December 21, 1944 - January 13, 2023
In Loving Memory ~
Clarence died on a warm sunny January afternoon - in death, as in life, going forward with quiet courage, and always on his own terms.
His death leaves us bereft but after a year of illness, he felt it was time. Surrounded by family, in the same Wetaskiwin country house where he was born (and where his grandfather had taught him to hunt and fish), he left peacefully. His only regret was leaving Glenda, the love of his life.
Perhaps because he was not given the chance for formal study, or to become the vet he had hoped to be, Clarence became an extraordinary scholar. He read anything and everything, enjoying dry histories of the French Revolution as much as a Kinsella novel to Louis L'amour western novels. He passed on that prodigious knowledge without skipping a beat or finding it at all extraordinary, as the rest of us did.
Just as amazing was Clarence's genius for building and fixing things. He spent the bulk of his working life at Trans Alta and Parkland Fertilizer; he then went on to fix or make anything and everything, from using his sawmill to build his workshop to building a greenhouse for Glenda. His workshop was his sanctuary. There he sat, thinking, reading and creating.
There were always animals around him, cats, dogs, horses ... and human friends too, all of whom loved this quiet, gentle man who spoke so thoughtfully of so many things.
After a somewhat tumultuous early life, he reconnected with his sister Bonny and brother Bob and found joy as a grandfather in his later years.
His passing leaves a gap in our lives;
his wit and wisdom, sorely missed.
Condolences: www.serenity.ca
Serenity Funeral Service, Wetaskiwin
(780) 352-5300
Serenity Funeral Service