Dad and Mom were partners for life,they respected and loved each other. They each played an important part in our family. Dad would often say “I know your mom could live without me, but I could never live without her.”  We all knew that was true. He depended on her for so many things and she treated him like a king.

Dad always told us he would live to be 100 years old and each year he would do the count down and say "I don't care, I've only got another 19 years left". It became a standing joke and often we would say "oh grreat!" .... hoping inside that it would be true!

He would tell us never to leave him on life support, "just pull the plug". So, without hesitation, when the time came to make that decision, there weren't any debates or hesitations. We did the right thing and let him go. Just as he would have wanted.

Dad never liked being the center of attention or all of the fluff that came with celebrations or funerals. He would say "just put me in a cardboard box". But in serious times, he said that he wanted to be cremated and that he didn't want a funeral service. We granted him his wish by simply celebrating as a family, sharing many memories and meals together for an entire week. Story after story, tears and laughter, just the way dad would have wanted it.

A couple of nights after dad had passed away, I had a dream that he came to me and he spoke very clearly "don't cry for me, just take care of your mother."  That was the unselfish man that he was and that I loved so very much.

When we gather as a family, we will always share the stories, the laughs and the tears as we remember a beloved husband and dad. He will always be in our hearts and we are thankful for the years that we had him.

Family time was important growing up, especially since dad frequently worked away.  We were expected to be home at meal time and shared many stories around the table. We were always blessed with summer vacations, often spending them with good friends and family. Dad provided well for our family, showing us what hard work was all about and the benefits of not spending more than we made. He would always tell us " if we tried to keep up with the Jones’s, we would always be trying to keep up with the Jones’s" and "do not let wants become needs".  Some wise words that are engraved in our minds forever.

Dad came from a generation where letting someone you know that you love them was more in actions and how you treated them, rather in words. We knew that we were loved and more importantly, that he loved our mom very much.  Through the struggles and the joys in their lives, they hung on and stood by each other.

When mom was first diagnosed with breast cancer he was like a lost puppy.  I remember sitting on the front step with dad one night after visiting mom in the hospital,  dad held my hand as I cried for her and he said "don't worry, your mom is stronger than anyone I know and she will beat this."  I know he truly believed this and I also know that he was afraid to lose her. (She did beat it and he stood beside her all the way through her treatments.)

Mom and dad enjoyed wintering in Arizona for close to 30 years, regularly welcoming many friends and family for visits. They also found pleasure in cruising and took several excursions, in addition to other U.S. and Mexico holiday destinations over the years. At one point they had a motorhome, travelling with some dear friends for weeks and months at a time.

Dad enjoyed having fun and being outdoors. In his younger years he would hunt, fish, water ski and snow mobile. He was doing trick skiing long before it became a national sport. He was patient and always welcomed extra kids to pull behind the boat.

Mom and him also liked to dance, often spending Saturday nights at the Legion dance hall.

He really liked dogs and, although he wouldn’t make a big deal about it, you would often catch him scratching the back of a dogs ear for as long as the dog would stand there!

His greatest hobby was his passion for golf. When he retired he would play at least 5 days a week, always walking the course. He insistently played by the rules which sometimes caused him frustration with others who didn’t. Golf was a game that he loved and it was well suited for a man of such integrity, persistence and patience.

Another hobby of his was the stock market. He started to invest in hopes of making a few bucks. After a few years he had a great understanding of how to buy and sell, managing to come out ahead after riding out many of the dips in the market. He was excited to wake up every morning, turning the TV on to the business channel so he could plan his next move.  He was always on top of his stocks and made many calls to the broker to correct or inquire about a stock adjustment that didn't seem right to him and most of the time he was correct in what he was inquiring about. Whether it was buying or selling, he seemed to know how to make the wisest decisions. I can certainly attest that I didn't inherit that from him!

Dad had a dry but great sense of humour. He liked to play practical jokes. It was hard to tell if he was serious or not. He had an American accent that was inherited from his father, which gave us many laughs at his expense. Words like yella (yellow), se'em (seven) and awes (always). Plus he had many “Laurie-isms”, as we call them. Sayings that were unique to him ….”grinning like a skunk eat'n bumble bees”,  “hello young fella”, " dressed like an east side ni***er on election day".

Except for losing his hearing and some arthritis, he stayed somewhat strong until the last year or so of his life. He could be very stubborn and persistent in what he was doing and his beliefs, which attributed to his success during his life. 

Dad and mom owned a car but decided to trade it in for a trailer. This meant that they had a trailer to live in but nothing to pull it with!! After borrowing a truck from grandpa Spendiff, they moved to Hythe, Alberta. As the work moved so did they. It was easy to come home, hook up the trailer and move to the next rig site.

When Dad started working for Pennat Drilling they moved from Hythe to Dawson Creek and then to Fort St. John where Randy and Gale were born.

As the family grew the living space seemed smaller so it became time for a bigger trailer. They bought an 8 x 32 trailer, managing to live in and move it around for the following 4 years.The bigger trailer gave room for a couple of more additions to the family; Judy was born in Olds and then 2 years later, Nelson in Edson. As space was again becoming precious, dad innovatively built a set of bunk beds above the tub in the bathroom. He used hinges so that at bath time the beds could be put up and out of the way. The two older boys slept on those. There is a great story of Randy falling off his bunk into the toilet!! Nelson safely slept in the bottom drawer of a dresser for awhile.

It wasn’t long before they purchased a larger trailer, 10 x 40. It had 2 sets of bunks in one room! Mom said she thought it was so extravagant! I would add that nothing was ever financed. They would always save the cash before buying anything.

In 1962 dad took a job in the United States. They sold the trailer, heading south with family in tow to Wyoming and then Montana. We lived there for almost 4 years, moving from town to town. It was probably difficult on the older kids in school who, at one point, had moved 3 times in one school year.

In 1965 mom and dad packed us all up again. We headed back to Canada and into Saskatchewan. Dad was working for Simmons Drilling while also running another small business, Shurway Trucking, which was a water truck for rig sites. He was a very smart businessman, always planning for the future. They bought their first home in Estevan, Saskatchewan and lived there four years until the oil boom started to slow down. Dad was transferred to Red Deer in 1969, where it is still home! They moved a total of 16 times in the first 10 years of marriage. 

Dad began doing some consulting work for several different companies. He worked in the High Arctic and then overseas in Oman and Thailand. On his very first trip abroad he was gone for 3 months before mom heard from him! He was never afraid of work and often had to sacrifice being away from his family to make a comfortable lifestyle for us.

In December of 1952 dad and his buddy, Wes Colton, became partners in business, buying a shot hole rig and water truck (Laurie and Wes Shothole). Wes kept his job at Imperial Oil as dad went to Northern Alberta, looking for work and running the business. Mom was now 7 months pregnant, having to stay in St.Paul with her parents for the next 3 months while dad worked.

Leonard was born March 7th, 1953 in St. Paul. He was already a month old before dad could take time off to meet him! Mom, dad and baby eventually moved to a basement suite in Edmonton.

Dad continued to work hard and build up the company, which he later sold to Spalding Drilling for shares while continuing to work for them. 

Mom and dad met in 1951 while dad was working in the St. Paul area. Dad would always tell the story of how mom and her friends (Evange and Jean) were walking up and down the street, trying to get his attention. He said mom was wearing a white skirt with question marks all over it and he was curious as to what the question marks meant! They eventually started talking and decided that they would all go to a dance in Vilna that evening.

Mom thought she might be interested in his friend but dad was persistent, steering her to sit in the front seat with him. After finding out that dad owned the car, she quickly decided that he was a good choice! She was 17 years old at the time and he called her “Honey Child”. Dad would always tell her “stick with me cat, and you’ll be farting through silk!”… And she did!

They married on April 26, 1952, in Edmonton, Alberta at the United Church. There they began a long life together, celebrating 59 years of marriage.

Born in High Prairie, Alberta, dad was the youngest of four boys to Annie and Charles Spendiff.  They were hard working local farmers and were well respected in the High Prairie area. They had a modest farm life and although times were tough, they worked smart and always had more than enough.

When dad finished grade 12, he knew that he did not want to stay on the farm. So, at the young age of 18, he left High Prairie to pursue a career in the oilfield and never looked back.