RAYMOND RONALD LARNER

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RAYMOND RONALD LARNER Peacefully on the morning of Monday, July 3, 2017, Ray passed away with the love of his life for nearly 70 years by his side. Ray was an incredible husband, father, grandfather, uncle, friend and role model to anyone who ever had the pleasure of being in his company. He will be missed by his wife of 54 years, Yvonne, sons, Raymond Jr. (Lorraine), J.Barclay (Marcy) and Leonard (Melanie), three grandsons, Jack, Sam and Jett, as well as Jordan Hudson and Carley Giese. Also left to mourn are his sisters-in-law, Jocelyn Goodman of Vancouver, and Phyllis Bell of Winnipeg, along with several nieces and nephews. Along his journey he developed a passion for aviation and fishing and could often be found combining those passions with his best friend and personal pilot, Tim Paul. Many afternoons were spent on the dock at Falcon Lake looking up to the sky waiting to see the Yellow Piper Cub emerge from behind the trees with a treat of fresh walleye for those of us who weren't lucky enough to fit in that airplane. Ray and Tim never let us down. For 30 plus years, Ray enjoyed a career with Imperial Oil Limited retiring in 1985 to enjoy what would be a retirement spanning 32 years. You would often hear him say - "I would do another 30 years for them if I could" he was so proud of the way Imperial Oil treated him. As a professional driver, Ray's awards from Imperial Oil were many and proudly displayed in his home for all to see often in disbelief that someone could drive over four million miles, accident free! Dad had a way with words, especially when us kids tried to mock his driving skills he would always win the banter with "I have driven more miles backwards than you have forwards"! In our early years, Dad would get out of his highway tractor after driving all week and into the Motorhome only to drive some more to take us on many treasured road trips to Omaha, Nebraska to visit friends or to the Okanagan to enjoy camping in the mountains and picking fresh fruit in the orchards. Besides the obvious loves of his life, Dad also had a passion for animals, especially dogs, but would never miss an opportunity to feed and pet the deer or the foxes that came into his yard at the lake. He loved them all and called every one of them Charlie! As a retirement gift, Dad bought himself a new van for his family and his four-legged companions to load up and head out to his favourite retreat, Falcon Lake. As a family we were fortunate enough to gather there for 35 years of special occasions ranging from birthdays to weddings to Thanksgiving dinners and any other reason we could think of to get together and prepare a delicious meal and enjoy the fellowship of many dear friends and family. It is with conviction that we as a family can boast that we were lucky enough to have had the best dad in the world and will always be proud to point at his picture or reminisce a Big Ray story and say "He was my dad"! It takes a special kind of person to provide the care and compassion to an ailing loved one the way Raymond Jr. did for our dad in the final years of his life. Raymond, your commitment to our dad was nothing short of heroic and the rest of us can't thank you enough for helping make his life the absolute best it could have been. Thank you for everything Dad, words will never be enough to express how much we love and miss you. The family would also like to thank his home care aides, Michelle Perron, Iyabo Akinola, Cordelia Ayodeji, Janet Skinner and Keith Peacey for their kindness. Cremation has taken place and a memorial celebration of Ray's life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, should friends desire, please make a donation to the Winnipeg Humane Society, or a charity of one's choice. Bardal Funeral Home 843 Sherbrook Street, 204-774-7474 Condolences: www.bardal.ca

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As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 13, 2017