Obituary of Stephen Holman

BIOGRAPHY HOLMAN ~ Stephen George Holman passed away at the Jubilee Home in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at the age of 92 years. Stephen will be sadly missed by: his loving wife Grace Holman; five daughters: Rose and Ed Wilder, Ramona Puchalsky, Diane and Tony Bell, Sharon and Wilf Lumley, Dianne Kudryk and John Leonard; one son Ernest and Shirley Holman; ten grandchildren: Dean, Kevin, Steve, Amanda, Randy, Declan, Cinnamon, Paton, Kim and Mathew; thirteen great grandchildren; one sister Olive and Jim McGarry as well as numerous nieces and nephews. The funeral service for Stephen was conducted from the Grace United Church on Tuesday, July 3, 2007 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Harold Martin officiating. A eulogy was given by Kim Arndt. Leader of song was the Grace United Church Choir accompanied on the organ by Margaret Venance. Hymns sung were “One Day At A Time”, “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art”. Honorary pallbearers was everyone in attendance. Active pallbearers were Bruce Sutherland, Jamie Sutherland, Al Airdrie, Leo Bugiak, Walter Pollard, and Paul Guhl. Interment was held at the Lloydminster City Cemetery McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster, Alberta administered the funeral arrangements. Eulogy I am Kimberly Arndt, a granddaughter, and I would like to give the eulogy on behalf of my family. Grandpa was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on December 31, 1914. He was raised in the North Gully District where he farmed most of his life with his only son, Ernest. Grandpa was a farmer and greatly enjoyed the farm. He had a great love for animals especially horses and dogs. Every stray dog from the family ended up at the farm and Grandpa loved each one of them. He had a special way with animals and they loved him in return. Grandpa also loved gardening and always had enough produce to feed half of Lloydminster. Grandpa tried hunting at one time but didn’t care for it as he had to chase a deer from Saskatchewan to Alberta where he couldn’t shoot it, so he said “to heck with it”. Grandpa also enjoyed fishing with two of his best friends, Reg Kilcup and Chris Christenson. While still on the farm, Grandpa looked forward to his coffee breaks with Bruce and Jamie Sutherland and Leo Bugiak who came by on a regular basis to take a break from farming and catch up on the lastest community events. They also knew that Grandma would always have a few goodies to go along with their coffee. In his later retirement years, Grandpa enjoyed woodworking and did numerous projects for family and friends. Grandpa and Grandma moved into the Diamond Villa condos in 2004 and he enjoyed walking to the Co-Op every day for coffee with his friends and sitting on the “bologna bench”, as he called it, watching the girls go by. Grandpa and his partner-in-crime, Paul Guhl, spent many hours together drinking coffee, visiting, and discussing politics. Grandpa really loved the progressive and liberal parties. They were the best of friends and the family relied on Paul and his wife, Winona, for their availability and their generous time to help out when needed, especially in the last few years. Grandpa was predeceased by his brother, Ernie in 1983, his sister, Mavis Sutherland in 1990, his sister, Jane Larsen in 1992, and his sister, Rose Payne in 1997. Left to cherish his memory is his loving wife, Grace, his daughter, Rose and Ed Wilder of New Zealand, his son, Ernest and Shirley Holman of Lloydminster, his daughter, Ramona Puchalsky of Edmonton, his daughter, Diane and Tony Bell, his daughter, Sharon and Wilf Lumley of Sherwood Park, and his step-daughter, Dianne Kudryk and her husband, John Leonard of Sherwood Park, sister Olive and her husband, Jim McGarry of Edmonton and ten grandchildren and thirteen great grand children and numerous nieces and nephews. Donations in memory of Stephen may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Lloydminster Handi-Van. Card of Thanks We wish to express our sincere thanks to all of our family, relations and friends for the many acts of kindness, messages, sympathy cards, flowers, food brought to the house, phone calls, visits and donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Handivan in the loss of our dear husband, father, and grandfather. We wish to say thanks to Reverend Harold Martin for his words of comfort and also to Margaret Venance, the organist and the Church Choir, and the Church Ladies for the lovely luncheon. Thanks also to the Pallbearers and McCaw’s Funeral Home for their help and understanding in making the arrangements. We also wish to express our gratitude to the Home Care Ladies who were very special to our father. A special thank you to Dr. Combrinck for his dedication and commitment to our family. These acts of kindness will always be remembered. Grace Holman and Families