Alan Canada

Alan Canada passed away suddenly at his home in Murrieta, CA on Saturday, October 20, 2018. Alan was 64 years old. He will be sadly missed by his wife of 42 years, Nancy (Magruder) Canada, his daughters, Sara Canada and Leah (Canada) Anderson, his son-in-law Chris Anderson, and his 13-year-old granddaughter Madison Felder. He was preceded in death by his parents Evelyn (Shackelford) Canada and Ernest Byron Canada.

Alan was born in Tulsa, OK and moved to Garden Grove, CA with his family at the age of five. He attended Earl Warren Elementary School, Izaak Walton Middle School, and Santiago High School in Garden Grove. He played football, was on the track team, and won a "Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year" award during his senior year. After graduating, Alan played football for Santa Ana Community College, in Santa Ana, CA.

Alan began working for Smart & Final Corporation in April of 1977 as a part-time relief employee. He excelled at his job and was eventually promoted to a store manager in 1987. He managed several stores and earned multiple awards over his 32-year career. After retiring from Smart & Final in 2009, he worked for other retailers before deciding to try something completely different. Alan began working for Murrieta Valley Unified School District as a substitute employee in 2014 and was hired as a permanent employee in 2015. He was assigned to Vista Murrieta High School in the Special Education Department as a 1:1 DIS aide for students with special needs. This was a very satisfying second career and one that he truly loved.

Over the years, Alan enjoyed playing tennis, snow skiing, hiking, riding dirt bikes, kayaking, and vacationing with his family and friends. He was an avid car lover, attended numerous car shows and rod runs, and owned too many cars to count during his life. In the past few years, he loved riding his Victory Vegas motorcycle with friends.

Including his immediate family, Alan is survived by his sister Connie (Canada) Freeman (Caesar), brothers Paul Canada (Cathy) and Gary Canada (Becky), father-in-law William R. Magruder, and brothers-in-law William S. (Beth) and Daniel Magruder (Jackie). Alan will be lovingly missed by all of his family and many friends.

A celebration of life will be held in January, date to be announced.