FRANCIS CLEMENT ANDERSON

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FRANCIS CLEMENT ANDERSON 1918 - 2006 A loving husband and father, devoted farmer and committed Christian passed peacefully from this life on Tuesday, June 27, 2006. Francis Clement Anderson was born in Winnipeg on May 26, 1918 to Hazel (Lewis) Gregory and her husband Harold Gregory, immigrants from Illinois who were struggling to farm the swampy land north of Lowe Farm. The strain proved too much for the young couple, who divorced in 1924 a couple of years after of the birth their daughter Dorine De Groff. Hazel and her children lived with her parents, Edward and Frances Lewis, in the Pleasant Valley district, until she married Harry Anderson in 1928. This marriage gave our dad his half-brother, Raymond Anderson, and the two Gregory children assumed their stepfather's surname. After earning a Diploma in Agriculture at the University of Manitoba in 1939, Dad joined the Canadian Army in 1942, serving as a driver-mechanic. He was stationed at Aldershot, southern England, from Christmas 1944 until he was demobed in 1946. In 1948 bought the northwest quarter of 10-5-1W, later acquiring the northeast quarter. That same year he married the neighbour girl he'd known all his life, Rebecca (Becky) Livingstone Dickson. To this warm and devoted couple were born Barbara Hazel (1951), DeEtta Jean (1953) and John Francis (1958). Besides growing grains, flax, legumes, sunflowers and hay and doing custom baling, Dad raised goats and chickens, including a hatching egg operation that also provided work and income for the children. Dad was active in the Lowe Farm community, holding board or executive positions with the Lowe Farm Credit Union, Locker Plant, Manitoba Pool Elevators (Smith Siding), as well as the Manitoba Farmers Union and Co-op Vegetable Oils in Altona. In 1967 Francis and Becky made the decision to discontinue using agricultural chemicals and began stone-milling their organically grown grain into flour and also selling whole grains, ground cereals, eggs and flour mills under the name Anderson's Organic Grains. Around the same time the family joined the Sabbath-keeping Church of God and changed its lifestyle somewhat, focusing on church, Bible studies and other activities in Winnipeg. The annual church gatherings known as the Feast of Tabernacles took the family on many enjoyable trips to California, British Columbia, Wisconsin, and even England. Important relationships were forged in this church, including the marriages of all three children and many long-lasting friendships. In later years Dad and Mom affiliated with the Sabbath Church of God, where they were loved and supported long-distance by some dear and caring people. We thank these people and also the local friends and family who prayed for Dad in his last days. We're also deeply grateful to the staff of Morris General Hospital who cared for Dad so kindly and well in his last months, and the staff of Red River Valley Lodge, Mum's home for the last three years. Along with his religious focus, Dad was most devoted to his dear Becky, who he visited virtually daily for years, and to his farm, which he never wanted to leave. Today, the fall rye he had planted last September is in head, and we will place a sheaf of it on his grave. Francis was predeceased by his mother Hazel in 1948, father Harold in 1965, stepfather Harry in 1973, sister Dorine Norris in 1985 and brother-in-law Claude Norris in 2002 and nephew Wayne Norris in 2002. He is survived by his wife Becky; daughter Barbara (and Brian) Shewchuk, Lowe Farm; daughter DeEtta (and David) Ives, Winnipeg; and son John of Thunder Bay; grandchildren, Adrienne (Ives) Loeppky (Richard), Aaron Ives and Jesse Ives; and great-grandchildren, Jayden and Camryn Loeppky, all of Winnipeg; his half-brother Raymond; six Norris nephews and their families, and host of extended family here and in Illinois. Cremation has taken place. Ashes will be interred at Lowe Farm cemetery by the family, followed by a memorial service at the Lowe Farm Community Centre, 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 4. Memorial donations may be made to the Morris Hospital Palliative Care or Red River Valley Health Foundation. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Morris Funeral Home 746-2451 Toll Free 1-866-746-2451

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 30, 2006