almond; Sister Julia; father-in-law and mother-in-law John and Zenovia Lakusta; brothers-in-law Walter Lacusta and Peter Lakusta as well as niece, Julie Lakusta. The prayer vigil was conducted from the McCaw Funeral Chapel, Lloydminster on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 with Father Bohdan Nahachewsky officiating. The chanters were Jess Lastiwka and Susan Callfas. Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated from St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church, Lloydminster on Wednesday, July 17, 2013, with Fr. Rajappa Savariappan officiating. The eulogy was given by Perry and Jason, which can be read below. The leader of songs was Marlene Risling; accompanied by trumpeter Mel Risling and organist Donna Weston. Gift bearers were Harold's grandchildren, Madison & Mia, Zachery and Nicholas. Honorary Pallbearers were: Dr. Clarke Stevens, Peter Bidlock, Daryl Weeres, Al Popoff, John Makovichuk, Bill Jordan and Laurence Pearson. Active Pallbearers were: Joe Beattie, Bob Troup, Owen Lakusta, Gregg Lacusta, Jamie Popoff, Rick Edwards and Dion Pollard. Internment followed at the Lloydminster City Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Services of Lloydminster administered the funeral arrangements. Card of Thanks: We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude for the love, prayers and kindness shown to our family during the recent loss of Harold. To Dr. Christian Gerber our sincere thank you and appreciation for the faithful care and compassion you gave Harold over the years. Our many thanks to all the Home Care nurses and aids for the special care shown to Harold and our family. Thank you to all the doctors, nurses and staff on the 3rd Floor and Physio Department. To Fr. Bo, Jess and Susan, our deep appreciation for your consoling message of faith and music at the Prayer Service. Thank you to Fr. Raj for your holy and reverent support in the days leading up to and during Mass; to Marlene, Mel and Donna for your beautiful music; and our heartfelt thanks to all the Honorary and Active Pallbearers. It was a comfort to us during this difficult time. Our sincere thank you to Colleen Hozack for the delicious lunch, as well as Joel McCaw and the McCaw staff for their patience, compassion and guiding support. A special thank you to all family, friends and neighbors for your prayers, visits, cards, beautiful flowers, memorial donations, gifts of food, and loving support. Your thoughtfulness and kindness will be cherished and always remembered. Iris Perry, Janet, Madison & Mia Jason, Gina, Zachery & Nicholas Diane, Al and family Eulogy for Harold Almond Read by: Perry & Jason Almond In writing this eulogy, you think about what to say about your father… who he was? What did he do? What was he like? What was his legacy? In searching for answers to share with you all, what we can tell you was that in some twisted, perhaps subliminal way, Dad was a teacher of sorts. To explain this, I've always attributed our successes in life to having great teachers and Jason is a successful teacher. Suddenly, this all starts to add up. Dad was our first teacher. Harold Robert Almond was born on November 25, 1940 in Edmonton, Alberta. He was the son of Henry and Magdalena (Hunder) Almond. He grew up in Lloydminster and was the middle child with his two sisters, his younger sister Diane Popoff and older sister, Julia, who passed away at the age of twenty, in 1956. Dad did all his formal Grade 1 to 12 schooling in Lloydminster, graduating from Lloydminster High School in 1959. While in high school, Dad had many hobbies and interests. He enjoyed hockey, basketball, bowling, stamp collecting, mechano sets, and trading comics with his friend Bobby King (he had the best comics)… Dad and Diane used to go out to the farm with their parents. One story Auntie Diane shared with us was that Dad enjoyed getting at the mice that were hiding in the farm machines. He would shake the seeding coils on Grandpas seeder, mice would scatter out then Dad and Diane would throw stones at them. Wow, if only they had that game on an Xbox. While growing up, Dad had many friends, but more notably Clarke Stevens and Peter Bidlock. Clarke used to tag along with Dad when driving with Grandpa to Moose Jaw and Weyburn to visit Julia while she was being cared for. Dad even drove before he had his licence because Grandpa was legally blind. What a trip that must have been, it must have added an extra 10 years to his driving experience. One of the big moments in high school was meeting his future sweetheart, Iris, eventually dating steady and then engaged and then married on November 30, 1963. Their first date was in September of '57, when Dad asked mom to the dance at the High School; he even splurged the 10 cent admission for Mom. Dad was a real family man. He always gave us kids everything he could, with what he had. Always teaching, always correcting (and even twice as much when his hearing started to go). Talk about repetition! Growing up he was highly involved in sports. Hockey was the biggie! Dad was heavily involved in hockey playing as a kid, then continued playing Commercial league hockey until we grew older. He continued to be involved as a coach and manager for each of us over the years, right from Thom Thumb to Juvenile. He also was involved with Lloyd Minor Hockey as co-equipment manager with Daryl Weeres, volunteering many long hours at the basement dressing rooms at the Civic Center. One of the highlights of the hockey years, was the year he was assistant manager of Jason's Midget A team that claimed silver in the 1985 Provincials. Even though the team lost in overtime, we knew he was proud of everyone's efforts. Early morning practices, tournaments all over Alberta, years and years of coaching, managing teams and players, Dad would always give his version of coaches corner after the games (and even between periods if he had the chance… again, teaching and re-teaching). It didn't end there, in the summer dad helped with baseball and even teamed up with Johnny Makovichuk as scout leaders for cubs. I think dad really enjoyed this as he had fond memories of being a boy scout growing up. Also, this gave more opportunities to camp as we all loved camping and being in the outdoors. Dad and Mom used to surprise us at the start of summer holidays with vacation destinations. In our early years with Grandparents from both sides… driving the old green station wagon (you know the pea soup green color you just can't get out of your head), and going to places like Seattle, Victoria, Kamloops, etc. Bringing home souvenirs like driftwood, pine cones and Gedo's 20 foot long pieces of seaweed… which by the time the seaweed hit Alberta, it was more like a garbage bag full of green protein shake that smelled like… well, let's just say that it was distinct and unpleasant. Somewhere along the way came the old red Mercury and 16 foot Travel-air trailer taking us to places like North and South Dakota, Spokane and Great Falls. It even took us a few weekends to Loon Lake where we parked the trailer at Uncle Walter and Auntie Elaine's, then eventually at the bottom of the hill at Lot 181. Dad was a driving machine, once a week going from town to town as a journeyman partsman, Jason and I would fool around in the back seat, but when the fighting started, there was only one safe zone, the no swing zone behind Dad's seat, to avoid the arm… we all know the finger point and the voice, "CAN IT, YOU TWO!" Other excursions included visiting with many friends and relatives at Floating Stone with the Bidlocks, Moose and Garner Lakes with the Makovichuk's, Rockwell's, Kelly's and Mlynarchy's. Each year it seemed we were celebrating the Stanley Cup finals on May long weekend under the big top trailer tarp. One story Mom recollects was one night Dad not being in the trailer and realizing it was 3am. She went outside and found Dad sitting with Johnny Makovichuk by the fire wearing stubby beer bottles with binder twine using them as binoculars, star gazing and searching for UFO's. "Get to Bed!" mom said. Finally it was time to settle down at one place for the summers and that is when Dad and Mom purchased Lot 181 at Loon Lake in June of 1976. Wow… the cabin! From the beginning when the clearing of the trees began on the hillside, to the digging of the pilings, the floor and decking, beams, walls and the roof. That roof… Dad and us boys on the roof placing and nailing the boards, mom handing up each board with Dad making sure the butt ends met at the rafters and Mom judging the contrast of each board. Measure twice, cut once was Dad's motto. That Saturday and Sunday all day.... The Lord really blessed us those two days with clear skies. The next 30+ years at the lake were filled with fun and fellowship with all "the Lake" friends and relatives. Countless get togethers celebrating birthdays, New Years including the Millenium, anniversaries, even wedding proposals. Furthermore, days and days of boating, waterskiing, fishing (cleaning fish!) and golfing. Of course the score card never usually got tallied up until after a couple of cool ones at the cabin. It was always a good round. As far as work was concerned, Dad had a successful and rewarding career at General Motors spanning 38 years. He starting with RJR Noyes as a Partsman. He advanced to a Parts Manager position with Meyers' Canadiana Automotive, Cavalier Chev-Olds with Ed and Barb Gulka and finally with Ross Ulmer Chev-Olds, before retirement. I had the the opportunity to work one summer with Dad and I can tell you he had a passion with parts and numbers. Your headlight bulb wasn't called a headlight bulb; it was an 1156 or 1157, and glass cleaner was called 992727. Dad's greatest moments were when customers came in for an "odd" part, Dad would search the books, fish the database and finally if inventory showed one in stock, then high and low, the search began and guaranteed he always found it. Perhaps it was this type of dedication that earned him the Masters Manager's Award for many years of his career. In retirement, Dad had a passion for gardening, re-organizing the garage, and "tinkering" with the tools both at home and at the lake - which led to building prize winning bird houses, growing beautiful tomatoes, and there was even a little time left over for visiting a good garage sale. Over the past few years, as Dad's health was beginning to become a challenge, he spent more time at home, with Mom right there caring for him every step of the way. He continued to enjoy Grandchildren at any opportunity that was possible, whether it was a trip to see the girls in Calgary, or the boys coming over to the house to enjoy a DVD. The Sunday preceding his passing, we were blessed to hear about Auntie Diane and Uncle Al's visit with Dad, that can be well described as a "moment of clarity." They visited Dad for about an hour; he looked good, sounded good, could hear good, and his memory was as sharp as a tack… the best chat they had in years. Dad's legacy can be described simply as a person who always gave what he could with what he had, checks and balances always reinforced, and finally something that is so rare these days… 50 years of marriage - with Mom and Dad being just a few months shy of their Golden Wedding Anniversary, an example of something we all hope to achieve. From the Gospel, Mark 10:9 says, "What God has joined together, let no one separate." A husband, a Father, a Grandpa, an Uncle, a Relative, a Friend… Dad will be forever loved and forever remembered.