Great Grandpa Ralph was born on May 13, 1921 on the north west of 23-47-18, 陆 mile south of Russell School near Cavalier, to Vic and Dora Schaefer. That very day his dad sold that same land to Dr. Edgelow: that must have been quite a stressful day for Great Grandpa鈥檚 mother, Dora. 3 weeks later the family moved to our present farm. Great Grandpa went on to get his grade 8 in Russell School, at which time he found farming with his dad and fishing more interesting than school. Great Grandpa Ralph married Great Grandma Rita on July 13, 1945. Grandpa Maurice, their only child, was born in April of 1946. About that time, Great Grandpa purchased a new 2 ton, a Dodge of course, and began custom trucking grain and cattle in the area and lumber from as far north as Meadow Lake. The family moved to Port Alberni, BC in the fall of 鈥�46 and he ran a steam crane in a lumber mill there for that winter, then moved back to the farm in Meota the next spring, as that life wasn鈥檛 for him. As the years passed by, Great Grandpa always found time for the hunting and fishing that he loved! He and Great Grandma started doing more travelling and even purchased a small motorhome in which they made 2 trips to Alaska with Great Grandma鈥檚 brother, Roland Plourde and his wife, Peggy. Great Grandpa loved travelling and driving. If you went with him, he drove, period! Wherever they travelled he knew every road in the area, especially Vancouver Island, where they visited every winter. They also made several short trips to Yuma, always visiting his cousin, Louis and Freda, while there. They also spent many evenings at the Kissack Cabin at Suttons Beach with his sister, Dorothy and her husband, Allan. As time progressed, Great Grandma Rita came down with Alzheimers. Great Grandpa tried to look after Great Grandma on his own but after a while he realized he needed some help, at which time Rose was hired. Grandpa Maurice asked Rose to stay on with Great Grandpa after Great Grandma Rita passed away in 2003, which she agreed to stay and remained as a good friend and caregiver. Together Rose and Great Grandpa checked the crops to make sure we were doing the seeding and combining correctly, harassed every gopher and mole in the country, and played many games of bingo at Carousel Bingo. One time when Rose had gone to band practice, she came home to a note that simply read, 鈥済one to 鈥榖ingo鈥� practice鈥�. This allowed Great Grandpa to live at home until January of this year when he became ill and had to go to the hospital. He passed away February 14, 2016. At that time, the comment was made to Grandpa Maurice that what a beautiful gift Great Grandpa Ralph had made to Great Grandma Rita on Valentine鈥檚 Day. In ending, just a side note about Great Grandpa鈥檚 love of driving鈥e bought the Toyota that is sitting outside at the age of 82 and it currently has 280,000 kilometres on it. He loved that van and claimed it could do 39.4 miles per gallon. So today we will carry him to his resting place in it. We all miss you Great Grandpa. The eulogy was delivered by his great grandson, Damon Schaefer, who also shares his birthday. A Celebration of Ralph's life was held on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. from the Meota Community Complex in Meota, Saskatchewan with Mrs. Joyce Salie as officiant. Memorial donation's in memory of Ralph may be directed to the Lady Minto Health Care Centre in Edam, Saskatchewan, P.O. Box 330, Edam, Saskatchewan, S0M-0V0 or to the Battleford's Union Hospital, designated to 3rd floor North, 1092 107 St, North Battleford, SK S9A 1Z1. Condolences for the family may be left at www.eternalmemoriesfuneral.ca. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Trevor Watts of Eternal Memories Funeral Service & Crematorium.
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CARD OF THANKS
Thank you to the doctors and nursing staff of Third Floor North and the nursing staff of Lady Minto Care Home in Edam, to Mrs. Joyce Salie, Trevor Watts and Staff of Eternal Memories Funeral Service, to everyone for the beautiful flowers, cards and expressions of sympathy, also to the ladies who served lunch at the funeral service in Meota. Thank You!
