SAWATZKY: Dale
听
The sudden and unexpected death of Mr. Dale Bruce Sawatzky 56 years of Humboldt occurred at Ledcor Workcamp near Wandering River, AB. Dale was born on April 10, 1959 the second eldest of four children to Henry and Mary (nee Burgmaier) Sawatzky at Meadow Lake. He obtained his elementary education at Mistatim then completed his high school at Tisdale. Dale played on the Mistatim Warrior Midget Pasqua League Champions in 1973-1974. He was a great center iceman. There were 11 kids on that team, two lines and one goalie. There were no other kids, thus the term he used on the Pipeline sometimes 鈥渟ometimes you have to play injured鈥� came from these hockey days, it resonates in the way he worked through his career, whatever it took to get it done, play a bit injured, under the weather, 鈥渒nicked鈥� up, 鈥渟uck it up鈥�. Dale would work through setbacks and get things done, no fluff, no hype, no talk about it, actions about it was Dale鈥檚 way. Dale had some odd jobs during his school years which included picking roots and rocks for farmers, stacking bales, 鈥渞iding the bale sloop鈥�. He would also drive the car on the school bus feeder run for mom and dad to pick up kids for school and to get them on the bus. He also helped dad at the Pioneer Elevator. Also mowing ditches for the R.M. with his dad鈥檚 35 Massey Tractor and sickle mower. Little did Dale know all these jobs would be the foundation in preparation for a successful career as a Pipeliner. Dale also had a 1970 Vega with an aluminum block 4 cylinder engine, that he kept blowing pistons out of the block. So he put a Chevy V8 in it which worked much better, so much better in fact that the RCMP in Hudson Bay were so impressed with it that they banned him from bringing it into the town limits. He worked at the DNR office in Mistatim for a couple years after high school. The Mistatim Trained Forest Fire Fighting Unit that Dale was a member of one major firefighting competitions against DNR teams from across Canada. Dale worked for Don Holman logging for two winters. Some of his duties were: falling spruce, de-limbing and cutting into 8 foot pieces for the Stud Mill in Hudson Bay. Following that Dale and his brothers Mark and Allen were into the birch fire wood business for three winters, falling, skidding, bucking into firewood length with chain saws and splitting with an axe, no hydraulic log splitters in those days and stacking it up to season for a year. Dale and his brother Allen formed Stoney Creek Construction a company they were very proud of and did amazing work together for 10 years. On September 17, 1983 Dale married the love of his life Diane Ogurek at Mistatim and they were blessed with three children. Together they enjoyed many wonderful times and have great family memories when Dale wasn鈥檛 away working. Diane embraced the time when they were together as a family and always knew that Dale鈥榮 position as a Pipeliner was his first love and she was his second love and she was ok with that when he was away she kept things running smoothly back here. Never the less Dale was a very devoted husband, father and grandfather who loved his family tremendously. When he was home with his family he loved spending time caring for his garden and working on various projects around his acreage and was never shy at lending a helping hand. He also was a very passionate Saskatchewan Roughrider fan. In 2014, Dale and Diane purchased an acreage just south of town and was in the process of making it into their retirement dream. With Dale鈥檚 landscaping skills and woodworking abilities, and Diane鈥檚 gardening techniques, they were able to turn their yard into a backyard dream oasis. Dale loved spending his precious time at home with his grandchildren and family. He loved being a 鈥減umpa鈥� to his six grandchildren. He enjoyed spoiling them with snowmobiles, quads, swing sets and lake excursions. Dale loved to have family over for barbecues every chance he could.听 He loved showing off all his accomplishments he鈥檇 done in the yard.听 He also loved his Pipeline family and was renowned for his passion towards his job and the people he worked with. Dale was a beloved co-worker, friend, mentor and a true honest gentleman that inspired many people in his 35 years on the Pipeline with the last 10 years being employed at Ledcor. Dale鈥檚 work ethic is legendary in the pipeline Industry, always the first there and the last to leave. If a person showed up at a meeting at 5:50 am for a meeting that Dale called for 6 am, Dale would tell them they were late! 听His brother, Allen鈥檚 proudest moment was just before Christmas of 2015 he met some young Engineers from TCPL at a hockey game. They came over and introduced themselves, and quickly asked, are you Dale鈥檚 brother, do you know Dale? When I said I did and was my brother they went into telling me all kinds of great things about my brother, hard worker, so smart, so Pipeline smart, he knew everything about pipelining they said, he never says no to anything, always there to answer questions and figure things out. I called Dale the next day, told him the story, and told him how proud I was to say that he was my brother. 鈥淗ard Core鈥� is a phrase Pipeliner鈥檚 use to describe a Pipeliner, with leadership and work ethic skills that are superior to all but a few, that is the term his fellow Pipeliners use to describe Dale, 鈥淗ard Core Pipeliner鈥�. This a true example of how Dale Sawatzky lived his life and the wonderful man he really was. Dale will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by his wife of 32 years Diane (nee Ogurek) Sawatzkyof Humboldt; three children and six grandchildren: Cortney Sawatzky (Kirk Wells) of Humboldt and son Austin, Carissa (Ryan) Pasternak of Regina and children Paisley, Sadie and Jase, and Kyle (Chantel) Sawatzky of Churchbridge and children Isaac and Nova; mother Mary Sawatzky of Saskatoon; brother Allen (Valerie) Sawatzky of Plenty and family Megan Sawatzky and Kelsey Sawatzky (Jesse) all of Saskatoon; (Brenda鈥檚 children) Owen (Rochelle) Kinch and daughter Gabrielle of White City and Kristin (Lyndon) McMartin and children Hannah, Elizabeth, Nolan and Cara of Lloydminster, AB and (Mark鈥檚 children) Erin Sawatzky and Shaye Sawatzky both of Saskatoon; sister and brother-in-law Linda (Rick) Simon of Airdrie, AB and family Chas Simon (Vince) and Jen Simon (Shaun) and son Brody all of Calgary, AB; and Leonard (Fay) Ogurek of Hudson Bay and family Ashley (Justin) Mastrachuk of Dalmeny and Kristie Ogurek (Kyle) of Saskatoon. Dale was predeceased by his father Henry Sawatzky; sister Brenda Sawatzky and brother Mark Sawatzky; and parents-in-law John and Annie Ogurek. A Funeral Service was held at Malinoski & Danyluik Funeral Home, Humboldt Monday, February 22, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. officiated by Rev. Al Hingley. Memorial donations in Dale鈥檚 memory maybe made at this campaign link: . Funeral arrangements are entrusted to MALINOSKI & DANYLUIK FUNERAL HOME Humboldt.
