Obituary of Kevin James

JAMES ~ Kevin Edward James passed away at the University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta on Thursday, April 24, 2014 at the age of fifty-seven years. Kevin was born on May 30, 1956 to Russell and Vernon James. Kevin will be sadly missed by: his loving wife, Rose; two daughters, Kara and her husband Jason Wakefield and Becky and her husband Jesse Gammell; four grandchildren, Shelby and Cooper Wakefield, and Sydney and Meah Gammell; one sister, Elaine and her husband, Barry McKenzie as well as numerous other relatives. Kevin was predeceased by his parents, Russell & Vernon; and his son, Chad. The Memorial Service for Kevin was conducted from the Lloydminster Exhibition, Stockade Convention Centre, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, April 30, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. with Don Retzlaff officiating. Dave Savage gave the eulogy. Special CD Music "What Makes A Farmer" by Paul Harvey was played during the service. The honorary pallbearers were all of his friends that had a special place in his heart. Donations in memory of Kevin may be made to the Make A Wish Foundation, S.T.A.R.S. or to a charity of the donor's choice. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. Card of Thanks Rose, Kara, Jason, Shelby, Cooper, Becky, Jesse, Sydney and Meah would like to extend a huge Thank You to everybody who sent cards, well wishes, phone calls, brought food, and came for visits, due to Kevin's passing. We would also like to say an extra special Thank You to those who came to the hospital while we were there, Dave Savage for doing the eulogy, people who watched our children, and those who cared for the farm and the animals on it for us during this time. Your kind support of our family is amazing and really appreciated. EULOGY There are hardly words to describe the man that we are here to honor today, but we are going to give it a shot. Kevin Edward James was born in Lashburn, Saskatchewan on May 30, 1956 to Vernon and Russell James. They brought him home to his sister Elaine and their farm in the Bear Island District. This is the place where he spent his entire life and where his wife, Rose still works today. As a child he played with a whole bunch of neighbor kids, Darrell Squair, Blaine McMillan and Doug Mawdsley to name a few. Many neighborhood children, he played with right until the end of his life. When he started school in Waseca, it was the beginning of a lifetime of meeting an astounding number of people, usually turning them into his friends. In later years, he attended school in Maidstone where he found more people to visit and hang out with. Kevin was smart enough not to be a scholar, but somehow come home with decent grades. He had enough charm and wit to con more than a couple of girls into getting notes done and although he would never admit to it, I would imagine a bit of homework too! Kevin always said that he had all his subjects in one notebook but when it came down to the exams he always seemed to come out alright. When Kevin was not in school he played hockey and did a lot of tobogganing during the winter and ball in the summer, later on with the Marshall Hotelers. Kevin spent most of his youth working on the family farm. There, from his parents, he learned how to work hard making a living by tending to animals and working the land. Vernon and Russell had many animals such as chickens, pigs, the odd milk cow around, but their favorites were the horses. They passed their love and knowledge for them onto Kevin. He spent many hours in the saddle, training, riding and just plain enjoying being around his horses. Kevin had a way with them that a lot of people never understood. Kevin treated horses almost like children. He would actually make friends with them, getting to know them, playing with them, working with them, healing them and correcting them when needed. Horses, and most animals for that matter, seemed to have a respect for Kevin that few people ever seen. Kevin would do his best by them, and in turn, they would do amazing things for him. They would even go as far as to protect Kevin. If you grabbed Kevin's arm or he yelled for whatever reason, his first milk cow Karen, purchased from Gwen and Gordon Welch, would come running to protect him. She would take a round out of whatever was causing the problem. You didn't want to be the problem! In later years, Kevin's favorite stud horse, Barney kicked him by accident. Barney hung his head and wouldn't eat for three days because he felt so bad. Kevin could ride his horse right through a herd of mares and never have an issue. Barney would even protect his kids. One day Rose went to the barn with Chad in the baby carriage. Rose went to grab something from the barn and case out to find Barney standing over top of the carriage with teeth barred, snorting, blowing and making quite a racket. Here a cow had taken offense to the baby carriage and was coming hard to take it out. Barney stayed until Rose came along and the cow went the other direction. Ever so gently, Barney just stepped around the carriage and went on his way. Other than working on the farm, Kevin spent many days hunting. He got pretty good with his.22. Kevin and a couple of buddies would go pick enough crab apples to fill the back seat of the old '67 Chev Impala that Vernon had, then grab their guns and get their limit of ducks for the day. He also spent a lot of time gopher hunting and got the odd deer when the season was right. In the winter, he loved to go ski-dooing and curling with his friends. One of his curling buddies happened to be Terry Carpentier. One night, while picking up Terry to go curl in North Battleford, Kevin met Rose. That was the night he called Rose the fat little kid that sat in the corner. Needless to say, she didn't like him much after that. When Kevin was old enough to leave home, he worked at Dometar in Lloydminster for $3.01/hour, which by his standards, was pretty good cash in those days. Kevin always seemed to have a need for horsepower so with his hard earned cash he bought a yellow Duster and then a brand new Dodge Charger with a 318 in it. He enjoyed this car but soon had his sights on another Charger RT, this one orange in color and came complete with a 440-6 pack in it. I think this one was probably his favorite because from all accounts it passed everything but a fuel station. This car met its end in an accident in Lloydminster one day so Kevin took the engine out and put it in a Challenger. After that he had an El Camino. Somewhere in the midst of all the cars, working, helping on the farm, and hanging out with friends at dances and parties, Kevin met Terry McKone. They soon married and had his daughter Rebecka. By the time this marriage had run its course, Kevin had a job pumping wells for Husky. Darrell Squair was instrumental in teaching Kevin how to do this job. Apparently, Darrell wasn't feeling very well and had a snooze in a field while Kevin ran around and did what Darrell needed done. This was far from the last time he would help one of his friends. After another night of curling, Kevin and his buddies walked into Maidstone Hotel where Rose was now waitressing and they met again. This meeting went a little bit better. He asked her out to a Husky Dance and the rest. They say is history. This is when Kevin met his other daughter, Kara. By 1978, his parents had starting taking thoroughbred horses to race at the tracks in Regina and Saskatoon. This was the beginning of Kevin really taking over the operations on the family farm. He spent many days hauling horses and feed to the track, while farming the land at home. The muscle cars turned into farm trucks and Kevin became a family man. In 1980, Kevin and Rose had a son named Chad and their family was complete. Kevin finally married Rose, January 10, 1983 after she asked him! They eloped to North Battleford with Harlem and Lori Wiltermuth standing up for them. They had a camera and took a few pictures but it was so cold that day that the film in the camera broke after leaving it in the car when they went in for supper. The bear Island community got gypped out of a wedding for the pair but they paid Kevin and Rose back one hell of a house party awhile later. Things really started to get busy raising kids and horses while running the farm and building a small herd of commercial cattle. Kevin taught his children how to love and respect the land, the people and animals that lived on it. In order to supplement the farm income, Kevin learned how to be a farrier and outride for Stuart Napper, a local chuck wagon driver. By the early 90's the horse racing was coming to an end but the weekends were full of chuck wagon racing and a whole new large family of friends. Kevin spent many of those days shoeing horses in the day and outriding at nights for the Napper, McEwen, Knight, Rainey and Baptiste families to name a few. Few people can shoe up to twenty horses a day and still ride in up to nine races each night. When he went home, he would work on the farm and also learned to build racing harnesses. Kevin got his own heavy duty sewing machine and went to work building beautiful harnesses for many different drivers, complete with matching equipment for the outriding horses. He absolutely loved it because he got to visit with tons of people while still being with his horses. Kevin seemed to have boundless energy because he was doing what he enjoyed. His daughter Kara, often joked that she was going to donate Kevin to science fiction. The amount of wrecks that Kevin was in was unfathomable and the resulting injury was astounding, yet he rarely went to a doctor for these things. He was in anything from car accidents to one horse rollovers and everything between. He almost never had to go to the doctor to fix up whatever was ailing. Some of his more popular remedies were Absorbine horse liniment, Zev Cough Syrup (made by Buckleys) for horses and believe it or not, Crazy Glue. Once while outriding, there was a malfunction with the equipment and the lead eveners came swinging around. At full speed they took Kevin out, just below both knees. Most people would have gone to the side of the infield for treatment of possible fractures, but not him. Instead he hauled himself into the saddle and made it around the track. You wouldn't want your driver to get a penalty because of you, and besides, he was still walking so why go to a doctor? Kevin and a horse had a disagreement in the barn. The horse rammed forward and put his arm through the door frame of the barn door, not the door but the actual wall that the door was in. After reminding the animal of his manners his elbow swelled up to the size of a grapefruit. Kevin figured that he would soak it in some liniment and it would be okay. He could still move it, so what would be the point of going to a doctor, right? If you had a cough, you took a shot of Zev and kept on going. If you had a cut, clean it up, Crazy Glue it back together and keep it moving. In Kevin's mind, it took time to go see the doctor that could be better spent working his farm, helping friends or spending time with his family. In the late 90's the farm was really starting to thrive and Kevin started to spend less time following the wagons and more time with his family and growing herd of cattle. In 1995, he watched both his daughters graduate highschool in Lashburn and was never so proud. Shortly after that, in 1997 Kevin and Rose suffered their biggest tragedy when they lost their son in a car accident. Some families split up after suffering a loss like that but not Kevin and Rose. They were still side by side and stronger than ever despite the massive hurt that they were each dealing with. Continuing in true Kevin James fashion, he acquired some more pasture land and started to build his commercial cattle herd. This began yet another chapter in his life and yet another large family of friends to get to know. Over the years, Kevin became friends with the Oddan Family, the Stewart Family, Stan Walterhouse, Lanny Bristow, Stan Jacobson and many, many others. He truly loved going to the bull sales. Where else would you find all of his friends, cattle to look at and coffee to drink in all the same place? After the sale, you may even find a good glass of rye or scotch to share with friends so they could talk about the sale and whichever one was coming up next. In his mind, you couldn't get much better than that. Kevin had a good eye for cattle and knew the kind of her that he wanted to have. It was a mixed herd with mainly horned Hereford base of cows but it was not uncommon for Kevin to throw in a Simmental, Charolais, Limo or Black Angus bull just to change things up a bit. Over the years, he managed to work from one milk cow to a nice herd of 180. That is quite a feat considering all the other irons he had in the fire. Kevin was a cowboy, through and through, if you haven't guessed that already. He had an old school way of thinking most things and his cowboy logic ruled. Things like, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," "feed your animals before yourself," and "treat everybody with respect" were just common place everyday things for him. His neighbor Ernie Squair said "what good's a neighbor if you can't use him once in awhile" and Kevin took that to heart. He often helped the Squairs or Thorsteinsons with harvest and cattle, Janie Dick, Don Retzlaff or Donna Marchadour with horse advice, and many others work cattle, fix machinery, or a multitude of other things. Kevin, more often than not, had his own things that he could have been doing but it would keep until he got back from the neighbors. Kevin was a man without airs about himself. He really didn't feel the nee to change himself for anyone or any situation that he was in and couldn't figure out why anyone else would want to change either. He hated to be in debt to anybody in any way and usually made up for it and then some. It was okay if you owed him for years even, but not the other way around. If Kevin said something was going to happen, then sooner or later it did. His word was his bond and he did his best to keep every promise that he made. Kevin was the type of person that made friends with people from every walk of life. Everyone from the smallest kids, business people, farmers, ranchers, chiropractors, doctors, nurses, waitresses, politicians, male, female, it just didn't matter who or what you were. As long as you wanted to visit or have fun, he would and usually found a place to have a cup of coffee or other beverage while you were at it. He seemed to make it his business to collect friends and meet good people everywhere that he was. Kevin was that type of person that no matter what kind of crap day you were having, you usually felt a bit better after talking to him for a bit. Kevin was very loyal and committed to these relationships and would help them out whenever it was possible for him to do so. If Kevin counted you as a friend this opened you up to no end of teasing because he loved to tease. He could manage to find something to pick your butt about at any given time and almost make a sport of it. It was always in good fun and you knew that you had made it into his good books if he was teasing you about something. Kevin usually got everybody, but you could tell he definitely had his favorite people to get a rise out of. More often than not it ended up being his wife Rose, daughter Kara, many of the neighbor ladies (you know who you are: Marilyn, Shirley, Janie), Wendy Carpentier, or various members of his family but was definitely not restricted to just these people. Kevin's family was his best achievement in his mind. They were the reason that he did all the things that he did and immensely important to him. He was husband and friend for Rose; father, teacher and friend for his kids. Some things that he passed along were sometimes tough to take but he always had the best of intentions. Another proud moment for Kevin was when his girls got married. He was at Becky's wedding to Jesse Gammel and there weren't many buttons left on his shirt after walking Kara down the aisle to marry Jason Wakefield. Kevin was thrilled at adding more people to his family, as long as the boys treated his girls well. When the grand babies started coming into the world, you never met a more excited, happy, worried, protective grandpa in all your life. Shelby was his first granddaughter, followed by Sydney, then Copper and then Meah. Kevin loved to get them involved in whatever was going on. Quite often when doing chores you would wonder what was taking the tractor so long, only to find out that he was teaching Shelby to drive. She would wander all over the place and it didn't matter. Cooper got to drive once in awhile too and under Papa Kevin's guidance got pretty good at it. When there was a gathering there would almost always be "Stampede Wrestling" starring Kevin and his grandkids. He would chase those kids all over the house, screaming and yelling the whole time until you couldn't hear yourself think! The odd time the big kids would even get sucked into the act. Kevin, Rose, Kara and Chad were in one such wrestling match in their living room one afternoon, only to find that they were being watched for the past ten minutes by one of the neighbors who had come over for coffee. He was quite amused. I could go on for hours with different stories about Kevin's life but most of you know because you were there for at least a few. Kevin James had a full life but strangely enough if you look at it, all of his life comes down to a few simple things, his farm and land, his friends and his family. Thanks for the memories cowboy.