Obituary of Wade McEwen

McEWEN ~ Wade Travis McEwen passed away in El Centro, California on February 7, 2009 at the age of 43 years. Wade will be sadly missed by his fiancee Rhonda Francis and her family; his two children: Chantrese and Coleman; his parents: Ann & Allie McEwen; his siblings: Monti & Sandra McEwen, Marti & Maureen McEwen, Lisa & Bill Spence; his nephews & nieces: Connor & Cassidy, Chelsey & Chase and Dalton & Alex. The memorial service was conducted from the Lloydminster Stockade Convention Centre, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Bob Aldrich officiating. The eulogy was read by Marti McEwen, Monti McEwen and Lisa McEwen Spence. The music was "The Old Rugged Cross", "You Raise My Up" and "Amazing Grace" all sung by Yvette Barnett. EULOGY Good afternoon everyone. My name is Lisa McEwen Spence; these are my brothers Marti and Monti. We are going to be sharing with you some of the memories we have of our big brother. I think this memorial should be a joyful one, and not a mournful one. We, after all, have to keep in mind whose life we are here to celebrate, and that is what he would have preferred. Wade always believed in the saying "We are here for a good time not a long time" and this is pretty much the way he lived his life. Wade Travis McEwen was first born May 10, 1965 to Allie and Ann. At an early age, you could see that he had a big heart. He would often play the role of mom's little helper when the twins were born. Wade was often called on to help with the twins as Dad was away trucking. Mom recalls leaving Wade in charge of one of the twins as she would take the other to the hospital. On her return, there was Wade just as she left him, wide awake, bouncing on the couch, watching over his little brother. Since Wade was 6 years older than Monti and Marti, and 8 years older than me, Wade developed a strong relationship with his cousins. You could usually find Wade with Larry, Tammy, Kelly, and Dallas. They would play games and Wade would ride his stick horse around slapping his own butt to make the horse go. This is how he got the nickname "Slapping ass Wade" from his cousin's. In his latter teens he turned his interest away from school work and focused on the dream of becoming a truck driver like his Dad & Uncle Kenny. School soon fell by the wayside and Wade entered the work world. He had many jobs along the way including a very short stint on the service rigs with me. I can remember he was running the tongs and I was up in the derrick. He ended up pinching his finger in the tongs. Well you would have thought he lost his whole arm. He went running to the doghouse. I yelled at him if he was hurt bad. He yelled back "she's gashed to the bone. After closer examination, it wasn't much more than a paper cut. Well that was the end of his rigging career. All joking aside. Driving big trucks is what he truly enjoyed and this is what he did up to his passing. I think it was due to all the people he met along the way and places that he got to see. Wade was a people person. People seemed to be attracted to his smile and his ability to entertain, no matter the place or situation. He thrived off making other people laugh. I can remember one hot summer day, when Dad told the three of us boys to go to the breaking to pick roots. I didn't think that anyone could make this job fun. I was wrong. Wade didn't stop telling jokes the whole time while we were out there. I don't think we got much accomplished because we were bent over laughing most of the time. If Wade wasn't busy trucking you could bet that he would be home spending time with family and friends. He always made sure he was home for the Chuckwagon finals in Lloyd or at the Calgary Stampede to assist and cheer on Uncle Bill and Larry. After the race, a person would always find him back at the barns surrounded by a group of people listening to him telling stories and having a cold one. Wade had the gift of gab. He would strike up a conversation with anyone. If we were ever introduced as a McEwen, often the very next question was "Are you related to Wade?" He loved to visit and never turned down a good time. Wade never missed a family function. Wade would often be found sitting in a chair being the life of the party, our very own live entertainment with lots of laughs and hair lip jokes. Wade enjoyed playing hockey and played up to senior. Often neighbours such as Clarence Nelson, and Uncle Herb would get Wade and Tammy to move their cows. A dream of Wades was to be a steer wrestler, which he actually got to try several times at Vermilion. Wade was known as "Uncle Wade" to all the little kids and would entertain them with songs such as his own version of Old MacDonald. We as siblings can definitely thank Wade for setting the bar as nothing we did compared to Wade's antics. Wade went from disappearing for a few days at a time with dad's truck without a phone call to keeping in touch daily with a phone call home each night. Dad was proud of Wade and how he could handle a truck. From how smooth Wade could shift to never having an accident in all his trucking miles. Wade was married for a short time to Pam Applegate and together they had two children Coleman and Chantrese. Even though Wade was on the road he thought a lot of Coleman and Chantrese. He was proud of Coleman being employed in the oilfield and of Chantrese's love for horses and barrel racing. He would always make sure to be home for her 4-H achievement day, and always would call to see how she made out at the rodeo. Ten years ago Wade met the love of his life Rhonda Francis. They trucked together and although their time was cut short they saw lots of the country and created many memories. Rhonda will always remember his big laugh. Thanks Rhonda for making him the man he was. Wade was big and strong in stature but wore his heart on his sleeve. Wade was not about fortune and fame he lived for family and friends. Thanks for the memories we will love you forever. We don't even know where to begin to thank all the neighbors, friends and family for the overwhelming support we received when we lost our Dad, Son, Brother, and Uncle. Thank you for the many acts of love - Food, Flowers, Donations, Cards and visits to our home. We live in a very caring community and we will be here for all of you if you ever need us. Thank you to Pastor Bob Aldridge for the lovely service, Yvette Barnett for the beautiful singing and the Alcurve ladies for the wonderful lunch. Thank you to McCaws for making this sad time a little easier with their professionalism and caring. May God Bless all of you. We love you. Chantrese & Coleman Rhonda Ann & Allie Marti, Maureen, Chelsey & Chase Monti, Sandra, Connor & Cassidy Lisa, Bill, Dalton & Alex Donations in memory of Wade may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or the Hillmond Sports Complex.