Obituary

Barrie R. “Duke” Storey 1928 – 2012

The local family of Barrie “Duke” Storey regrets to announce the passing of Barrie on September 15, 2012 in Calgary, Alta. Barrie was born on the farm east of Girvin to Andrew and Eleanor Storey on December 19, 1928. His family included brothers Lorne Storey (Dorothy), Randy Storey (Irene) and sisters Lois Podratz (George) and Milan Puckett (Danny). Barrie married Bonnie McCosh also of Girvin. They farmed on the family farm until moving to Calgary around 1970 where Barrie began a career in the oil industry. Barrie and Bonnie were blessed with two daughters, Lynn and Lorraine, who both live in the Calgary area. Left to mourn Barrie’s loss are his wife Bonnie; daughters Lynn and Lorraine, all of Calgary; brother Randy (Irene) of Regina and sisters Milan Puckett of Davidson and Lois Podratz of Saskatoon. Barrie was predeceased by his parents Andrew and Nellie Storey; brother Lorne Storey and brothers-in-law Danny Puckett and George Podratz. Of course, Barrie was better known by his nickname Duke. He was a man well-known in the Girvin area for his good humour and ability to tell a good story. Duke was a big part of the golden age of the Girvin community. His personality brought gatherings of the Girvin community to life. We will all miss him. For all those who shared in Barrie’s life, a brief memorial service in celebration of Barrie’s life will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 30, 2012 at the Davidson Seniors’ Centre. A coffee and dessert social will follow. Barrie’s nephew, Clark Puckett, will lead the service. May God bless Barrie, the “Duke” of Girvin.

Obituary

Sampson, Georgina

 

Georgina passed away peacefully in Saskatoon on Thursday September 20 at the age of 93. She is predeceased by her husband Ken and is survived by son Norm (Lynne), daughter Tress (Monte), grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Funeral services are pending. Hanson’s Funeral Home of Davidson in care of arrangements.

Obituary

Firby, Chris

It is with great sadness that the family of Barry Firby announce the sudden and untimely passing of L. Christine “Chris” George Firby of Kenaston, Saskatchewan on August 29, 2012. Chris is lovingly missed by her husband Barry; children Chad (Regan), Renée, and Mackenzie; grandchildren Haley, Jackson, and Summer; her mother Phyllis George; mother-in-law Lorraine Firby; brother Don (Gloria) George; sister Norma Nordquist; nieces and nephews Deanne (Al) Bleackley, Jason (Shauna) George, Blaine (Susan) Nordquist, Jonathan (Candace) Nordquist, and Adrienne (Stuart) Harrop; great nieces and nephews Denver, Laken (Terrance), Dielle, Taron, Gregory, Kealin, Thaniel, Dawson, Carson, Connor, Wil, Isaac and Kayson. Chris meets in heaven her father Peter George; father-in-law Fred Firby and brother-in-law Jerry Nordquist.

We would like to thank the First Responders, Paramedics, Cardiologists, nurses and staff at RUH for their life-saving efforts. Thank you to the hundreds of people who have visited, sent communication, brought items to our homes, made donations to the church and multiple charities, and extended their thoughts and prayers. It is a true testament to the degree of which Chris impacted thousands of lives.

Chris was born on February 25, 1952 to Phyllis and Pete George. On July 10, 1971 she married Barry Firby. Together they built their home and family residing east of Kenaston.

Chris had a charismatic nature, touching each of us in an extraordinary way. She had a natural ability to do things for others, making each and every person she met feel like they were the most special and important person. Chris shared many of Barry’s interests and together they built an empire of friendships across the country. These friends were drawn from sports to the realm of politics. People were instantly attracted to Chris and her infectious personality. It didn’t matter if it was a salesperson, or the Prime Minister of Canada, she made an instant impression on everyone.

Each of us who were touched by Chris undoubtedly have fond memories of her love of hospitality and entertaining, from her passion for cooking, to the beautiful home and yard she created. It brought her most joy to host a dinner party or take food to anything she was attending.

Travelling was upon many of Chris’ favorite pastimes. She was fortunate to have spent many vacations with her family and friends travelling throughout North America, Central America and Europe. She loved spending time with people and these memories she shared were amongst her most treasured.

The joy that the church and community involvement brought Chris was immense.  She was always the first to lend a hand and offer assistance anywhere that was needed. This coming October she will be recognized with the honour of receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her volunteer commitment.

Chris had an exceptional faith in God. She did not fear death and always said that dying was a part of life.  There is a piece of us that is irrevocably broken, but we find comfort in knowing she rests in peace in eternity.

She was a true model on how to live life in faith, charity, selflessness and generosity. Everything she did for her family and others she did in an effort to either make the everyday occurrences special and more memorable, or make things easier for everybody else. Too often she took on extra to make other’s burdens lighter.

Of all of Chris’ accomplishments, her family was her proudest and most precious. She dedicated her life to being a wife, mother and grandmother. She always looked forward to family days, in particular, those with her grandchildren. We thank her from the bottom of our hearts for being the matriarch of our family and for her love and support in everything we did.

Our family will forever have lost a piece of us and the spirit in which Chris lived was genuinely inspirational to all who knew her. We thank God for sharing her with us and thank her for the beautiful memories. We love you with all of our hearts and miss you greatly. May you rest in peace.

Memorial donations in honour of Chris may be made to the Kenaston Evangelical Missionary Church, PO Box 271, Kenaston, Sask., S0G 2N0.

Hanson’s Funeral Home of Davidson was in care of arrangements.

featured

Schmit and More are headed to trial

Devin Schmit and Darak More are going to trial.

The two men are each facing first-degree murder charges in the death of Rob Vicente of Bladworth.

Schmit and More were at their preliminary hearing, which began Monday, Sept. 10. The hearing was scheduled for three weeks, but ended the next day, Tuesday, after it was decided there was enough evidence to proceed to trial.

There is a publication ban that prohibits reporting on evidence heard at the preliminary hearing.

At Monday’s hearing, Schmit, wearing a black Saskatchewan Roughriders T-shirt under an unbuttoned collared shirt, and More, in a plain grey sweatshirt, appeared at the hearing. They sat in a glassed prisoner’s box at the side of the room. They have remained in custody since their arrest Feb. 11, 2011.

Members of Rob’s family, including his parents and brothers were at the hearing, which took place in a small courtroom in Regina Provincial Court.

On Thursday, Rob’s mother Pam said the abrupt end to the hearing caught them by surprise.

“We sure weren’t expecting it,” Pam said.

Pam and Ferd Vicente have been waiting nearly two years, and had prepared themselves, to hear the Crown’s evidence and to learn what is alleged to have happened to their son Rob, who was 25 when he was last seen at the Shell gas station in Davidson on Oct. 10, 2010.

On Oct. 12, Hanley RCMP was notified that Rob was missing. While family and friends tried to locate Rob, on Oct. 14, 2010 police reported that on Oct. 12 Rob’s burned-out car was found in a vacant farmyard about 29 kilometres west of Davidson.

Meanwhile, many people from Bladworth, Davidson and the wider community took part in extensive ground and air searches for Rob, with no success.

On Feb. 11, 2011, Schmit and More were charged with first-degree murder and robbery. On Feb. 14, 2011 RCMP said they had discovered human remains in a farmyard on the edge of Davidson. The remains were later confirmed to be those of Rob Vicente.

More and Schmit will stand trial in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina on first-degree murder charges and robbery with a firearm in connection with the death of Rob Vicente. Schmit and More have pleaded not guilty.

No trial date has been set.

Davidson, featured

Police investigate crime spree

The liquor store in Davidson was broken into during the early morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 9.

The culprits threw a rock through the front plate glass window to gain entry to the building, which is armed with a security system and video cameras.

The thieves stole a quantity of liquor and fled the scene, leaving a mess of broken glass and broken liquor bottles.

Later that Sunday morning, at about 7:30 a.m., Craik RCMP members responded to a report of a single vehicle collision near Girvin on Highway 11 after a car had rolled in the ditch and caught on fire.

Police report that passing motorists helped free the vehicle’s occupants, four males, from the burning car, perhaps saving their lives.

One occupant had to be airlifted to hospital in Regina while the other three were transported by ambulance to Regina.

Craik RCMP is investigating the collision. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the collision.

Back in Davidson, Logan Tennent was asleep, unaware that his 2006 Pontiac G6 was missing from the driveway of his Washington Avenue home.

Tennent said the car had been stolen and was one involved in the single vehicle collision.

“It was in impound before I knew it was gone,” Tennent said.

This car was similar to a vehicle eyewitnesses reported seeing, at about 7 a.m., parked on 3rd Street in Davidson.

The eyewitnesses watched as three unknown males transferred goods including golf clubs and a flat-screen television from a maroon-coloured mini van into a silver car.

One witness said they had tried to put a mini-bike into the trunk of the car, but gave up, leaving it on the street, opting to take the TV instead.

The witnesses did call 911.

RCMP Cpl. Rob King said the matters are still under investigation.

Davidson, Sports

Raiders volleyball team get the blues

The Davidson Raiders senior girls volleyball team kept the score close against a talented Outlook Blues team at Davidson School last Wednesday, but couldn’t “catch any breaks” in the two games played losing 3 sets to 2 in the first match and 5-0 in the second.

Tony Baldwin, volunteer coach of the Raiders, said the team “earned every point” against the Blues and generally played good, but the girls still have some work to do in gelling as a team and getting more serves on target as the season progresses.

“It’s just the first week of the season, so there is a lot of rust there, but I thought the young girls played well and they’re in the process of learning how to play together,” said Baldwin. “Some of those girls have played for a couple years in senior ball and some of them have never played a senior game until (this one), so that is what the start of the season is about in getting them all hooked up.”

The coach said the older girls on the team are doing a great job in coaching the younger ones on good position play and it is “really exciting” for him to see how well the Grade 10 students understand the defensive structure already.

He said the main struggle against the Blues in the second game was the Raiders’ serves and in senior volleyball “you can’t miss serves,” so that is something they’ll be working on in practice. Other problems that occurred against the Blues could partially be due to the fact Outlook is a bigger school than Davidson and organizes their team into an A squad and B squad.

To read more lease see the Sept. 17 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan