Obituary of Duncan Mitchell

MITCHELL ~ Duncan Mitchell passed at the Maidstone Health Complex, Maidstone, Saskatchewan on Friday, June 20, 2014 at the age of 86 years. Duncan will be sadly missed by: his loving wife, Verla; son Larry (Eleanor) Mitchell; daughter Brenda (Brian) Reifferscheid; eight grandchildren, Lisa Mitchell, Joshua (Tiffany) Mitchell, Amanda (Glen) Schumacher, Brad Sutherland, Matt Sutherland, Cory (Cynthia) Reifferscheid, Colin Reifferscheid, and Cameron Reifferscheid; five great-grandchildren, Simon Mitchell, Isabella Mitchell, Jansen Sutherland, Bennett Sutherland, Julien Reifferscheid; and sister, Sharon Pegg (Bill Ardley). Duncan was predeceased by: his son Brian (BJ) Mitchell, sister Margaret Reed and brother in-law Edson Reed. The Memorial Service was conducted from the Maidstone United Church, Maidstone, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Ean Kasper officiating. The Eulogy was given by Larry Mitchell. The Organist was Frances Wright. The Honorary Pallbearers were all friends and family. The Urnbearer was Joshua Mitchell. Interment was held at the Maidstone Cemetery. The reception was held in the CE Wing. Donations in memory of Duncan Mitchell may be made to Charity of Choice in lieu of flowers. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. Eulogy for Duncan Mitchell He hated long funeral services. Since this eulogy is in his remembrance, I will try to keep this short and sweet in honor of my father's memory. His hobbies: My dad loved taking photos, a Mitchell family tradition. On Monday, we traveled to the southern Mitchells to help observe Bernice's 90th. When I walked into the kitchen, lined up in a row were several fancy cameras. I think there is a deep photo gene running in the veins of the family. He loved biking. One of his dreams was to ride down a mountain trail in Hawaii, which was accomplished a few years ago when he traveled there. He loved to bike until his knees began to give out. One of the disappointments if 2014 was his inability to go for a ride this year. He was also quite a skier. I do not have the build for cross country ski sprinting, so I think it gave him some pleasure that he could still out ski me when he was in his 70s. Wanting a little more excitement, he took up downhill skiing in his sixties. He loved fishing. His favorite lure was orange with black spots. That lure seemed to be the fish's favorite as well. Many a time, I would try trolling or casting beside my father. I used the same lure and would cast my spoon adjacent to his. He would pull them in, but I would be skunked. I could never figure it out. Perhaps it was his cologne. My dad never had to buy golf balls. He is the only golfer I knew who would leave the course with more balls than he had when he arrived. His slice would take him into the trees. He would come out not only with his ball, but usually two or three other lost balls. He used to bowl against Verla. It became quite a competition. Whoever had the high score would phone Brenda to brag about their victory. When consulting with the family about his hobbies, I was surprised to learn about his love of traveling. He had visited England, Scotland, Eastern Canada, Vegas, Cuba, Disneyland and Disneyworld, but he especially loved Hawaii. This surprised me because I remember traveling with my father as a child. He would warn us to go to the bathroom before we parted, for he had no intention of stopping for meals or toilet breaks until it was time to fill up the tank. Like all other Saskatchewanians, he was a Roughrider fan. But I understand he wound up in the wrong section for a rider game a few years ago. He and mom wound up in a section usually frequented by the university crowd. He made no attempt to hide his annoyance with the rowdies sitting around him. A security officer realizing that my parents were sitting in the wrong section, moved them to their proper location. One of topics he wanted to bring up while he was on his death bed in Saskatoon were the Rider's exhibition games. I think he would have been pleased that the Roughriders were the current Grey Cup champions at the time of his passing. He loved airshows. He made sure we all knew of the upcoming Cold Lake show, and if his health had held out, I am sure he would have been there this summer to watch to show. He had a green thumb. He loved gardening, always planting more potatoes than they could use. He also loved to farm, and although he was known to complain about everything that seemed to go wrong during the harvest, it seemed to be his favorite time of the year. And finally there was his addiction to coffee row. I do not think he was addicted to the caffeine, but to the juicy gossip that always seemed to spring from this local morning ritual. The Person: In 1983 dad had an accident and he never was completely there for the rest of his life. While water skiing, he left the end of his thumb in the lake for fish food. The loss of the thumb also ended his ambition to become a rock star. He could no longer pick his guitar after he lost his thumb. My father was known from time to time to knit some tall tales. I know that there was one winter so cold that conversations froze until the spring. Then all the frozen dialogues thawed, and the spring erupted with a multitude of voices awakening from the winter hibernation. We also all knew the horrors of an untreated wound. It would mortify and turn into a sow's foot. One time when we were at a Chinese restaurant in Lloydminster, Brian my brother and I were going through a growth spurt, and we targeted one course which my father loved. Dad asked an innocent question, "Since when do you like eating boiled alligator meat?" Brian and I lost our appetites and dad was able to finish off his favorite dish. He was a creative soul, writing poetry, some of which were turned into musical ballads. I think Rob and I embarrassed him when we heard that he taught the children at camp some of those songs. And when I coached Joshua's soccer team, we were known as the crows. It seemed only appropriate to teach my team the classic hit, Did you see a black thing?. Did you see a black thing? Yes I saw a black thing. What did the black thing say? The black thing said, Caw, caw all day. His children were often moved to tears when dad would mourn about his old age. How sorry we would be for him when turned into an old man; people would laugh at him, dogs would bark at him, little children would throw stones at him. Then we would be sorry for mistreating him. He was a hard-working, faithful husband and father. Unless he was engaged in playing a prank, which he often did, he was trustworthy. (My father used to set mousetraps in the local hardware store bin.) He hated those in authority that abused their powers. He was known to complain especially if it were dishonest politicians, or hypocritical theologians. (He once told me that the only preacher he trusted was Billy Graham - he did not trust anyone who didn't practice what he preached). He was a skeptic, but an honest skeptic, a virtue that I share with him. In an age of conspiracy theories, TV evangelists, in a society that seeks truth from Youtube sites, we need more honest skeptics to stand in the gap, and dare to challenge every proclamation brought forth by modern day prophets and fortune tellers claiming to speak for God. I personally have learned that I can trust only one, not Billy Graham, not even myself. I have discovered that the only one I can trust is the one who rose again on the third day, defeating death, hell and sin, providing the hope in the resurrection to come. He promised, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Card of Thanks The family of Duncan Mitchell would like to thank our friends and family for all the compassion and support given to us at the time of our loss. We appreciated all the visits, cards, phone calls, donations, food and flowers. A special thank you to all involved with the funeral service, including: Ean Kasper for officiating, Larry Mitchell for the eulogy, Josh Mitchell for carrying the urn, Frances Wright for playing the organ, the United Church Women for supplying the lunch and McCaw Funeral Service Ltd. for their services. We would also like to send a heartfelt thank you to all the Doctors, Nurses and Ambulance Attendants between Maidstone and Saskatoon. Verla Mitchell Larry & Eleanor Mitchell and Family Brian and Brenda Reifferscheid and Family