Obituary of J Keith Marshall

Our dad, James Keith Marshall, was born in Castor, Alberta on April 21, 1929. In his early life, he loved farming, horses and fun. He was close to his family and got into trouble, as boys will do, especially with his cousin, Frank Broome. On July 26, 1953 he married our mom, Karolina Regina Hintz, in a small ceremony in Castor. He always loved farming but had to move to other things when the farm they were renting in Donalda was sold. He transitioned to working for Paintearth County, building roads in the summer and working for other people brushing in the winter. For these years, we lived in Red Willow, Alberta. Dad was gone for much of the week and only able to be home on weekends. On one occasion, he came home early, unshaved and covered in dust. He looked so unlike himself, Elaine ran away crying from the “stranger,” which greatly upset Dad. When he got a job working for Ponoka County, we moved to Rimbey where Dad built roads, fought forest fires, plowed snow and was the first person in Ponoka County to drive the new Euclid Buggy. Dad operated all manner of road building equipment, worked for several years as the road foreman and eventually settled into a regular grader position, which meant steady employment in summer and winter. Many years later, after a particular disagreement with a councillor in his area of work, he came home to tell Mom he had quit the County of Ponoka, but it was okay because he had already found a job working road patrol with the County of Lacombe. He commuted to Lacombe for a couple of years, and eventually he and Mom moved to Lacombe and he graded roads for the county until he retired in 1994. The years of working without safety measures that are standard today, such as hydraulic controls, cabs on the equipment and hearing protection, left him with his familiar hearing aids (which he continually played with, adjusting the volumes and replacing batteries) and arthritis in his knees from pressing to shift gears. After Dad retired, Ken Brookes got him into curling and for years he played once a week in Lacombe and once a week in Red Deer. He enjoyed curling and continued for many years until his knees simply would not allow him to participate. As a bonus, he now had the time to return to one of his great joys by helping Tony and Elaine with their farm. Dad drove grain trucks, tractors and combines until the noises of the modern equipment got to be too much to handle with his hearing aids. Dad was active in the Lutheran churches in whichever community he lived: Donalda, Rimbey, Lacombe, Red Deer and finally Stettler. Dad and Mom moved back to Stettler a few years ago, and then to Heart Haven Lodge in 2013. He is predeceased by his siblings who died in a farmhouse fire, his parents, and his older sister Doris (Stan). Dad is survived by his wife Regina, son Martin (Juanita), daughter Elaine (Tony), three granddaughters Genevieve, Sarah Jane, and Natashia, as well as his brother Allan (Jeannette) and sister Virginia (Doug), along with many nieces, nephews and cousins. He is also survived by his brother-in-law, Christ Hintz, who was a large part of his life, especially for these last years in Stettler. Funeral Service Friday, May 13, 2016 at 2:00 P.M. St. Peter Lutheran Church, Stettler, Alberta In lieu of flowers donations in memory of Keith are gratefully accepted to S.T.A.R.S. or a charity of your choice.