ORLAND KITSCH

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ORLAND (EARL) KITSCH Peacefully, with his family by his side, Orland passed away at the Bethel Care Home in Gimli, MB, October 12, 2015. He leaves to mourn his wife Ali, 10 children, 23 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Born June 26, 1934 in Yorkton, SK into a farming family of two brothers and four sisters. Wanting to see North America, and not believing his luck someone would pay him to do just that, he left the farm and thus began his career of over five decades of long haul trucking. Enjoying many years, as Big Wheels (his CB moniker) and memories of driving the continent, and the millions of miles it takes to accomplish and experience that feat, he lived his happy dream. Orland's love of dancing caused him to attend a dance in Winnipeg, in the mid 1960s. There he met and fell in love with Ali, a very pretty, young immigrant from the Netherlands, who was also the mother of six young children. Undeterred, they married and added four more children to the ever growing family, now at seven boys and three girls. The oldest passing away in May of this year. We would like to thank the staff at Bethel Care Home in Gimli for the very excellent and compassionate care they have provided to Orland during these last few years. He made many friends among the staff, and many, many thanks to his very good friend Ed, of Inwood, for always being there for him. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to World Vision Canada. Memorial service will be held at MacKenzie Funeral Home, Teulon, at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, October 17, 2015, light lunch to follow.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 16, 2015