Cecil William Lawrance

Headstone For Cecil and Mildred Lawrance Made special for them with drawing of Jersey cows on one side in a fence and Five Mile School Yard in about 1928 on the other.

etched in black marble

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                                                                        L A W R A N C E

                          CECIL WILLIAM                                                                  MILDRED ARIVILLIA

                            June 8 , 1916                                                                           Aug.1, 1918

                           Sept. 26,1995                                                                           July 5,1996

                                              You're by the BEAR where you wanted to be

                              close to home  ---  close to friends  ---  close to family 

                      _______________________________________________________________ Obituary of Cecil W Lawrance On Tuesday September 1995, Mr. Cecil W Lawrance , long time resident of Grande Prairie passed away peacefully at the QEII Hospital Grande Prairie  at age 79 years.  Cecil was born June 8 1916 in Sedgewick Alberta ,and moved to the Five Mile District where his family settled in 1928. There he met and married Mildred Evans.

  They were dairy farmers and active community members. For this they were made honorary  members of the South Peace 4-H council , Grande Prairie Agricultural Society, honorary presidents of the Alberta Jersey Cattle Club, and in 1992 recipients of the provincial Dairy Award Of Distinction.

     They were also lifetime members of the Five Mile Agricultural Society.

     In 1978 the youngest son Garth took over the dairy farm and continued the love of the Jersey breed.  In Cecil's later years he enjoyed gardening and yard work.

    He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years Mildred, and son Rick {Muriel] of Sexsmith, Alex [Shirley ] of Ladysmith BC, Garth {Julie}  of Five Mile , daughters Clara [Ed] Kapalka of Five Mile and Darlene [ Larry] Best of Grande Prairie and daughter-in-law Gloria Lawrance of Clairmont. sister Eva [John ] Hart of White Rock BC step-sister Dora Blimkie of Five Mile  and sister in laws Elsie Lawrance of Grande Prairie and Elsie Rigler of Crystal Creek. and 22 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and many other relatives and friends,

    Cecil was predeaced by his son Lyle on September 24 1994, parents Harry and Eva, step mother Berth brother Alex Lawrance, step brothers Percy,[Ruth] , Len [Eileen]  Harry [Gertrude Rooksby, George Gibson brother in laws Percy Rigler , Norman Blimkie, Charlie Lett and Ken Ashley, and sister in law Elva Ashley, infant grandson Tommy, and great grandson Dalton.

     Funeral services for the late Cecil Lawrance will be held on Saturday September 30 at 2 p.m. from Oliver Funeral Home Grande Prairie Alta.with Rev Verne Begalke officiating. If friends so desire memorial tributes can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or South Peace Regional Palliative Community in care of QEII Hospital Foundation and would be greatly appreciated by the family.

My Dad was a man whose word meant was he said when it came to business with a handshake.

He was a hardworking dairyman, efficient in time management so he had plenty of  time to share time with all of his children as well as take part in events and still accomplish his goals.  He was kind and patient; a truly great man, a supportive husband and excellent father, grandpa and family member. Yet, he could be tough if one of us disobeyed him. And he was a big tease without intention of hurting anyone..though sometimes he did. He had autonomy and did not follow the crowd or society . Thus Dad did not go out alone [except for business or events with their children for example 4-H without Mom.

He did not drink.

He was Mom's best friend, constant companion and they amazed me how their marriage withstood the test of time, trials, and troubles that came within it. He was loyal to Mother and expected all of us to respect her. And we got the wrath of our disrespect of her if we did not show her respect or honour our mother.And he claimed his own rights to be respected in ways that made each one of us show him respect. Dad had a personality that drew others to him as a confident and friend. He had a wacky sense of humour that made us laugh. His siblings made me laugh heartily as they shared stories of our dad's youth, his impishness and daredevil antics.He was not afraid of anything according to them and would take their dare and laugh his way out of it, like being chased with a broom by a Chinese fellow in Calgary. Or crawling into a wild stallion's stall on a dare...only to settle the stallion down...which the siblings were surprised happened. He was an avid crib-player; card player and played other games with us. He did his best to teach each one of us good sportsmanship. Dad was so organized in time management, he could get his haying done, and go to the fairs so we could participiate and still get home to milk cows. Each evening he had time for us, to play with us, talk, listen to us do our speeches, or share watch tv with us. We teased dad a lot because of his time management program he did daily.When 10 p.m. came no matter what was going on, he left the house, to go to check on the yard/animals in barn one last time before bed. We laughed at how he 'kissed the bosses goodnight.' Still that nightly ritual, saved the barn, many cattle and spared neighbours from losing their yards in fire as well in hot fall days.And it kept many animal alive,because Dad noticed one was sick and called the vet.

Dad was one of those guys who gave money to those who needed it in his family circle; yet never expected it to be a loan. He helped all of his children start out one way or another in life; due to his generosity of either funds or time helping out. His sister Dora spoke of how much he gave to her when her home burned down.His sister-in-law Elsie spoke of how much she appreciated his help when her husband died for their families sake.

I respected and admired my dad for he set the right example of a husband, and family man.

Cecil Lawrance was born June 8, 1916 in Sedgewick Alberta to Harry and Eva [nee Cliffen] Lawrance the second son in that immigrant couple. Harry and Eva had one daughter Eva who joined Cecil and Alex; before their Mom became deathly ill. It took several years of suffering before Eva surcomb to cancer on 11 February 1925. [her husband's birthday]

  Bravely the three now motherless children faced major trauma and changes in their lives in a short time.Dad mentioned his Aunt Stella was a source of comfort. Suddenly in September of 1925,was  the arrival of his step-mother along with her 5 children and life began anew. Though it took some time for the Harry and Bertha [nee Coleman] Rooskby-Gibson to blend their family successfully together they did it!

 Dad and the siblings had the privilege of showing cattle in the local fairs around Sedgewick. They grew up as their Dad worked on the Experimental farm and rented land to raise his Aberdeen Angus.

In 1929, Harry and Bertha answered the calling to head to the Peace River country; arriving at Wembley by train. They travelled back to Grande Prairie and settled down along the banks of the Bear Creek in Five Mile District.

  Cecil was in grade 8 when he quit school to help his father farm. He also took odd jobs with other farmers.

   He met a  girl who became one of his best friends in 1929 when he moved there as she was his next door neighbour. It was not long until the Evans family and Lawrance families were so close they were like one big extended family. He would meet this young girl along the creek between homes to share time with her alone. It was there he and her planned there first date, they found their dating consisted of Elsie Evans  going along with them  to chaparone!!! [I often thought when I was told about it, was Grandma's purpose to truly chaparone or to be able to go to dances and outings? . Finally on December 4th 1939, amid the extreme icy conditions, the Harry Lawrance and the Evans families headed to Grande Prairie to see Cecil take Mildred as his wife.At that time they still farmed with both sets of parents and lived close to Evans on the McDonald place where Harry and Bertha now lived. Each morning they got up, dad went to his dad's to milk while Mom went to her parents; then they would come home and milk their two cows. Same thing in the evening. They worked together throughout the many years of their marriage.

  They build themselves a home that was standing many years after being moved three times.It was 14 X 16 and cost them 65 dollars. Their chairs and dresser they owned was part of our inheritance. Then Mom and Dad thought they were living classy with all the furniture they had. 

  There they began their family of 6 children Ricky, Alex and our sister and Lyle before they moved their home;around 1947 to where it stood and we grew up.

Mom and dad got us involved in 4-H in 1958 and it became a generational lifestyle for some of their family. My own children, one of my sisters, and my brother's children all took part in learning to do by doing the 4-H way with their grandparents humbly doing their duty for 4-H and family so we had sponsors for awards; animals to use etc. This earned them the Friends of 4-H award in 1992.

  They improved their herd of cattle to provide for us to have great show animals and more milk .When I was real young they had mixed breeding, got mostly Holsteins  and some purebred Jerseys. Yet they longed to establish a herd of Registered Jerseys. So about the summer of 1962, two heifers and one cow arrived from the A Norrish Jersey farm at Chilliwack. I can still recall Dad's face that night as they unloaded those cows...and Grace the oldest  came off the truck ..it was love at first sight!!

 And as a family we sat down to choose the names for the cows..all but Grace dad chose. And together we worked at finding a name for the new Jersey Farm. Dad wiped the cold sweat when he announced he had to sell Grace...many years later.

Ambergrove Jerseys became a reality. In 1965-1966  I won grand champion and reserve champion in the 4-H interclub with the Jerseys. In 1966,  Allan Grant's family and Mom along with Dad chose for George and I to take our heifers to the Provincial 4-H dairy show in Red Deer. Dad spent many hours helping me out there and learning how to improve showing cattle in Peace River area. This gave them many years of ribbons, trophies and other awards that Mom proudly displayed in the home.

   Dad was so proud when Lyle graduated. Yet, the day I graduated, I found out just how much it meant to Dad I lived long enough to be in that class of 1968. Dad wiped the 'cold seat from his eyes' when I returned  off the stage with my diploma; as he bragged to those around him I did it. Still given the circumstances I lived long enough to graduate due to their wonderful care, it is no wonder Dad was so overjoyed..

  Dad was hilarious at my wedding; for as a non-drinker; he decided to celebrate with his boys. Alex often laughed about our dad actually having too much liquor and had to be helped climb one step.  As Dad only drank one toddy occasionally for medicinal purposes when he had flu or cold. The bottle he purchased in 1974 was still 3/4 full when Mom passed away.To him alcohol consumption took away the best in a man or woman. I shall not forget the memories of how Dad was so strong and supportive in my greatest hours of need when I lost family within my own family circle,it was as if he knew without me saying what I needed the most. His listening ear was so warm and compassionate.. He did not prompt me to stop grieving like many others did..as if he knew I had to grieve at my own pace.

   Dad insisted I sit beside him  at funerals when he lost his brother and Grandpa. I saw the cold-sweat being wiped and pretended I did not know he was wiping tears.  He was brought up that big boys don't cry..I honestly don''t fully understand his need to have be me at his side...except we had something in common that he did not have with his other 5 children...for I had lost my son.

  Dad worked hard and I recall our days of bindering when he rode the binder or stooked as well on the school quarter. Mom did the same as well as the older siblings.

   I laugh when I recall how dad looked forward to retiring at 60, which he did. It was not long until he got tired of retirement and went back to work for his son on the same dairy farm; back doing the things that brought him so much pleasure he took for granted before retirement. He shared how it was not as easy for him to retire as he thought it would be all those years, he missed the work, cattle and family time shared in the barn.

 Awe and admiration was what I felt when Mom went blind and patiently taught Dad to do the Financial end of their business as her eyes grew dim.. I mentioned to her how hard it must  of been for her to teach dad at that age and his only having grade eight.  She replied 'He does a better job than I did,I should have give him the job years ago.' They worked through their senior years like a total team as one. Dad helped Mom stay able to write the Five Mile News and Editorials she did for many years after her eyesight was too dimiinshed. She dictated what she wanted him to write or he would read her almost illegitable handwriting figuring out how it fit together through communication to clarify it. Sometimes her notes written done when alone went all over pages and he had to dicpher it with her help.

 To keep Mom active in her desire to canvas for cancer; Dad drove her around and she did  the canvassing yet Dad wrote up the receipts. She was so pleased to continue that for over 30 years because he helped her.

   When Lyle died, Dad wiped 'cold sweat  from his eyes' while trying to keep that stiff upper lip.The English way is to keep a stiff upper lip.  He looked at my family for strength and somehow gained it as we were not sitting with him.My spouse winked and Dad relaxed.

    In Mom's worse days of blindness, she still managed to make their meals with his assistance. And while he was attached to oxgen he still kept the house as clean as his health would allow him to do. he swept the floor around himself and the hoses he had to work around.

   Yet, to me the most amazing thing was when Dad's voice was too soft and weak to talk on the phone with family. He dialled the phone for her and Mother  spoke to  family member for him;saying what he wanted. Or she got on the phone after he tried to share with Aunt Eva and then repeated patiently what Eva could not make out.

   As Dad's caregiver I was rewarded by intimate talks  over his life that are truly precious memories I would not have if I was not that caregiver. We travelled back through time, taking many side trips in the truck to places he wanted to go; before he passed away. He wanted to go back to the home along the Bear Creek Bank yet couldn't so I walked it for him while he sat in the truck; checking out what he asked me to. Yes, I told him, the home down in the creek bank was still there. 

  That cold sweat occurred many times in the courageous battle with cancer. He stayed independent as long as he could and took one last trip alone with Mom without me present..to Teepee Creek Cemetery to where their grandson Tommy was and my homes.

Teamwork is WE . And the We in Wedding mattered to Dad...so the we in our parents was a strong force that got them through to the end . They build a monument based on what dad called undying love...a marriage that lasted a lifetime through much troubles and trials.

I am proud to be the daughter of Cecil and Mildred Lawrance. They did a great job raising me And I sure love and miss them.