Douglas Claire (D.C.) Burrows

Beloved husband, father, brother and friend, Doug was preceded in death by first wife Beverley Anne Burrows (nee Walters, married 1962, passed 1981), sisters Joyce (Medos) and Ruth (MacDonald), and brothers Robert and Gary (J.R). He is survived by his spouse of 29 years Connie Grenier-Burrows, children Vernon Cory and Holly-Anne, grandkids Noell Ann and Matthew Douglas, brothers Ronald and William, and numerous nieces and nephews. Doug was the third child born to Robert and Florence (nee Anderson) in Russell, Manitoba. He was a good student and developed a love of literature that lasted all his life, as anyone who heard him recite “The Raven” word for word could confirm. He boxed Golden Gloves and played hard-nosed hockey as a kid, and took up cigarettes for a brief period, until his father set him straight – a fact that might shock those unfortunate smokers who bore the brunt of his scorn years later. He dressed well, loved fast cars and was a hit with the ladies, and he and brother Robert were known to have scraped a knuckle or two in the odd dancehall disagreement. According to legend, he hired on driving a dope truck for Fred Mannix in 1950 and learned to weld shortly thereafter, quickly gaining a reputation as a gifted hand. He was soon running beads and repairing welds for Trans Mountain and H.C. Price, among others, and rounded out the decade burning rod in Argentina and the Middle East. As the 1960s progressed, Doug cemented his credentials as a first-class tradesman in the frozen and sun-scorched reaches of Canada, and far beyond. His wire-welding skills were honed to a razor’s edge in the rugged North Sea during the 1970s, as he joined an international crew and did his time on several pipe-laying barges. Back in Canada by decade’s end, he walked the line from Medicine Hat to Shaunavon in 1981 as welder boss for Majestic-Wiley, throwing in with them until Banister absorbed Majestic in 1993. He went bossing for Marine that year, when the Murphy Brothers of Illinois bought the outfit from Richardson & Sons of Winnipeg. Ten years later, Marine was sold and after a brief stint in the inspection racket, Doug bossed for Michels Canada intermittently until the winter of 2016, when, his legend firmly established at the age of 84, he cut south from Mariana Lake and hung up his non-compliant hardhat for good. The years that followed found him strolling the Strip with Connie in Vegas, fishing with Brooks in Ontario, kibbitzing with Lorne or “Billy” and spending time with his children. Their father was their anchor and joy. They wanted for nothing with him in their lives, and he showed them the very heart of fatherhood and love. To Connie, he was a caring, devoted husband and she returned that care and compassion to the very end. We all feel so deeply blessed to have had him in our lives. He shaped us in ways that will guide us for the rest of our days on Earth.

Doug did not want a service, just a simple cremation, but we ask all who knew him to remember him in their own way and to share the best of those memories.