Allan Joseph Snyder

Born the youngest son of a farmer and a small town Battleford man, like his daddy and his brothers before him, he was brought up working on the land.

He fell in love with a small town woman, got married and they settled down. It’s a natural way of life, if you’re lucky, for a small town Battleford man.

First, there came four little babies for this small town Battleford man. A few years later came another...Oh boy!! THAT wasn’t planned!

Seven people living all together in a house built with loving hands. He said little, but there was love and understanding from this small town Battleford man.

Yes, he’d bow his head to Jesus and he stood for “uncle sam” and he only loved one woman, he was always proud of what he had.

He said his greatest contribution is the ones you’ll leave behind, raised on the ways of gentle kindness of a small town Battleford man.

Calloused hands told the story for this small town Battleford man. He gave it all to keep it together and keep his family on his land.

Like his daddy, years wore out his body, it made it hard just to walk and stand. You can break the back but you can’t break the spirit of this small town Battleford man.

Finally, death came calling for this small town Battleford man. He said, “It’s alright,because I see the angels and they got me by the hand.

Don’t you cry and don’t you worry, I am Blessed, yes, I know I am, ‘cause God has a place in Heaven for this small town Battleford man”.

(Inspired by Alan Jackson’s “Small Town Southern Man”)

Allan Joseph Snyder

Dad was born May 7th, 1925. He was the eighth living child born to Albert and Mary Schneider. Dad was born at home in a two story log house with cream colored shiplap siding and green trim, on the top of a hill in the “Clevland” district South West of Battleford. Dad said. “I was born at home on a beautiful day in May. Dr. Nunn was brought to the house to deliver me. He slapped me on the butt and said “He’s here”! and left. I guess I was a healthy boy”.

Dad was quickly introduced to his siblings, Isabelle, Jimmy, John, Bill, Pauline, Theresia, Madlyn and two years later to baby sister Harriette. Dad said. “My mother named me after a long lost relative on her side of the family but it was my oldest sister Isabelle that gave me the nickname Sonny. Dad was baptised Catholic at St.Vital Church in Battleford about a year after he was born. His oldest brother James was his Godfather and the neighbour Ethel (McDougall) Bauer was his Godmother.

Like most families in the early 1900’s, they didn’t have much. Grandpa was a farmer. He farmed four quarters of land and had 40-50 head of cattle, 18-20 horses, about 5 pigs and chickens and turkeys. Grandma was a farm wife, she raised the children, raised the chickens and grew a beautiful garden. Dad said she was a great gardener. She also cooked,cleaned, sewed clothing, washed and mended. “My parents were poor, not much money around, so we had to work hard to make a go of it. We never asked for things because we knew they didn’t have much. Not like the kids today, we never asked or whined for anything, not even at christmas. If they had extra money at Christmas we might get something, but most times we would receive nothing. If they couldn’t give everyone something for christmas no one would get presents . I never ever thought I was hard- done- by, I just knew we had to work hard to make ends meet. Because of that I learned to be resourceful and quickly learned the value of a dollar”.

Dad describes his father as being short, good looking man about 5’6’’. He had blue eyes and sandy brown hair in his younger years but when Dad came along it was already grey. Dad said. “My dad was of average build and as strong as a bull. He could lift those logs out of the bush like they were nothing . He was easy on us kids, fairly good natured. He liked to play cards and listen to opera music. He would occasionally play the violin but was a bit shy to play in front of people. Dad like to sing so did momma, she sang alto and they both loved to dance , they were good dancers”.

Grandma wasn’t that tall, about 5’3’’. Her eyes were grey and reddish hair when she was young. Dad says, “I thought she was a beautiful woman. She was good natured and kind, she would give up things for herself so that others could have them. She was strict, you did what she said, we all respected her. She liked her country music (Hank Snow). She played the piano beautifully, and was very serious about her card games”.

Dad had eight brothers and sisters and these are some of the memories he has of his siblings. “My oldest sister, Isabelle used to teased me. She would chase me down and throw her clothes over me. Isabelle was 18 years older than I was, when I started school, she was my school teacher”.

“My oldest brother Jimmy was the one who taught me haw to play ball, I loved to play ball. I played first base or center field. My kids tell me my picture is in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Battleford. I think I played for the Drummond Creek team back then”.

Dad remembers his brother Johnny, “Johnny and I were in the pasture with the horses and Johnny threw a stone to see if he could make the horses move, at that very moment, I ran out in front of him and he hit me square in the forehead with the rock, knocking me out. He then he had to carry me up the hill, unconscious and bleeding. I came to, just in time to see him catch heck from my Dad”.

“The special memories I have from my brother Bill, is when he would come home from the war on leave. I always thought it was so good to see him home”.

“ My sister Pauline was a hard worker. She worked like a man right along side of papa. She would hook up the two teams of horses that we used to work in the fields. She would drive one of those teams and she would also make sure I would do my work”.

“My sister Theresia sure wasn’t much for sports or working outside but she sure could play the piano. She was talented in a way that she could hear a song on the radio and then go play that same song on the piano”.

“Madlyn was momma’s helper, I remembered how hard she worked helping with the gardening and household chores, making sure that things were kept up and done nice”.

Harriette was dad’s baby sister, everyone called her suzy, she loved to draw and paint pictures, write songs and play on her guitar. Dad remembers one time in the fall, “Suzy and I went to a dance on horseback and coming back home Suzy was tired so she tied the reins to her saddle horn, folded her arms across her chest and fell asleep, trotting along on the horse. The moon was full and bright, we went over a little bridge and the horse was spooked by the brightness of the moon on the water and Suzy fell off. I kept going as I was In front of her and didn’t see her fall off and when I looked back she wasn’t there. She didn’t make a sound when she fell off of her horse because she didn’t want me to laugh at her. She stayed awake the rest of the way. Suzy left for Las Pas, Manitoba as a nurse aide to work with the T.B. patients. She wasn’t gone very long when she became very homesick and had to come back home. Shortly after that she was diagnosed with Lymphoma and passed away in her early 40’s”.

Dad attended “Cleveland” school, 3 ½ miles from home from grades one to eight. “Mr. Essau was my very first teacher, he was an easy teacher. I liked school but I sure wasn’t a scholar, I couldn’t spell worth a darn. We got to school by horse and buggy (a two wheeled cart) that carried 5 kids. My favorite teacher as I went through my grades was Mr. Lake, we had him for about 10 years. I struggled in school but he had a way of explaining things so that I could understand”. Dad didn’t really like reading in school, but when he was in his twenties he liked to read western novels. Grandpa would buy them in town to read them first and dad couldn’t wait for Grandpa to finish so he could read them.

Dad was a regular boy growing up, a little on the shy side. He loved to play ball at school and picnics. His best friend was Lawrence Embeau, they would ride horses through the hills and around home. Lawrence had three sisters and Lawrence’s father used to tease dad into taking one of them home. Dad would just laugh.

Dad had a few pets growing up, he had all the barn cats and a couple of house cat to play with and torment. Two dogs “Jack” and “Laddie” . Dad’s favorites were his trusty horses “Midnight” and “Baldy”. He also had a mischievous goat named “Billy”. Dad recounts a story that one day “Billy” the goat disappeared from the yard. “He wandered over to the Hunt’s place, the neighbours about 1 ½ miles away. Mrs. Hunt was a very stout woman and was bent over getting wood from the wood box and “Billy” the goat butted her, shoving her right into the wood box. Feeling a little violated and a whole lot mad she started hollering for help as she could not get out on her own. Mr. Hunt came running over and helped her out of the wood box, grabbed “Billy” and marched right over to me and ordered me to keep that nasty animal tied up or else”!

Dad had a lot of time to play and explore, he had many friends and family to enjoy . They loved to go to the district picnics as a family, play ball, eat and dance. It was great fun especially in the summertime. Christmas parties and sleigh rides were in abundance in the winter. Dad said he never really learned to ride a bike, “ Why would you when you have a fast horse” dad said. Dad skied when his was 15 years old. Uncle Duncan made a pair of skis and dad used them to ski from the house on the hill down to the barn at the bottom of the hill. “ It was a lot harder going back up the hill”. There was a man from Norway that lived in the flats and he would teach all the boys that were interested to ski. They would ski down the near by hills that didn’t have too many trees.

Even though dad seemed to have a lot of fun he also had a lot of responsibility. Some of his chores were to keep the wood box full and the wood dry for cooking and heating the house. He had to feed the cows and calves in the spring and summer. In the winter he fed the rest of the cattle and horses in the barn. Dad went to get the cows for milking and had to help milk seven or eight cows with his mom and the girls. They would separate the milk and feed the calves. “ After the chores in the morning we would hook up the horses and get ready for school. After chores in the evening we would have to clean the calves pens and bring the manure to the pile, and then go up to the house to do homework. If we didn’t have homework we could play ball or games outside. In the winter, I would help my dad cut logs for firewood and haul it from the bush to the house. I didn’t like that job very much it was quite heavy work, dad was stronger and could cut wood all day long, I had a hard time keeping up. Working hard on the farm wasn’t a bad thing, one thing about our family was we always helped each other out with the chores. If someone was done first they would always help the others out. We all worked together”.

Dad would say his favorite job was working with horses. “Uncle John McPhaul had 200-300 head of horses and used to contract cowboys to break them, either to ride or drive wagons. A man from Delmas, Mr. Michaud, had a contract with people from Quebec to buy the broke horses from Uncle John and ship them to Quebec to be used to work in the bush. I worked for Uncle John to help these cowboys break the horses. I also rode and exercised Uncle John’s work horses to keep them in good shape. Another job I had,or maybe it was more of a hobby, was in the 1930’s and40’s, there were a lot of gophers eating all the crops. The government put a bounty on gophers,they would pay one penny for one gopher tail. I saw it as an opportunity to make some money, it might be fun at the same time. I would trap or drown them and put their tails in an old tobacco can then when we would go into town I would bring my gopher tails to the municipality for verification. They never ever opened those cans, they just took my word for it when I told them how many tails I had in there”.

“ We never got an allowance for the work we did at home, but if I wanted to go to town to the show or other entertainment, my parents would give me the money”. Dad remembered one time that he was allowed to go with his older brother to see the King and Queen of England as they got off the train in bigger. There was a big fuss made over the king and queen. There was a man the with some circus animals, one of the monkeys got loose, ran through the crowd while being chased . The monkey found dad and jumped on him and hung on for dear life. Dad was scared and tried to get the monkey off his back. It took dad, his brothers and the monkey’s trainer to get him off. That certainly was a days worth of entertainment.

Grandpa paid dad for his work on the farm and bought him a new car. It wasn’t a brand new car but it was new to dad. It was a 1953 purple pontiac. “Papa was so proud to be giving it to me and I was so surprised to be getting it.

A few years later in 1959, dad accidentally shot himself. He had been shooting rabbits. When he picked up the gun by the barrel to throw it on to the wagon the gun went off shooting him in the abdomen. The bullet went through his liver and lodged by his spine. After loosing a lot of blood he ended up in the hospital in North Battleford and having surgery. It was pretty serious!

The Nuns ran the Notre Dame Hospital and sent an angel to sit by dad’s side. Her name was Lorette Garand. Secretly those nuns were playing match maker. They made her is “special” care nurse, while dad recuperated. He was in the hospital for quite awhile, long enough for a love to start blossoming. Dad always told us the story of when he was in the hospital, he’d get his breakfast tray, there would be half of an orange or half of a grapefruit with his breakfast. All the other guys in the hospital room never got oranges or grapefruits on their tray. Dad never knew until he started to date this angel that it was her that brought him this little treat every morning. This angel named Lorette would also bring puzzles for him to do to pass the time while he was recovering. Just before his release from the hospital, she brought him one to do, dad felt he would not finish it before his discharge. His angel said, Take it home, finish it and when you are done bring it back to my house. She gave him her address. First, a bullet shot him and he recovered, “Cupid” shot him... he never recovered.

Dad asked his angel Lorette to marry him and on June 14th, 1960 they were married. Dad bought and inherited some land and settled down to raise cattle, crops, and kids. Dad and Mom raised five children, Alanna, Joseph, Leona, Robert, Yvonne. He stated, “I am so lucky and proud to have had such good children”. Dad and mom worked hard to make ends meet. Trying to live off the “fat” of the land when most times it wasn’t very “fat”. So, mom decided to go back to work at the hospital. Dad tried to set examples and instill morals and values that he learned in his youth to his new family. Dad believed that farming consisted of both raising animals and growing grain. He’d say, “ If your grain didn’t amount to anything and prices were low then you could rely on your animals to get you through.” That’s the way it worked for us.

Dad was a very determined and persevering person, he did not give up easily. A couple of stories come to mind. When we were young and going to school, our road was not always in the best of shape for the bus to travel on, so in the springtime when it rained, dad would put us in the bucket of the tractor, cover us with old blankets and plastic and drive us two miles to the highway to catch the bus so that we wouldn’t miss too much school. In the wintertime, when it snowed heavy or during a blizzard, dad would hook up the team of horses and the sleigh, put us kids between bales of hay placed on the sleigh, cover us up and make the two mile trek to the highway. One time, I poked my head out of the blankets because the horses’ pace had changed and I thought that dad had fallen off of the sleigh. It was very dark out, I could barley see. I shone the flashlight on dad and when he turned around he looked like a monster with icicles hanging from his nose and face. He growled at me to get back under the blankets. He got us safely to the bus on time. I just kept thinking that now he has to go back in this blizzard only to have to come back ad get us after school. He had to do that for us a few times during our school years. I often thought, if that was any one else beside our dad we would probably just miss school on those days.

Another time Dad was loading cattle in the trailer to sell and one of the cows “freaked out” ran out of the trailer and down the road, hopped over fences and ended up two fields over. Dad tried to catch her but, the more he tried the more she would hide or run away. Every day he would try to catch her and to no avail. Two months of this went by and winter set in so, he thought he could track her in the snow that had fallen on the ground. He set up a make-shift corral and put hay in it, and one morning, she was in this make-shift “McGyver” corral. Dad snuck up and closed the gate and the rodeo was on. She bucked and kicked until there was nothing left of the “McGyver” corral, then she was gone. He picked up the corral panels and brought them home, we thought he had given up. One night at seven, mom called and said she was worried. Dad had not come home for supper. So, Robert and I went out to see what was going on. By the time we got to the farm Dad was sitting in the car at the end of our grid road. I thought he was having car trouble and he needed help. “No” he said. “I’m just going home for supper.”

When we finally sat down at the table to eat I noticed he had black grease under his eyes. “ What happened to your face” I said, “ Nothing”! he said. Then I asked again, finally he said, “ It’s camofloge”. Put there, so the cow that he had been tracking for months wouldn’t see the shine on his face while he stalked her. “That’s it”! Mom said. “You are selling the rest of these cows before you go crazy”! Dad never went back out there to stalk that cow anymore and in the spring she hopped back over the fences to the barn yard, because she heard all the new calves bawling. He sold those cattle that year like Mom wanted. Dad was never happy unless he had cows to look after, eventually he looked after some cows for his grandchildren until he could, physically, no longer do it.

Dad supported us and encouraged us to play sports as he was sports minded himself. Lots of times when we were younger he would play ball with us until it was so dark that we could hardly see the ball in front of us. Sometimes, we would all play anti-i-over around the house, usually, until someone got hurt. Because of dad and mom we had the best childhood any kid could have. We all knew where home was and we all knew we were loved very much.

In October, 1995, dad lost his “Angel” Lorette, she passed away of a massive heart attack. Dad was devastated, but, he picked up and moved forward. He turned out to be a pretty good cook, he made things I never thought he would attempt to make. Sometimes, he would call me for advice about cooking. One year, dad made a pumpkin pie from scratch and brought it to my house for thanksgiving day. Everyone loved the pumpkin pie, telling me it was the best one they had every tasted and thanked me profusely. I couldn’t lie! I said that I didn’t make the pie, dad did. I have to admit I was a little jealous as the attention turned from me to dad. He had the biggest smile and the brightest twinkle in his eye, he probably popped a few buttons on his shirt with his pride.

At the end of 2005, dad was starting to have heart health issues which he was hospitalized for and then the discovery of bowel cancer. After undergoing a few surgeries, MRI’s, CT scans, ultrasounds and x-rays, over the coarse of 4-5 years the cancer started to spread until he finally was too weak to fight anymore. I looked after dad in his final stages and I can say I learned a lot of things about his character that I never knew before. He didn’t like to “mess” with the order of things. He liked things done a certain way in his daily care. It exercised my patience, thats for sure, as I learned to pick my battles. As dad grew more and more dependent on me, the more appreciative he was of my help and he let me know it. Lots of people have said to me that it must be hard for you, but I never thought it was hard, probably because dad was such a good patient. He was the strong and silent type. I was very lucky. We had some interesting conversations and shared some special moments that I am grateful for and will reflect upon for the rest of my life.

Dad was one of a kind and every one who knew him liked him.

Dad.... you will be missed, we love you!

Written By:

Alanna (Snyder) Oborowsky.

* * * * * * * * * *

ALLAN JOSEPH SNYDER

Born May 7th,1925. The eighth living child of Albert Federick and Mary Catherine(McPhaul) Schneider, on the farm 15 miles South West of Battleford, Sask. He passed away March 6th 2010 in North Battleford, Sask.

Left to cherish his memory are his children: Alanna(Darrell)Oborowsky, their children, Devan(Allison Tarasoff)Oborowsky and Daylan(Ryan)Sabin; Joseph Snyder and his children, Breanna, Jess and McKayla; Leona(Doug)Borschneck, their children and grandaughter Aaron(Courtney)and Reese Borschneck and Jeremy Borschneck; Robert Snyder and his son Darreck; Yvonne(Jeff)Bevan; His sister Madeline O’Donnell; Brother-In-Law, August Lafleur; Brother’s and Sister’s-In-Law, Paul and Olive Garand; Pat and Frances Lutz; Sister-In-Law, Maureen Garand; Numerous nieces,nephews,cousins and family friends.

Predeceased by: His loving wife, Lorette(Garand)Snyder; His parents, Albert and Mary Schneider; Father-In-Law and Mother-In-Law, Pierre Etienne and Margurite(Abgrall)Garand; His brothers and their wives, James and Simone Snyder; John and Ivy Snyder; Bill and May Snyder; His sisters and their husbands, Isabelle and Pete Martel; Pauline McKinnon; Theresia and Cecil Dawe; Harriette Snyder; Brother’s-In-Law, Patrick O’Donnell; Peter,John and Joseph Garand; Brother’s and Sister’s-In –Law, Albert and Theresa Garand; Emile and Lorenza Garand; Melvina and Don Nelson; Sister-In-Law, Emily Lafleur.

Vigil of prayers was held March 9th , 2010. With Rita Kedl presider, Doreen Gillies, organist. Mass of Christian Burial was held March 10th , 2010. At 10:30a.m.at St. Vital Church in Battleford, Sask. Father Greg Elder and Father Leo Mann Celebrants. Music by St. Vital Choir. An Honorguard was formed by the Knights of Columbus. Interment followed at Battleford’s Cemetery, Battleford. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Sallows and McDonald’s Funeral Home. If family and friends so desire, donations in memory of Allan Snyder may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke Foundation, or Palliative Care at the Battleford Union Hospital C/O Scott Parker.

CARD OF THANKS

The family of Allan Snyder would like to offer thanks to:

~ All of the doctors and nurses both in Saskatoon and North Battleford for the care provided.

~ Scott Parker-Palliative Care Coordinator, the 2nd and 3rd floor BUH nursing staff for the caring compassion and support received. It was much appreciated.

~ Homecare for all the visits dad received. Excellent care, excellent staff. Dad looked forward to your visits.

~ Pharmasave in Battleford, who went above and beyond to accommodate dad’s needs. You are truly special people.

~ All family and friends who expressed sympathy, masses, sent cards, food, flowers,visits, support, and phone calls. Your kindness will always be remembered and we can not thank you enough.

~ Sallows and McDonald’s Funeral Home for their professional and compassionate care in handling the funeral arrangements.

~ Rita Kedl and Doreen Gillies for being available to us for the prayers at the funeral home.

~ Father Greg Elder for visiting with dad and putting him at ease and helping him to find peace.

~ Father Greg Elder and Father Leo Mann who helped to make dad’s funeral service such a fitting farewell.

~ The St. Vital Choir for their music ministry for dad’s special day.

~ The Knights of Columbus for the honorguard.

~ Our little sister Yvonne, we were honored to have you read our eulogy of dad.

~ St. Vital’s C.W.L. ladies for the lovely luncheon you provided.

EULOGY

Although this a very sad time for us, it is a blessing that there is no more pain and suffering. Dad carried his “cross” for just over four years. We watched as his burden became increasingly heavy. He did not complain. He went on the best he could. “You just have to make the best of things”. His faith in God and family carried him on, until he could no longer do it anymore.

We are gathered here to celebrate this man’s life. As we celebrate who he was and what he was all about, let us be reminded of some of the important things we do in a lifetime. We are born and struggle to grow. We search for “meaning” of life and a “purpose”that fulfills us. We save all of our memories and record them in ways that others will remember us. Dad shared many memories with us, we have prepared a small account of his memories in a booklet at the back of the church, some of you may have it already.

Dad found meaning in his faith,family and work. Dad’s faith was important to him as he shared that with us, leading us in saying the rosary every night during lent and taking us to church each Sunday, making sure we lived by that “golden”rule – “Do unto others...” As his illness progressed and he could not go to mass anymore, he would be happy to listen to the radio or watch Mass for the Shut-Ins on t.v, it seemed to give him a sense of peace. Dad tried to teach us the morals, values and the family ways of his youth. The way we live our lives, the values that we have passed on to our own children is a testimony to him. Dad went along in life pretty much the same way he did his work on the farm, with a steady,unhurried focus and a calm determination. Dad was a cowboy, he loved working with horses. He found his “purpose” in farming. Money was often scarce and he used his insight, ingenuity and his brain to improvise and make do. He was a “McGyver” on the farm. Dad was proud of his family, he loved teaching us to play cards, showing us how strong he was and he liked having company and visiting, even though he didn’t talk much, he liked to listen. He used to say jokingly to us, “Company at seeding time or harvest is like having a bad break-down”. Spoken like a true farmer.

Everyone who knew dad liked him. He spoke less and said more. Content to sit back and watch the “goings-on” around him always giving quiet encouragement and unconditional love. All of you have been touched by dad’s life in some way. It is your memories that will keep him among us. Think of him kindly and think of him often as you go about your days and may God and dad’s gentle spirit be in your heart.

We love you dad and we will miss you.

Arrangements under the direction of Sallows and McDonald Funeral Home, North Battleford, SK.