Obituary of Clifford Lovelace

OBITUARY Lovelace: Clifford Walter Edward Lovelace passed away on September 2nd, 2009 at the age of 59. Cliff is survived by his loving wife, Marlene and only son Kit and wife Kari, his brother Llew and wife Mary, two sisters, Marvel and Marcella, and many nephews and nieces. The funeral services for Cliff were held on September 19th with McCaw Funeral Services administered the funeral arrangements. Father Martin Pasala officiated the service. Eulogy was given by Greg and Janice Edwards with parting words given by Carl Furman, Dr. R. Sayeed, and Wayne Boulanger. Honorary Pallbearers were Colin Lovelace, Kerri-Sue Lovelace, Michael Wetzstein, Adam Wetzstein, Brian Shiplack, Marcel Boulanger, Candice Neil, and Amy Edwards. Eulogy Today will be a celebration of Cliff’s life; he would not want it any other way. Marlene said that in the past when Cliff was sick, there always seemed to be a light at the end, and there was. Unfortunately in the early morning hours of September 2, Cliff lost his battle, one that was courageously fought until the absolute end. Despite his health, Cliff lived a very colourful and active life and left us with many wonderful memories that will live on forever. At the conclusion of this eulogy we will be giving any one of you the opportunity to speak here today. I am Janice Edwards and this is my husband Greg. We have been family friends for well over 20 years. I don’t know the words to express our love for Cliff. We do know that we were extremely lucky to have had him in our life. We are so honoured to have been asked to share words about him today. As much as he was a friend he was a family man first. He truly loved and admired his wife Marlene of 37 years and we know his greatest pride was his son Kit and daughter in law Kari. Cliff spoke often of his family mainly from southern Saskatchewan and took every chance he could, to go and visit. Marlene’s family lived much closer to them so they had many more opportunities to be together. Clifford Walter Edward Lovelace was born to Clifford and Clara Lovelace in Yorkton, Saskatchewan on January 28, 1950. He was one of four children. He was predeceased by both his mother and father, his father in laws John Wetzstein 2 brother in laws and a nephew. Cliff attended the Kelsey Institute in Saskatoon and received his Renewable Resources diploma to become a Conservation Officer. He married the love of his life Marlene Wetzstein, on November 20, 1971 and on May 6, 1974 they were blessed with their only child, Clifford Kristopher Lovelace which we all know better as Kit. Cliff and Marlene resided in Lloydminster for 34 years, and for 33 of those years Cliff was a loyal employee of the Husky Oil Refinery. It was in 2002 that they left Lloyd to move to their cabin at Loon Lake, and in 2004 they started to make Sayulita, Mexico their winter home. Cliff was a man with many hobbies. His greatest interests were hunting, archery, fishing, golfing, landscaping and reading. He was passionate about every one of them. He was an active member of the Lloyd Archery and the Fish and Game Club. Regardless of how busy he was, he still took the time to volunteer with CIFC (the Canadian Iliostomy Foundation of Canada), and he barbequed to help raise money for Crohn’s Research. As well, he helped coach Youth Soccer for 5 years. I began working with Cliff in 1978 at the Refinery. Cliff was a hard worker and took his job very seriously. It was in 1996, that Cliff and Marlene became Godparents to our oldest daughter Amy. Amy was so excited because now she had a Godbrother and a God cat. From then on they were forced to do all the Godparent duties; you know the birthday parties, the recitals, and most recently her graduation. Truthfully, Cliff was one of those friends that you loved to be around. Everything just seemed to be okay. Life was good. You’d sit around and have a few drinks, and tell a few stories. He was easy to be with. His commitment to living was unlike anyone we knew, and we were extremely privileged to have had him in our life. Cliff was a mentor to us, and we learned many things from him. The one thing that stands out the most is that a lot of our problems are really minor in nature as opposed to what we make them out to be. Cliff’s issues were NEVER minor, and regardless of how he was feeling, he lived life, and he always seemed to have a plan. Cliff should be an inspiration to all of us. Marlene, Kit and Kari, have a few words they wanted us to share with you. Over the past few days our little family have given tears and laughter as we remember him, time spent with him, and wise advice offered. He was a kind and generous husband and father. Today we remember him and honour him, a man who was easy to love. A man who was quick to show compassion, slow to anger and quick to laughter, slow to take, but quick to give. He was an easy person to be with and always made you feel comfortable and at home. We always admired his practical approach to life. The important things were basic; his family, his friends and his zest for life! Greg and Janice Edwards Cliff truly enjoyed hunting and the outdoors, and I certainly enjoyed the time I got to spend doing those things with him. His excitement level was unmatched! Whether working on a project or hunting, Cliff was always concerned about doing his share of the work regardless of whether he was feeling his best or not. I don’t think the word ‘quit’ was in his dictionary, and the phrase ‘half hearted attempt’ was definitely on the back page. If something went wrong, got broke or a mistake was made Cliff had an amazing way of getting things back on track. He always had with him a supply of what could be called situation band-aids and depending on the situation you might hear something like, OOOH THAT’S GONNA LEAVE A STAIN, and all the negativity would be gone , laughter was restored, life was good again and things could go on as nothing went wrong in the first place. Cliff had an inner happiness that would come out and have a positive effect on everyone around him and I KNOW that that happiness came from having Marlene and his family with him, because {and I know this is going to be a surprise to Marlene} but Cliff and I did stop talking hunting from time to time and do some girl talk and it wasn’t hard to tell exactly were that happiness really stemmed from. I always had a lot of admiration for Cliff, as did my family, the way he kept his chin up and the way he went through life. We feel we were VERY LUCKY to have known him. With all the people there are in this world there was only one Cliff and the odds of being fortunate enough to meet him were small, the odds of becoming close friends, even smaller. So along with saying good-bye we would like to say THANK-YOU for letting us be some of the lucky people. Carl Furman To my father, You taught me so much in life but in death you taught me the most important thing; live life to the fullest, follow your dreams, and be with the ones you love. We will miss you so much! The Final Flight Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free I’m following the path God laid for me I took his hand when I heard his call, I turned my back and left it all I could not stay another day To laugh, to love, to work to play Tasks left undone must stay that way I’ve found that peace at the end of the day If my parting has left a void Then fill it with remembered joy A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss Ah, yes, these things too I will miss Be not burdened with times of sorrow I wish you sunshine of tomorrow My Life’s been full, I savoured much Good friends, good times, a loved ones touch Perhaps my time seemed all too brief Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief Lift up your heart and share with me God wanted me now, He set me free All our love, Marlene, Kit and Kari Lovelace, the rest of the Lovelace family, the Shiplack family, the Boulanger family, and the Wetzstein family. Our family would like to express their thanks to family, friends and neighbors for their thoughtfulness and kindness which was shown through flowers, cards, food, gifts, phone calls, donations and words of comfort during this very trying time. Donations in memory of Cliff may be made to the Crohns and Colitis Foundation.