Obituary of Cyril Flint

BIOGRAPHY FLINT ~ Cyril James Flint passed away peacefully at the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Centre, Lloydminster, Alberta on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at the age of 84 years. Cyril will be sadly missed by his wife Lillian; seven children: David and Mary Flint, Trish and Jack Brundage, Gordie and Grace Flint, Susie and Randy Trudel, Kevin and Louise Flint, Violet and Thane Naurot, Wanda Flint; eleven grandchildren; one great grandchild and one sister Barbara and Clifford Lock of Calgary. The funeral service for Cyril was conducted from the Paradise Valley Community Hall, Paradise Valley, Alberta on Thursday, November 27, 2008 at 11:00 A.M. with Gordon Williams officiating. A eulogy was read by David Flint. The hymns sung were "More About Jesus", "My Redeemer" and "Face To Face" accompanied on the organ by Sandra Babcock. Honorary pallbearers were All Those Who Shared In Dad's Life. Active pallbearers were Bob Adams, Doug Adams, Ron Brassington, Ray Burlet, Jason Flint and Terry Bunch. Interment was held at the Paradise Valley Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. EULOGY Dad was born in the Lloydminster hospital and grew up on the same farm homesteaded by his Grandfather in 1912. By the age of 8, he made his first solo trip hauling a load of grain to PV by horse and wagon. One of Dad's early adventures, at age 10, was a trip to England with his mother for several months. During the ocean crossing a severe storm developed. Passengers were not allowed on deck and since all of the other passengers were sick, Dad got to have the run of the ship and all the food he could eat. Dad went to the Cheviot Hills one room schoolhouse, which was a 4 mile ride by horseback. He studied the 3R's on and off for a few years but he always said that all he really learnt was how to ride a horse. However, from the time he started school, he loved to read and most of all study the scriptures. The shelves at home were filled with Bible study books, along with books on history, birds and animals, travel and many magazines and newspapers, especially the Western Producer. Dad was saved during his teenage years shortly after a gospel work was started in the area by G.O Benner. By the time Dad was in his twenties, he was active in the Paradise Valley Gospel Hall. We grew up listening to bible teachings by Dad. Dad was a farmer all his life and milked cows every morning for 75 years. He started shift work in his 70's, when the big balers needed to be run during the cool nights. The only time Dad was away from the farm was during the early 1940's when he went logging in the Cadomin area during the winter or when he went on hunt trips with Gordon Davidson. Dad was a excellent horseman. After the herd of cattle outgrew the farm pasture, the cows had to be moved to the Fishing Lake community pasture located near Cold Lake. The roundup at the end of the season involved long hours in the saddle but Dad always enjoyed working with the horses to gather and sort all of the cattle. Mom was the meteorologist, but Dad was the weatherman. He faithfully took the temperature and precipitation reading twice a day for over forty years. He would guess the snowfall and then measure to confirm that he was correct, which was usually the case. This also led into an involvement in the University of Alberta Wildflower Survey in 1988. Dad had to record the growing and blooming of the flowers and the poplar pollens. Dad was a man of contrasts. He was calm and quiet but he loved fireworks and the odd bit of dynamite. We always had fireworks for Christmas and many birthdays and his future son-in-law was introduced to family fun with rocks falling out of the sky after blowing up a rather large rock. After all the rocks had safely landed all around us, Dad said "Perhaps we should all have been standing a little farther back". To show Gordon the power of dynamite, he placed a small rock on top of one to be blown up and after the small rock disappeared over the horizon, Dad calmly observed that it sure did fly! Dad always truly wanted to know how you were doing and one of his favorite greeting was "How is you?" Days that were not going just right were considered "Not very how". Animals were an important part of life on the farm. He loved all animals and as a boy belonged to a chicken club. Years later he was involved with the Raise and Release Pheasant Programs. In his opinion, a farm was not a farm unless it had geese. He enjoyed fishing, canoeing, hunting and we all had fun times with Dad when he got out the guns for target practice. However, during a school counselor interview, when he was asked what his hobbies were, his reply was simply "I have seven children". We will miss our Dad. Card of Thanks The family would like to thank Jason Flint for the year he spent living with his Granddad. It meant that our Dad could spend one more year on the farm that he enjoyed so much. Special thanks to all the staff at the Dr Cooke Extended Care Centre for the comfort and care given to our Dad during his time there. Thanks to the pallbearers, Sandra Babcock for the music, the UCW of Paradise Valley for the lunch and to all in the community for their gifts, cards, food, phone calls and all the various ways of showing their support. Donations in memory of Cyril may be made to the charity of the donors choice.