Ernest SPEERS

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SPEERS: Ernest “Dan” Speers; 1941 - 2015. Dan’s family of wife Margaret, son Reg and daughters Laurie and Linda sadly announce his passing on Tuesday, February 24th following a courageous battle with cancer. Dan was pre-deceased by his parents Scot in 1986 and Ethel in 2003 and his brother Ralph in 2010. Dan is survived by his wife Marg; son Reg (Sandy) and their daughter Morgan of Winnipeg; daughter Laurie (Darcy) Campion and their daughters Ashley, Deanna and Jaimie and son Kyle of Pipestone; daughter Linda (Rod) McKay and their daughter Kristen and son Shane of Alexander. Dan is also survived by his brother Gordon, (Marion), his sister-in-law Joyce, brother- in-law, David (Peggy) Halstead, sister-in-law Karen (Grant) Pryznyk. Many nieces and nephews also mourn his passing. Dan was born September 1st, 1941, the youngest of three sons to Thomas E “Scot” and Ethel Speers of Alexander. He received his schooling at Alexander and except for two years, right after high school when he worked in Winnipeg, he lived his entire life in the Alexander area. Following Dan’s two years in Winnipeg working for Superior Roofing, he returned back home and began an eleven year employment with Bradley’s Sand and Gravel in Brandon. In 1966, he and Marg were married and made their home on the Don Rabe farm site. In 1972, with the retirement of his parents, he and Marg bought the home farm and moved with their three children, then two and four years, to 36-10-22 to begin their farming career. This continued until the fall of 2006 when retirement beckoned, and the opportunity to rent the land presented itself. The small cattle herd had been gradually dispersed earlier. Dan participated in various sports, namely hockey, fastball, baseball and curling. For many years he enjoyed joining his dad, uncles, brothers and later nephew or two in the seasonal game hunting. Another favourite pastime was hooking onto the boat and heading to the lake in hope of snagging a pickerel or two, often with a grandchild or two along. If fish weren’t biting, then out went the tow rope and it was time for tubing or skiing. As the family began playing sports, Dan was an avid supporter. As their grandchildren began their foray into the sports world, grandpa was there as often as possible cheering them along and at times “questioning” the calls of various umps and referees. Early camping days were spent firstly in the homemade truck camper, later came the hard-top tent trailer (no luxuries) followed by another truck camper and finally the 5th wheel trailer. The destination was usually to a lake within a two hour drive from home. Community involvement was a part of Dan’s life. He started off coaching hockey, later spent several winters involved with the Alexander rink committee, several years of taking turns along with Marg and other couples on the Community Clubs, helping maintain the local ball park, and right up until last year, was on the United Church Board. Now came the time to take a few holidays. 2006 took them on a two week vacation to England, 2008 had them on a “Land and Sea” holiday to Alaska, and lastly a three week holiday to Canada’s east coast during late June and early July 2013. Dan and Marg continued to attend most grandchildren’s activities until his health began to fail. On some occasions they shouldn’t have ventured out, but Dan would say “it can’t be that bad” and away they went. When Dan could no longer attend the game, he still didn’t want to turn out the lights till the phone rang to give the latest report. As late as the night of his passing, when communication was not there, he waited until the girls returned, and reported that both their boy’s teams had won their games and would move on to another round of play offs, and within a very few minutes, he peacefully slipped away. A Celebration of Dan’s Life will be held at Central United Church, 327-8th Street, on Saturday, February 28, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Wayne Sanderson officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate “in memoriam” donations forwarded to the BRHC Foundation “Cancer Services” at 150 McTavish Avenue East, Brandon, MB R7A 2B3.Messages of condolence may be placed at www.brockiedonovan.com.

As published in Brandon Sun on Feb 28, 2015