Obituary of Alban Nickless

NICKLESS Alban "Tubby" Nickless passed away peacefully at the Dr. Cooke Extended Care on Monday, January 5, 2009 at the age of 81 years. Tubby is survived by his wife Evelyn, daughter Donna (Bryan) Babey, son Darren (Darlene Huard) and three grandchildren Justin, Brett (Babey) and Brody (Nickless). Two brothers, Harold Nickless and Cyril (Vera) Nickless and predeceased by one brother Victor, November 26, 2008. EULOGY - given by Justin Babey Alban James Nickless AKA "Tubby" to you all but papa Nickie to is grandkids, was born July 10, 1927 in Lloydminster to Charlie and Rose Nickless. He was 2nd oldest of four boys Vic, Harold and Cyril predeceased by Vic November 26, 2008. He is survived by his wife Evelyn, daughter Donna and Bryan and their children Justin and Brett. Son Darren and Darlene and their son Brody. Tubby attended school to grade 8 at the Black Rock School. In his early days grandpa grew up in the Rex district and worked as a farm hand for the Babeys and then proceeded to work at bush camps in B.C. He then returned home to help his dad with the farm which he proceeded to take over. Through social gathering he met Evelyn Whittacker and were married November 26, 1965. As the years went by in the farming he decided to try a different venture and started to work cleaning corrals which he liked so much that he then started his own corral cleaning business. He operated it for about 12 years. Finally got sick of all the b.s. and decided to sell the business. As he was partially retired he then started farming again. Through the course of the years in the farming industry there is always auction sales and of course guess who would be at them, grandma would always say what the heck have you bought now as he would pull into the yard with a truck load of "junk". The reply would be "may come in handy". Well is was handy alright, so handy that he had to have two sales of his own. There were many other different things that grandpa always loved to do. He had a great passion for horses which he then took up pony chucks and chariots. He loved it so much that the nurses at the Dr. Cooke would chuckle when he would race them around the home. Grandpa decided to show Brett and I one day how it was done but with a few exceptions. He forgot a few straps on the harness which where needed and you would be surprised how a cart can do a poppawheelly making us exit onto our asses out the back. Grandpa liked the outdoors and decided to go trail riding in the mountains with friends and family. He like it so much that the next time he decided to go with a couple of his friends, Cot and Jenny which they each had an attitude, stubborn and had four legs. They weren't horses they were mules. Along with the trail rides, Glen and grandpa would help organize a couple of wagon trains that would leave from home and arrive at jumbo hill and back the next day. At the age of 63 he decided to be Eddie the Eagle the famous ski jumper but it wasn't so much the jumping it was the rolling. Thinking that he was a gold medalist, after his first and only ski lesson he felt he could ski where no man had skied before, top of the mountain. The search and rescue team were almost called for assistance when frosty the snowman had finally appeared. The other passion that he had was fishing. When it was time to go fishing he would be in the boat and the fishing rod would be out the side before you even left the dock. You would hear this OHOH and as you look behind a piece of the dock would be with you. Grandpa never caught many fish he was always busy untangling his line or changing hooks, then he would wonder why the fish weren't biting. Grandpa liked celebrating the holidays and special occasions especially Halloween. His favorite would be dressing up as an old lady and grandma would say that grandpa was cross dressing well before cross dressing was thought of. They would go to the Halloween parties and grandpa would not know which bathroom he should use. He liked hosting and attending social gathering in which card games and dancing were always a must, but the only way you could play cards was if you had money. You would be surprised how long you can play with nickels and dimes. When the casino came to Battleford, those nickels that he would take off of you through card games would be put into the nickel machines at the casino. Grandpa enjoyed playing the machines, but winning, well that was a different story. There wasn't much of that. In that later years grandpa and grandma tried one last venture. That was operating Papa Nickies the mobile concession. Grandpa would run the concession and grandpa would be collecting cans. By the end of the year the bottle depot thought that grandpa was bootlegging cans. They worked their butts off in the summer so they could sit on their butts in the winter in Yuma, Arizona. Playing shuffleboard, having happy hours and what ever else old people do there. Grandpa was very fond of his grandchildren and would spend a lot of time teaching. One of the subjects that he taught was driver ed. And we all know how good his driving skills were. Grandpa and me were in a lot of crap when we were caught driving down the highway and grandpa wasn't the driver. I have to say I was only 9 at the time. I wasn't aloud from then on to travel with grandpa alone until I had my license. There are many other fond memories that grandpa had including his two day cattle drives that would be from home to Frenchman Butte and back, the cattle branding, stories from the hitchhikers that he would pick up, mostly from north of the river, the trips that they took and of course there were some wild and crazy ones, squaw wrestling at 4-h windups, running his marathon around the race track at the exhibition. Most of all grandpa loved being with his family and friends, as grandma would say he lived life on the edge. I guess you could say, in a way, that I am just a chip off the old block. Peace out Papa Nickie CARD OF THANKS The family of Tubby Nickless wish to thank all those who expressed their sympathy through cards, donations, phone calls, floral tributes, visits and food and to those who attended the funeral service. Thank you the legion members for their presence at the service. A sincere thank you to the nurses at the Dr. Cooke for their care and compassion that Tubby received while he was there, he was fond of you all. A special thank you the Reverend Harold Martin for his meaningful service, Pat Skinner for playing the organ, Marlene Risling as soloist, and the Anglican Church ladies for the lovely lunch. We would also like to thank McCaw Funeral Service for their professional guidance and care in arranging the service. In lieu of thank you cards the family has donated to the Dr. Cooke Comfort Fund in memory of Alban Nickless. Donations in memory of Alban may be made to the Alzheimers Society or to the Dr. Cooke Patient Comfort Fund.